Tour local liaison –

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During our scout for the April Camino tour, my wife and I found our local liaison person –

Her name is Catarina – she lives in Arcos right on the Portuguese Way. She is a lawyer by training, doing post graduate studies, as well as working with her mother and her partner in their beautiful boutique hotel, catering for pilgrims.

Catarina is a delightful young lady. She’s quick to laugh, and my wife and I were immediately impressed with her energy, enthusiasm, and her people skills.

We’d just flown in from London, driven from Porto airport in heavy rain, and we were frazzled. Catarina made us feel immediately at home – and could not have been more welcoming.

She speaks Portuguese (doh) and Spanish, as well as English. She can drive the support vehicle, and I believe she will bring a wonderful fresh energy to the tour group.

Jennifer and I are thrilled that she’s agreed to join us…

Catarina pic

14 thoughts on “Tour local liaison –”

  1. Fantastic news Bill.
    Catarina sounds like the perfect person for the task at hand.
    Do they teach ’em how to treat blistered feet at law school in Portugal? 😁

    The tour in April is starting to feel very real!

    Time off work organised – tick.
    Flights booked – tick.
    Tour deposit paid – tick.

    I think it must be time to start training!

    Cheers,
    Greg.

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  2. Dear Bill, her eyes say it all. You got yourself a Camino Angel. Light and Love to you all.

    Ingrid

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  3. Bill,

    Fabulous news!

    But I thought you had offered the position of Support Van Driver to Steve, or is Catarina just the backup Driver? πŸ™‚

    You, Jen and Greg are all ahead of me, I haven’t begun training yet and I haven’t booked my flights yet. But I have paid my deposit!!!!

    Actually, the reason for not having booked the flight is since I will be working in Spain afterwards and that work will take me several months, I need to check if I need a Visa.

    But I will begin my training once I return from this upcoming trip!

    Arlene

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    • Arlene, re visa. As a US citizen, (just like us Canucks), you have 90 days visa free in any Schengen country. You need a visa after 90 days, and they are sticky about it. I was told that if you leave for a few days to a non Schengen country i.e. England, your 90 days start all over again. I am not sure about this loophole, but worth checking out.

      How exciting for you to be working post camino. If my camino dreams for 2014 (big IF now), are coming to fruition, we might see each other in Spain.

      Buen Camino, Ingrid

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      • Ingrid,

        Yes I know about the 90 days, but to my understanding it is 90 days within a 6 month period. The rub is I left Madrid the very end of October, therefore arriving in Spain the end of April might just make the 6 month time, but it is very close.

        I am sure the mosaic is going to take me more than 3 months. So yes, I have to check that out, for myself as well as my assistant.

        Wouldn’t that be fabulous if we could get to see each other then?

        Arlene

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      • No, I will just ride with Catrina when it rains. My hips hurt when it rains, you know.

        We will have a splendid dry time and the rest of you can tell macho survival tales around the dinner table and Catrina and I will applaud.

        Remember, we can’t all be heroes. Someone has to sit on the sidelines and clap in order to recognize the heroes. πŸ™‚

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  4. WOW, it looks as if you got lucky there. She’s stunning, so if the intelligence and empathy go with the eyes (and language skills) you’re definitely set!! πŸ™‚

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