Day 2 – Apriate to Vila Franca de Xira – 18km/11.1 miles
Today was quite the contrast to yesterday in the weather. It was overcast, drizzling and windy so the temperature was alright. As the day went on, things became gradually more soaked but the shorter distance made things manageable. It was a mix of urban and industrial walking with some wheat fields in between, so not a a lot of picture taking opportunities. After a short first breakfast around 9, we walked straight through until arriving at 12. Sundays in Portugal and Spain mean most things are closed so there was no where to stop. My walking group is about 10 right now, with a mix of Camino veterans and some first timers. It’s a fun group of personalities and it’ll be fun to spend the coming weeks with them.
Compared to the Norte and Frances, these first few days are much less physically demanding. It’s flatter and shorter distances, but soon it will be hotter and longer so we’ll see. The town of Vila Franca de Xira is very quaint. They are actually in the process of setting up heavy duty walls along the street for their own version of the running of the bulls. Since most things are closed, some of us went to a place called the Pizza Guru for dinner. Little known to us, this was actually an Indian restaurant that happened to have some Italian food! Everything was overly ornate and it was a good time. Tomorrow is another shorter day until the distances start to get longer.
