The afternoon before, Augusto, our Portugal Green Walks rep, briefed us at our hotel on what to expect along the Camino. This was very reassuring, given our lack of personal experience on a long hike like this, and in an unfamiliar territory. Armed with emergency phone numbers, a WhatsApp account, and a GPX map file, we looked forward to the morning

Around 8:30 a.m., the luggage transfer came to collect our suitcases. It will become our morning ritual: wake up at 6:30 a.m., dress up, re-pack our stuffed luggage (a knee on it to zip it up), get breakfast, check water supply, and move out by 9:00 a.m. This first day will test our hiking mettle.

Fabian collected us from the Porto hotel and dropped us off 15 minutes later at Labruje, in front of a sign with a message: “Una vez peregrino, para siempre peregrino” (Once a pilgrim, always a pilgrim). Matinhos! We were on the boardwalk to Santiago!

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