Esposende to Viano do Costelo 26km

Wow! What a day! Beautiful scenery, amazing interactions and bloody sore feet! Random cyclists pulling me into their photos, crossing paths with Valerie and Corine again - how wonderful, coming across a community stand with food and drinks for pilgrims totally free, random pilgrim cafes, and sharing chats along the way with many other beautiful people. What a privilege to be able to do this! 

I had a great dinner last night at a recommended restaurant offering pilgrim meals. A few of us from the hostel were there which was nice. I met a lovely couple from Poland, and have added that destination to my long list for the bike! I found a supermarket and was able to get some eggs for breakfast and water for the day. 

I knew today would be hard but had no idea the amount of cobblestones involved. There was also MTB single track and the odd bit of bouldering and sand to finish off. The bridge coming into VdC almost had me undone. Apparently not uncommon according to the receptionist of the hotel I’m staying at. I literally limped into the hotel and used my mates trick of getting your legs up a wall to try to recover! That has helped but I’ve also developed a blister. Haven’t had one for 30 years so it’s a new experience for me! 

VdC is a lovely city but with a religious holiday today for Corpus Christie, things were so busy. It was really interesting to see the beautiful artwork they make from salt on the streets in the city. Apparently each local village makes their own display depending on what they have available. Some are just salt. Some have flowers. I didn’t take too many photos as I wasn’t sure of the protocol.

I found somewhere to get a bite to eat but they forgot my order which was frustrating to say the least after such a long day. I also hadn’t eaten much at all throughout the day so this exacerbated the issue. I eventually found another lovely restaurant serving healthy alternatives and they were able to make me a delicious vegetarian gf meal!

Because I’m in a hotel tonight, breakfast is provided so that will be a bonus after the last couple of days. Fingers crossed, the blister doesn’t become an issue. Only 19km tomorrow and I’m going to take the coastal route as it has less cobblestones. My feet need a break!