Porto

 We are here. Over 10 months in the planning and we are finally here in Porto in readiness for "our Camino". When we first decided that it was time to grasp the nettle and commit to this adventure I spent many a night, in front of the fire, looking at the various options available to us. The most obvious choice was an organised tour. Easy, no planning other than the dates and every eventuality covered. I quickly dismissed this option because.....

 1, I don't like being restrained by organisation and time scales.

2. The thought of walking as a part of a group filled us with DREAD. Crispy is a social creature but I am really not good around people.  Little nuances irritate me and as the years roll by my patience and social etiquette has seriously diminished. I can guarantee that we would end up the only English amongst a group of colonists (Americans) and French. The break down of international relations would have world changing repercussions. 

3. The cost was seriously prohibitive. 

The best option for us was definitely to free style it. I downloaded several itinerary from different companies and slowly mixed them and worked out one that would work best for us. 

Routes, Staging points, even hotels were         "borrowed" from the different companies and slowly an appropriate plan was devised. Finally a Camino to suit us was formulated. One that used the same route distances and accommodation as the organised ones but to a differing time frame to accommodate some places of interest that we wanted to see along the way. More importantly this was our Camino and the cost was a fraction of what the companies wanted.

The journey through Manchester Airport and flight were uneventful and the plane left on time. A mere 2 hours later saw us touching down in Porto. Portugal.  A Bolt taxi was quickly arranged using the magic of the Internet and 20 minutes we arrived at our lodgings. A fantastic little apartment overlooking the Duoro River. 

We are here for 2 nights to acclimatise and prepare everything we need prior to setting off on foot for our pilgrimage to Santiago de Compestela and the Cathedral of St James. Tomorrow our most important task is to obtain our Camino passports from the Cathedral in Porto. It's an official document in which our progress must be documented by way of "stamps" obtained from the various places we pass through. Only with a completed passport will we be given our compostela in Santiago.

It's all very exciting and Crispy is gagging at the bit to get started. 

Bare and Crispy signing off, Porto, Portugal