Headed down to breakfast at 6.45am with a good dose of excitement annd all of us feeling just a tad nervous as well. After lugging the bikes downstairs we set off round 8 for the short (or so we thought) ride to the Cathedral- the start of the Portuguese Coastal Camino. We hadn’t really factored in the combined effects (fear factor) of peak hour traffic, one way streets and rain- so arrived at 8.30 having walked through some of the busiest areas.

And then- the heavens descended! Getting out of Porto was the biggest challenge of the day – the ‘yellow arrows’ taking us down steep and often stained paths, but all roads lead to the sea (or downhill ones anyway), so after an hour of combined walking/backtracking we were finally hugging the riverbank- even if a bit cold and damp. It did make us reflect on St James and his cronies doing this before the days of paths/roads and without wet weather gear.

Cobblestone streets were perhaps the highlight and the biggest challenge of the day.

Stopped for the dual purpose of re-fuel ing and warming up a couple of times throughout the day -. The lunch spot was full of characters – a family owned restaurant – dad the owner and the adult brother and sister working the floor. It took us a while to realise that the set menu (bread, soup, mains, dessert, espresso) was the only option, and needed to be strictly adhered to . Quote of the day- ‘do you have any tarts?’, ‘I’ll ask my sister’.

And finally we were here – we arrived in Villa do Conde at around 3.30pm, very damp and very appreciative of the hot showers. Washed off the mud, cranked the heating up and left our clothes to dry while we went out in search of dinner and a much needed drink.

Off to bed now pretty weary. Tomorrow’s forecast says 12 degrees maximum and 95 percent chance of rain – let’s hope we can time it for the 5 percent dry!