Day 1 - Porto to Maia - 9.5 miles

We decided to start our Camino a day early. We were scheduled to start on Thursday, April 12, but it was slated to be a long 15+ mile day and rainy. Since we had the time and figured out how to make it work, we decided to split the first day into two days. 

Wednesday morning we started our Camino at the traditional starting point in  Porto - the Cathedral.

We attended a morning Mass in the huge and ancient feeling building.

Then we got our first stamp in our pilgrim passport and were on our way. We ran into some really nice people along the way. One little old lady called out to us, “Santiago?”  It turns out we had wandered off the route and she went out of her way to walk us back, all the time talking to us in Portugués.

It was a day filled with churches. Along the way we stopped in at another beautiful azulejo covered church called Igreja de Carvalhido. 

Then we visited Mosteito Leca do Balio. This monastery made us feel like we were in Ireland. It's stark grandeur resembled many old Irish cathedrals. Only this one had a roof and wasn't in ruins.

And finally we found a modern church, Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Maia, with a colorful stained glass window.

Then we took the metro back to our hotel. Tomorrow we'll take the metro back and pick up where we left off.