Portuguese Camino Day 2 (14 September)
Saturday saw us walking 26 kms to Esposende, which seems to be the ultimate Portuguese beach town. The day was complicated by temperatures in the high twenties, ultimately reaching 30 degrees, lack of good places to stop, and Paula getting blisters for the first time in all our walking together.
In these conditions, we really questioned the wisdom of choosing to walk along the beach. Once we got out of Cepaes, which at least had some interesting buildings and sculptures, things were hot and boring.
What you miss are the things that make Australian beaches a little bit better than anywhere else. High-rise apartments set back across the road, with some tree cover before the beach; and outside of the capitals, are much more sympathetic planning approach. If you have a view, you spend money on architecture. And, last but not least, we would be appalled at the commercialisation of the sand itself. Everywhere is a concession of some kind. It’s all about shade and booze.
With no breeze to speak of, even watching the seaweed harvest (for fertiliser) failed to get more than a passing look.
So it was that we were very glad to get to our hotel, which is a bit on the older side but has comfortable rooms and a decent bar. It seems to be a pilgrim favourite, so we shall spend our rest day doing laundry, resting our blisters and watching the peregrinos go by. We just had a snack in the bar tonight. That was all we needed, even though we had barely stopped all day.
