Sept 26
I didn’t want to get going this morning. Not sure if it was because of the long walk out of a large city or that I didn’t know when (or if) I would see my Camino family again.
I decided to eliminate the first issue by taking a metro part of way out of the city.
After my failed attempt at riding the metro in Lisbon, I decided to face the challenge. No problem. The ticket machine instructions were clear and available in many languages. For €2.20 a bought a reloadable transit card and a 3-zone fare to get me to Custio.
Despite waiting until 9:00, the train was pretty packed, but I was able to find a seat.
Getting off at Custio, the road the Camino was following was literally the overpass of the train stop. After another 5k of walking, I felt like the city was finally being left behind.
I’m writing now during my 10k rest at a little cafe. So far, I’ve seen no familiar faces. I did pass two pilgrims in another cafe speaking French and two girls stopped into the cafe for a pilgrim stamp. Leslie was from Canada (BC) and had just started today from Porto. Kelsey was from Dallas, Texas and began in Coimbra last week.
I reached my Alberge for the night at 1:40. They open at 2. There was one other pilgrim waiting when I arrived and then my friend Lena arrived before the host opened the building.
The hostel is nondescript from the outside – a basic rectangle of concrete. But inside is a nice courtyard and large yard with both sunny and shady areas.
I’m in a 3-bunkbed room. My roommates are Lena; Noam from Israel and Ana from Spain. I’ve been in co-ed bunk rooms before but this is the first time I’ve been the only guy.
Shower taken. Laundry done. Blog almost finished. Life is good.
