Porto to Casa Mindela, 6.6 km: Too Much Traffic!

Our 2022 Camino began on the morning of Tuesday, June 7, in Porto, in the home of Bob and Elizabeth Preston, friends of ours from the U.S. The Prestons had kindly agreed to put us up the previous night after we drove up from Tavira. They also allowed us to leave our car parked in the street outside their house during our trip. 

These arrangements made the logistics of this Camino so much easier than in 2018 and 2019, when we had to fly ourselves and our gear all the way from the U.S. It’s much more convenient to carry everything in the trunk of your car!

The day’s weather report appeared positive: 17 degrees C. (62 F.) at 9 a.m., peaking at 22 (72) later in the day, with mixed clouds and sun. While we did face an 80% chance of rain the following day, the rest of the week seemed fine. After some coffee and eggs with the Prestons, the four of us left their house in Porto’s Rio Tinto neighborhood to catch the no. 400 bus downtown. A short walk brought us to Porto’s main cathedral, where we obtained the official stamp in our credencials booklet, a ritual we had first performed in 2018.

Then, it was time for lunch with the Prestons, at a nearby Moroccan restaurant, which was appropriate since we had all made recent trips to that country. Bidding them goodbye at the Trinidade Metro station, we took the train to Vilar do Pinheiro, a stop 17 km to the north on the outskirts of Porto.

Beginning from Vilar do Pinheiro enabled us to avoid most of the urban sprawl involved in walking from the cathedral itself, the traditional starting place. But a shock awaited us when we actually reached the trail a few blocks away from the metro station: the rest of our walk that day required following the EN-306, a busy two-lane highway. 

Walking along a highway is bad enough, but this one lacked sidewalks and was often bordered by stone walls that left a very narrow passage on either side. Combine that feature with cars and trucks whizzing by at great speed and we were in for our worst stretch of Camino walking — ever!

Bina particularly felt the stress, since it exacerbated the PTSD caused by her accident. Every vehicle that roared past her brought back that awful moment. We couldn’t have been more relieved when, finally, about 4 p.m., we reached the hamlet of Joudina, location of our lodging for the night.

This was the Casa Mindela, an old farmhouse dating back to the mid-19th century that had been converted into a bed & breakfast. Blessedly tucked away in peaceful countryside a few blocks away from the EN-306, the Casa gave us a place to de-stress after our adventures on the highway. The hostess, Helena Duarte, a member of the family that owned the property, proved welcoming and helpful.

No restaurants in the area being open for dinner, Helena offered to use her car to pick up some chicken, fries and salad for us at a local takeaway place. And she was kind enough to set up a table in the courtyard so we could enjoy the meal in style.

Helena also improved our morale by assuring us that the rest of the central Portuguese would prove much calmer for us as we headed north, with more rural trails and less urban road-walking. And she recommended a luggage transport service, Top Santiago, for moving our backpacks on to the next evening’s destination.

That was necessary because, as we had feared, Bina’s back and ribs could not handle the strain of carrying her backpack. We decided to revert back to the strategy we had employed on previous Caminos of using a service to move our heavy bags, leaving me carrying a light daypack on the trail. Top Santiago proved a good choice for this task, costing us only 8 euros a day. 

That night we enjoyed a good sleep in a warm and cozy bed.