Greg's Wanderings

Category: Trail Blog

Once I arrive in Portugal, I hope to provide daily progress of my journey to Santiago de Compostela.

  • Day 2 – September 12

    Day 2 – September 12

    I started my walk at 7 AM, a little bit before official daybreak. The first 6 km of today’s journey were along a busy highway. For the most part, there were sufficient sidewalks or at least asphalt outside of the fog line, but occasionally things got tight. Drivers are very courteous and always pulled towards the center lane as they approached. 

    Today I met my first fellow pilgrims on the trail. As I was entering the town of Alhandra, I noticed two men with backpacks up ahead. I caught up with them as they attempted to find the transition from the city street to a river walk. They were both from South Korea and spoke relatively good English so we chatted for a while. 

    By the time I reached my destination of Azambuja, I had met six pilgrims:  four from South Korea, one each from France and Scotland.  

    Questioning my pace

    I like to walk fast.  On hikes by myself I’ll often walk 3.5mph (a little over 5kpm).  And now I find myself doing the same here in Portugal.  

    But why?  I was lucky yesterday that my hotel was ready at 1 pm, but my alberge for this evening didn’t even open until 3 pm.  

    Earlier today, the two Korean guys stopped along the riverwalk as soon as they found a bench with shade.  In my head I thought “no, I have to keep going because I’m stopping in Xira after hiking for 2 hours.”

    A bit later I realized there was no reason I couldn’t do both.  This isn’t a race.  It’s not like it’s high season and the last one there may not get a room.  From this point on, I vow slow down a bit, take more beaks and enjoy what there is around me.  

    I did stop in Xira at a cute cafe called “Croassanteria da Praca”.  The pastry was delicious and the tiny cup of coffee was so strong that for the first time in my life I added sugar.  The bill:  €2.2

    Coffee break in Xira

    The majority of today’s trail can be summed up as follows: flat, straight and devoid of shade. In one 7km stretch the only shade was a highway overpass and a small olive grove (12 trees). At one point I ventured off trail a bit to sit in the shade of a parked semi trailer.

    Tonight, I’m staying in a true alberge.  There are beds for 15 and as of just before 6 pm, 13 are claimed.  Only the Frenchman, Dominique from the trail today is here.  I learned that there are 12 South Koreans traveling through and they are all staying elsewhere.  

    I haven’t met everyone here yet, but there are guys from Estonia, UK, New Zealand, Denmark and France; and women from Belgium and the US (Portland by coincidence). In hope to hear where the others are by dinner time. 

    The cool thing about this melting pot is that English is the common language.  

    My hotel from last night
    The start of the Riverwalk for 4km
    Bougainvillea lining the riverwalk.
    Distance markers on the trail
    Lots of places to stop and rest.
    The bull fighting ring in Xira
    Evidence that Bullfighting continues
    Flat and straight, but at least this section has shade
    Fellow pilgrims ahead.
    The Camino provides. In this case, with a porta potty
    If I was doing the Fatima pilgrimage, I’d only have 100km to go
    Field of Roma tomatoes
    I noticed these snails on many bushes
    Long, straight and shadeless
  • Dinner across the street

    Dinner across the street

    Most places don’t serve dinner until 7 pm.  The hole-in-the-wall place across the  street was no exception. 

    After a false start at 6:35, I arrived back at 7:05 as a flood of people entered.  The place seemed to be a favorite of both families and blue collar workers alike.  Four large tables were occupied by big, burly men in matching t-shirts.  

    A favorite place for the locals

    The menu was scratched on two chalkboards and all options were the same price: €12.50. And that included soup and wine.

    My waiter had limited English skills (but far more than my Portuguese).  We started with the basics: meat or fish?  Meat.  Steak or chicken? Chicken.  Soup?  Yes. 

    I ordered red wine, which brought a small glass and a half liter carafe.  The rustic bread already on the table was fabulous.  

    My half chicken arrived barbecued and cut into four pieces.  Like every other plate around me, at came with a large scoop of rice and a heap of French Fries.  

    The Portuguese do love their starches and fries are ubicitius.  So far, the only mean I’ve been served without fries came with potato chips.  

    I finished my soup, chicken, bread and rice and made a small dent in the pile of fries.  I made a noble effort on the wine too, but I did need to stumble back across the street.  

    I’m hoping the vino helps me sleep until at least 5:30 tomorrow morning. This waking up before 5 is getting old.  

    One of the side benefits of walking 30-40 thousand steps a day is that you can pretty much eat whatever you want. I intend to continue to try new things and find these hole-the-wall gems.

    I met my first fellow pilgrims tonight. My nextdoor neighbors are two sisters from Quebec. They don’t seem quite as adventurous…they ate at Pizza Hut tonight.

  • Camino Day 1

    Camino Day 1

    Lisbon to Alverca de Ribatejo

    The guidebook said the traditional route for the first stage of the Camino is over 30 km. Then there was a footnote that a recent boardwalk had been installed along the Tagus river that cut about 7 km off of the journey.

    The traditional route also started from the Lisbon cathedral, which was a 2 km uphill walk from my accommodations of the prior night. And given that I had explored the cathedral the day before and couldn’t find the marker for the starting point I saw a little point in returning there to begin my adventure.

    Since I had read that much of the early part of the journey was through industrial lands, I decided that I would take the subeay to a point up the trail where it begins going through the site of the 1998 World’s Fair.

    My plan was stymied when I discovered that the gates to the subway platform were locked. I returned upstairs asked an agent what was going on. I learned that the metro drivers were on strike. The agent suggested taking the #728 bus which would take me to the same location as Metro. I walked out of the station and saw a sardine-packed number 728 pulling away from the curb.

    Not wanting to start my Camino journey waiting another 20 minutes for the next bus, I decided to start walking along the bus route and figured I would eventually get on one while making some forward progress in the meantime. About six stops up the line, the bus caught up with me and I hopped on board for another 16 stops.

    This guy was the Expo ’98 mascot

    I knew the direction I must head was to simply follow the river upstream, but the expo grounds were so expansive that I could not find any of the yellow arrows that mark the way to Santiago. Not to worry, I knew to simply follow the river and that I would be passing underneath the massive Vasco da Gama bridge.

    When I reached the bridge, I still had not seen a Camino markers. At this point, the various parallel trails began to converge into a single track and within a couple hundred yards of passing under the bridge I saw my first Camino marker.

    I took a photo and then looked at my watch to see how long I have been walking and writing without the guidance of the arrows. I noticed the coincidence that my first Camino marker was found at 9:11 AM on 9/11.

    After passing through the expo grounds and crossing over a small tributary, I came to the split where the new boardwalk provided an alternative to the traditional route through town. The choice was not hard one: extra kilometers and cobblestones or fewer kilometers and wildlife.

    Flamingos feeding along the shore

    My treat of the day came shortly thereafter when I noticed some tall birds eating from the ground along the banks of the river. As I grew closer, I realized they were flamingos! I was entertained by the way they walk, swinging their head from the side to side at ground level as they look for food.

    The boardwalk stretched for over 6 km and by its end, I was getting hungry and ready for something to eat. I checked Google maps and found that there were several restaurants another 2 km up the trail. I stopped at a place right along the riverbank and had a delicious grilled tuna sandwich with chips and a beer for only €6.

    After finishing my lunch, I checked the map and realized I had less than 2 km to go to reach my destination for the day. I was concerned that arriving just after 1 PM may result in me waiting for rooms to be ready but was pleased to discover that they had rooms available and I was able to check in right away.

    I have a nice comfortable room with a shared bath next-door. Although I have yet to meet others, I have heard people in the hallway talking about being on the Camino so I am not alone in my journey.

    I love those mosaic sidewalks
    Vasco da Gama bridge
    My first Camino marker
    New park dedicated to Pope Francis
    The boardwalk winds over the estuary
    My 6 Euro lunch – including the beer
    Pedestrian overpass with 108 steps
    Gas is the equivalent of $7.77 per gallon
    The Alberge in this town is closed so I had to “settle” for a hotel.
  • Exploring Lisbon

    Exploring Lisbon

    if I learned one thing today about Lisbon, it’s that I want to come back and spend more time here.

    This really is a charming city. It’s got a rich history, great food, very friendly people and cobblestone everywhere.

    My day started walking to find a grocery store for breakfast and snack items. If there’s a town that Lisbon reminds me of from a geographical perspective it’s San Francisco. there are hills everywhere! i’m staying in an older residential district near the city Central core. It’s a steep climb up or down in any direction for anything. The first grocery that I attempted to go to turned out to be torn down. I didn’t find a convenience store a little further up a hill and came home with the supply of fruits, cheese bread, and some dried apricots for trail food.

    after eating my breakfast, I decided to take a stroll and try to find the Lisbon cathedral before my scheduled 10 AM walking tour of old town Lisbon. According to my mapping software, I found the cathedral, but it was not open despite the fact that scheduled hours suggested it should’ve been opened by 9:30. Time was getting short for me to get to my walking tour so I decided to try to find the cathedral later in the day.

    my tour guide was named Thiago and he was a Lisbon native and a historian by trade. There were approximately 20 people in our group about half of which were US citizens. We also had couples from Canada, the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Serbia, and Greece.

    among the things we learned was that Lisbon was actually the second oldest city in all of Europe behind Athens. It’s history dates back to over 3000 years ago that said, there is very little in the city that is over 300 years old because of a massive earthquake, tsunami and fire in 1755 that leveled the town and killed over half of it inhabitants.

    When the town was rebuilt, new reinforcing techniques were used and most buildings were built using a common plan so as you walk around, there are hundreds and hundreds of buildings that basically look the same.

    Lisbon is known for its tile work and cobblestones in Mosaic patterns. 

    Following the tour, I wandered around the city on foot, putting in a total of almost 12 miles on my non hiking day. I eventually found the Lisbon Cathedral. It was two blocks past the cathedral that I had stopped at mistakenly. I went in and got my pilgrim stamp so I can begin my walk tomorrow before the cathedral opens at 9:30.

    Many buildings used a common plan when the city was rebuilt after the quake of 1755.
    An elevator for dealing with the hills
    St George castle
    The “cursed” church has no crucifix by order of the Vatican
    Many structures have tile siding to help keep them cool and reduce spread of fire.
    Patterned cobblestone sidewalks
    More patterns
    The city’s fame for tile shows up in the gift shops
    Lisbon Catheral. Starting point for the Camino Portuguese
    Gate into St George castle