And so the adventure begins

As usual there was no plan in particular, the idea was to explore as much of England and Wales as possible in 9 days. We began by buying a National Trust young person's membership card (£30 for the year for british citizens) and a Touring Pass (£30 for seven consecutive days for overseas tourists). With... Continue Reading →

The final destination – Santiago de Compostela

Day 10 was to be the momentous day that we would reach our end destination - Santiago de Compostela. While we were arriving by train instead of foot, it was still a great achievement. We had walked approximately 160 km in total. Unlike those making the journey hundreds of years ago, it had taken us... Continue Reading →

Day 7 of the hike

Having a comfortable lie-in was magical. We made our way to breakfast where we enjoyed pastries and yoghurt. Feeling refreshed it was time to set off. I thanked the receptionist for our stay. She kissed me goodbye and pointed us in the right direction. The day began walking downhill (what a treat). This did not... Continue Reading →

A night in the mountains

We woke up at 8am in time to shower and check out. Leaving the hostel we were still not 100% sure what we were doing. We saw a bus stop opposite, where I asked a lady if the buses went to Vigo. She said; 'yes'. The weather was poor - very misty. The sky was... Continue Reading →

An unexpected breakfast

Making the most of staying in a hotel with a balcony we had a lie-in. This morning there were no pensioners around to wake us up at the crack of dawn. We slowly made our way down to breakfast. No one was around in the restaurant. Nor were there any places set out for us.... Continue Reading →

Sun-set dinner by the Ocean in Oia

Each pilgrim in the hostel made an effort to wake us up, by loudly packing their bags, talking to each other or flinging their belongings across the cramped room. My brother hit the nail on the head when he described the youth hostel as being odd because there were no youth there. Most guests were... Continue Reading →

Day three of hiking through Portugal

Being woken up by strange noises in the church, didn't stop us from lounging around in our godly room all morning. Eventually at 11.30 am we packed our rucksacks and left. We enjoyed a thick creamy hot chocolate and a warm cheese croissant for breakfast in the bakery next door - it was divine. Arming... Continue Reading →

Sleep-over in a Portuguese convent

Everyone slowly shuffled out of their bunk beds, put on smelly walking clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. My brother and I decided to start at the leisurely time of 10 am to avoid the morning rush. We walked from the ghost town Fao across the river to Esposende - a much larger town. While... Continue Reading →

Day one of the pilgrimage

After a packed day of sightseeing in Porto, it was time to begin our pilgrimage to Spain. In the 9th century the tomb of St John was discovered in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Following this the Romans built a network of roads leading the way from Portugal and France to the tomb in Spain. Today,... Continue Reading →

The best way to spend 24 hours in Porto (Portugal)

Our adventure in Portugal began in a taxi with a friendly Uber driver. Despite speaking next to no Portuguese, we managed to fill the twenty minute journey with interesting conversation. This was in a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and the occasional word of English. Luckily, Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, so we could understand... Continue Reading →

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