This week I continued my Camino journey...
The next morning I decided that my body had not recovered enough to hike on and I spent an extra day in Santarem. While there I sent a package of items I could live without to lighten my load further and decided to scout the path for tomorrow as I have another 30km day ahead of me. Since my feet were still quite sore I did not do as much exploring of the city as I might normally do and I failed to scout out my route. Santarem is "famous" for having the most Gothic churches in Portugal. I did see a few of them in my wanderings. There were two museums that I would have liked to have seen but they were closed on Monday, one was about time and the other was about the local archeology.
The day after the day of rest I got up early and headed out at 7:00 a.m. sharp as I knew it was going to be another long day to make it to Golega. The weather forecast was for sunny weather and I was not disappointed. The start of the day, however, I did get a bit frustrated as I made my way to the Porto del Sol where the path of the Camino came through. The Porto del Sol is a local historical park area, which I assumed I could explore on my way out of town, but that was not to be done as the park would not open until 9:00 a.m. I asked a local if the Camino went through the park and they indicated it did and that it would not open until 9:00. I sighed and turned around and went to a cafe for a tea and a pastry. I found it unbelievable that they would close of a path that pilgrims needed to take and after my small breakfast I decided to go back and look around a bit more - low and behold there was a path AROUND the park! Deep breath - everything happens for a reason. As I wound my way through the grape draped farmlands a fellow pilgrim came up behind me. He was a tall guy and took big steps; however, he slowed a bit to chat with me "for a while" and I increased my steps to keep up with him. It turned out that we ended up spending the entire day walking and talking together. Even though, I initially thought I had wasted the first hour of the day, it ended up being what I needed. I am not sure how those 30km (18 miles) might have gone without the distraction of a fellow pilgrim. Again, I was sore at the end but I was not miserable like I was two days before.
The next morning I decided that my body had not recovered enough to hike on and I spent an extra day in Santarem. While there I sent a package of items I could live without to lighten my load further and decided to scout the path for tomorrow as I have another 30km day ahead of me. Since my feet were still quite sore I did not do as much exploring of the city as I might normally do and I failed to scout out my route. Santarem is "famous" for having the most Gothic churches in Portugal. I did see a few of them in my wanderings. There were two museums that I would have liked to have seen but they were closed on Monday, one was about time and the other was about the local archeology.
The day after the day of rest I got up early and headed out at 7:00 a.m. sharp as I knew it was going to be another long day to make it to Golega. The weather forecast was for sunny weather and I was not disappointed. The start of the day, however, I did get a bit frustrated as I made my way to the Porto del Sol where the path of the Camino came through. The Porto del Sol is a local historical park area, which I assumed I could explore on my way out of town, but that was not to be done as the park would not open until 9:00 a.m. I asked a local if the Camino went through the park and they indicated it did and that it would not open until 9:00. I sighed and turned around and went to a cafe for a tea and a pastry. I found it unbelievable that they would close of a path that pilgrims needed to take and after my small breakfast I decided to go back and look around a bit more - low and behold there was a path AROUND the park! Deep breath - everything happens for a reason. As I wound my way through the grape draped farmlands a fellow pilgrim came up behind me. He was a tall guy and took big steps; however, he slowed a bit to chat with me "for a while" and I increased my steps to keep up with him. It turned out that we ended up spending the entire day walking and talking together. Even though, I initially thought I had wasted the first hour of the day, it ended up being what I needed. I am not sure how those 30km (18 miles) might have gone without the distraction of a fellow pilgrim. Again, I was sore at the end but I was not miserable like I was two days before.
The next morning, knowing we had a long day ahead of us, we got up early and awoke to a misty morning. My new found friend, Tom (from England), was going to get some coffee and a danish before heading out and I knew he would catch up to me soon and so I set off to find my way out of town. Before I got out of town the mist turned to a soft rain and I stopped to put on my rain gear and the new system to keep my cast dry. As I made my way to the lane that took me out of town Tom caught up to me and we walked together for the remainder of the day. We walked past beautiful quintas, some abandoned and some restored, remarking how great it would be to own one (or more)and to make a pilgrim albergue for this portion of the Camino. As a side note: the reason so many km need to be done each day on this portion of the Camino is that there are no pilgrim hostels (albergues) and one is forced to make it to a town/city with proper lodging. This also makes this portion of the Camino more expensive as the albergues are usually around 5Euros. Further along the path the light rain turned to a downpour. It was at this point that the mostly flat path we had been walking from Lisbon came to an end. We now entered a eucalyptus forest which was full of steep ups and downs on old washed out logging roads. Tom was very patient with me, waiting for me to crest the inclines and giving time and support for the crying bouts that occasionally occurred through the forest. Once through the forest we still had quite a ways to go to make it to Tomar. Tom was a trooper and stayed with me as I sludged through the rain and mud to our destination. We walked 32km (19 miles) today and I was unsure if I could keep up the needed pace to make it to Porto.
At breakfast the next morning I explained to Tom that I could not continue the 30km+ days (6 more in route) and that I would take a rest day in Tomar and either continue on from Tomar or skip ahead. I hoped that I might see him further on, but made my goodbyes in case. I spent a lovely day in Tomar and would recommend anyone walking the Camino to take a zero-day here. Tomar is home to the Convent of Christ, which was originally the base of the Poor Knights of Jesus Christ, formerly known as the Knights of the Order of the Temple, a.k.a Knights Templar. Why this jewel did not get into Dan Brown's The daVinci Code, I will never know. The castle and citadel were beyond amazing! I spent 6 hours wandering through this extensive complex learning about its history (during and after the Knights Templar). I also found many visual references to the Knights Templar throughout the city. As I toured around the city I learned that there is also a huge feast festival, Festa dos Tabuleiro (Festival of Trays), that is held every 4 years, with last year being the most recent. During this festival the citizens compete for the best decorated streets, which they adorn with flower garlands and the pictures I saw were beautiful. During the final day of the festival, ladies parade through the street with these huge tray-hats on their heads that hold 30 loaves of bread, corn, decorative flowers, and topped with a crown. More information about the festival can be found here. I would like to return to witness this festival in the future - 2015 is the next one. This afternoon I met Ann, from England, a travel writer, who has been visiting the city. We enjoyed a dinner out and had lovely conversation. Though I did quite a bit of walking today, it was a relaxing day and Tomar was definitely a jewel.
See Tomar pictures here.
At breakfast the next morning I explained to Tom that I could not continue the 30km+ days (6 more in route) and that I would take a rest day in Tomar and either continue on from Tomar or skip ahead. I hoped that I might see him further on, but made my goodbyes in case. I spent a lovely day in Tomar and would recommend anyone walking the Camino to take a zero-day here. Tomar is home to the Convent of Christ, which was originally the base of the Poor Knights of Jesus Christ, formerly known as the Knights of the Order of the Temple, a.k.a Knights Templar. Why this jewel did not get into Dan Brown's The daVinci Code, I will never know. The castle and citadel were beyond amazing! I spent 6 hours wandering through this extensive complex learning about its history (during and after the Knights Templar). I also found many visual references to the Knights Templar throughout the city. As I toured around the city I learned that there is also a huge feast festival, Festa dos Tabuleiro (Festival of Trays), that is held every 4 years, with last year being the most recent. During this festival the citizens compete for the best decorated streets, which they adorn with flower garlands and the pictures I saw were beautiful. During the final day of the festival, ladies parade through the street with these huge tray-hats on their heads that hold 30 loaves of bread, corn, decorative flowers, and topped with a crown. More information about the festival can be found here. I would like to return to witness this festival in the future - 2015 is the next one. This afternoon I met Ann, from England, a travel writer, who has been visiting the city. We enjoyed a dinner out and had lovely conversation. Though I did quite a bit of walking today, it was a relaxing day and Tomar was definitely a jewel.
See Tomar pictures here.
I had decided during my tour on the previous day that I would skip ahead to Porto so that I would not have the extremely long days and to help on my budget as spending the extra days in cities to rest was quickly becoming expensive. The train ride to Porto was pretty uneventful and I decided to take a couple of days to explore the large city before getting back to the Camino.
I took two days to explore the historic city of Porto. Porto is most famous for port wine and has quite a few cellars and tours you can take as well as a museum all about port. This is another city I caught the hop-on-hop-off bus as Porto is a sprawling city. I stopped by the cathedral to get my sello (stamp) for my pilgrim credencial and I found a Camino shell that I have been looking for since Lisbon. The shell is a large scallop with the symbol of Santiago's sword on it. This shell indicates to others that one is on a pilgrimage on the Camino to Santiago. I was hoping to finding one while I was in Lisbon but I could not find one in any of the religious or tourist shops I scoured. Along the path I would check into the religious shops but not find any of the shells, but had been unsuccessful in my search. Therefore, I was very surprised as I walked by a shop near my hostel and they were being displayed in the front window! To learn more about the Camino, the symbols and the pilgrimage you can read here. I also meet Bobbie, from Arizona, at my hostel. Bobbie had already completed the Frances route of the Camino and had time left over so she came to Porto to do the Portugesa route. We enjoyed dinner together and chatted about our pilgrim experience to this point. She will head out the day before I do, and we talked about possibly meeting up again later on the trail. Other sights I enjoyed in Porto was the Tram Museum, St. Francis Cathedral and museum, Clergio Tower, and a street market. My last night in Porto I ended up playing tour guide to Ty, a girl from Korea, and a couple, Alex & Joe from Canada. I find it funny that almost everywhere I go people ask me for directions, or I become an unofficial guide of the area.
See Porto pictures here.
I took two days to explore the historic city of Porto. Porto is most famous for port wine and has quite a few cellars and tours you can take as well as a museum all about port. This is another city I caught the hop-on-hop-off bus as Porto is a sprawling city. I stopped by the cathedral to get my sello (stamp) for my pilgrim credencial and I found a Camino shell that I have been looking for since Lisbon. The shell is a large scallop with the symbol of Santiago's sword on it. This shell indicates to others that one is on a pilgrimage on the Camino to Santiago. I was hoping to finding one while I was in Lisbon but I could not find one in any of the religious or tourist shops I scoured. Along the path I would check into the religious shops but not find any of the shells, but had been unsuccessful in my search. Therefore, I was very surprised as I walked by a shop near my hostel and they were being displayed in the front window! To learn more about the Camino, the symbols and the pilgrimage you can read here. I also meet Bobbie, from Arizona, at my hostel. Bobbie had already completed the Frances route of the Camino and had time left over so she came to Porto to do the Portugesa route. We enjoyed dinner together and chatted about our pilgrim experience to this point. She will head out the day before I do, and we talked about possibly meeting up again later on the trail. Other sights I enjoyed in Porto was the Tram Museum, St. Francis Cathedral and museum, Clergio Tower, and a street market. My last night in Porto I ended up playing tour guide to Ty, a girl from Korea, and a couple, Alex & Joe from Canada. I find it funny that almost everywhere I go people ask me for directions, or I become an unofficial guide of the area.
See Porto pictures here.
Though I was a bit disappointed for not pushing through the 30km+ days and I actually only hiked 2 days this week, I really am glad that I decided to jump ahead to Porto. I was not enjoying those long days and I feel if I had tried to continue that I would have become frustrated and given up all together. I look forward to the shorter days and cheaper lodgings.
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