Camino Tales:

Situation:

Guy at next table (outdoor) is seated with three women

Guy gets up to go to the bathroom

As he leaves…

A pigeon leaves a deposit on his chair from above – splat

As 3-4 languages ensue in laughter from surrounding tables, the three girls decide to leave it there for him to find

Just as he was sitting down (all of the tables waiting to see what he would do) they told him and he jumped like he was sleeping at the edge of a vine row as a tractor with blades of decapitation exited the row.

All laughed and made, for a brief moment in time a connection of humanity when they all discussed the timing of the bird shit on the chair.

As I was walking today, I heard a little mew from the woods. As I was walking by it became incessant. I crossed the street to investigate and a little kitten wanted attention. More than that it was hungry.

There happened to be a park about 250m down the road. As I walked down the road she started screaming at me. Not much I could do. It followed me down and crossing the road.

I sat down and it was mewing quite a lot. It was really hungry. Probably lost its mom as it was only about four weeks old.

I gave it all of the meat and cheese from my sandwich and it was still hungry. I gave it the bread and it ate the buttered bread. But left the dry bread.

Time to leave. It didn’t want me too. So I picked it up and stuck it on my pack behind my head. It didn’t like that. So I held it a bit and it freaked out when cars passed.

I could just leave it there. It would surly have died on the road. And besides, it followed me when I put it down and started walking.

So I did the cowardly thing. I looked for a high wall/fence where it couldn’t see me from the other side and I dropped it over in someone’s yard. OMG did she yell at me. The cat not the owner.

Anyway, I made my clean escape. Hopefully it will find a home where I left it.

Not a long day. But a very hot one. 95°.

The forecast has 95°-100° for the next week each day is around 30km. Note that I am not posting from where I finished walking today at Caxarias. I’m in Coimbra. Not much cooler here but here I can do 20km walks in the morning before it heats up without missing the schedule.

Towards the end of my hike today I was starting to get chills. So I did the best thing for it. I had a beer – well ok –

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I’m all sticky and sweaty. My hands feel swollen. I really want to take a shower. But with 95° heat out there at 1640, I’ll just get my clean clothes all drenched.

The hostel i am in wouldn’t let me wash in the kitchen. So I have to pay 5€ and change to wash and dry two changes of clothes.

On the 100th anniversary of the 2nd apparition of Fatima, it was revealed that Francisco and Jacinta – two of the three children who Fatima appeared to, would go to heaven soon. Which they both did within two years to due the flu pandemic. It was also revealed that the third child – Lucia, would live a long life to teach the rosary. Lucia died in 2005 after a long life of service teaching the rosary.

Tonight is a great celebration of the catholic faith. And if the crowds are an indicator, it will be well attended.

A day off from the walking. Wandered around Sanrarém – an old fortified city on the top of a hill that survived many attacks and earthquakes. It has many examples of gothic architecture.

Camino Tales:

55km in one day is a lot. Stack that with 37° temperatures and it can be a bitch.

About 45km into the walk, I was starting to experience the symptoms of heat exhaustion.

The next shade I find (walking under the sun in open farmland) is the end of a grape row- not unlike that which you would see in Sonoma county.

I throw the pack down, drink some water, eat a banana and a piece of scrumptious trader lies dark chocolate and lay down to rest with a basic awareness of the drone of farm machinery in the background.

Not 10 minutes later while I was blissfully disturbing all of the wildlife in the area with my snores m, the tractor exited the row I happened to be snoozing when a leaf-trimming-spinning-blades-of-decapitation-and-death tractor exited said row and came inches from the snoozing pilgrim.

Now you must understand that under normal conditions, anyone would move quickly, but in a fatigued, snoring state, my movement was – a miracle.

After giving the tractor operator a freight – never mind my own, we chatted amicably 30 minutes while I learned all about his vineyard and it’s operations.

Friendships made in challenging circumstances.

Today was a long hot day. Longer than it should have been.

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Maybe if I threaten to skip the -next- reported bad section, I’ll actually do it all. I’m behind schedule but there is something really nice about saying ‘screw the schedule’.

Another 20km walk today. This one was

Much better as -most- of it was on trails or country roads. Then there was the 4km or so on that busy-ass-no-shoulder-heavy-transport-vehicles-waytoofast-waytooclose road that was scary as shit.

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Day One – an easy stroll in the heat and on hardtop. My feet are not happy with the asphalt. Unfortunately, it looks like the next 70km is on similar surfaces although not as industrial as what I just walked.

There’s an aviation museum tomorrow at 10km and a nice comfortable train ride to the next albergue. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

Things to note:

Rural Portuguese is NOT the same as metropolitan Portuguese

My Spanish is not getting me as far through heavier accents, less exposure to Spanish and local colloquialisms

No worries – just another challenge. It’s a game to see if I get what I think I am ordering. And if not, I’m trying something new.

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It’s always a bit disorienting flying to a new city, taking the metro and popping up somewhere. Which exit you came out of and which direction you are heading the first (and sometimes the second) time is something that you must figure out before randomly following the crowd down a street.

As I was intent on getting to my hostel, lots of people were taking a picture. So I turned around and found this elevator and room above. Not sure what it is/does but I’ll go back in the daylight and find out.

I have a whole day to explore this part of Lisboa before I head out on Thursday. If things go well on the camino, I will have 2-3 days extra to wander around more.

Enjoyed he too-warm weather and thankful it will be cooler tomorrow when I have my pack on.

I’ll head out again tonight and see if the city came to life other than the shops. Most bars and Places to listen to fado were closed.

Tomorrow will likely be a short day but I will end up traveling 60Km. I’m going to bypass the industrial suburbs of Lisbon and take the train to Azambuja. Then again, I might not. I guess tomorrow will tell.

Today was a day to celebrate. Walked with some good people and crossed into Galicia. I love this place.