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 11 – Sernadelo to Agueda

    Day 11 – Sernadelo to Agueda

    Sept 21

    Last night was such an enjoyable evening.  A few of us went to the supermarket and each bought a bottle of wine and a snack.  We then went back to the alberge and invited others to join us.  We ended up with 10 people sharing 5 bottles.  Together, we represented nine different countries.

    After our social hour, six of us walked to a nearby restaurant. The town we were staying in, is famous for roasted suckling pig, and several of us decided to try it out. It was quite good. More bottles of wine were had and it was a very, very enjoyable evening.

    This morning the temperature felt markedly cooler and for the first time I hiked wearing a jacket. I was one of the first ones out, although not terribly early since today was only a 25 km hike. 

    The route was somewhat boring today.  Most of it on paved roads going through a combination of industrial zones and residential neighborhoods.  Perhaps because it was Sunday, it was challenging to find a place to stop for coffee and I was 17 km into my walk before I found a place. Before I had finished my coffee, I was joined by Nicos,  Lena and Meelis. All of us were heading to the same alberge in the next town down the road.

    Our alberge this evening is charming. I met a group of bicyclists from Brazil and now have met people from every inhabitanted continent on the planet. 

    Several of us decided to utilize the kitchen in the alberge and as I’m typing this, I am cooking up spaghetti.  All the ingredients for dinner for four, including spaghetti, a loaf of bread a tossed green salad and a bottle of wine came to €12. 

    I made due with a tiny kitchen and spices I had to identify by smell and whipped up the spaghetti.  The ultimate compliment was when Nicos, the Italian, asked for seconds and said it was really good.

    Nations represented: UK, Italy, US, Germany, France, Estonia, New Zealand, Australia, Finland
    After our suckling pig feast
    Fog bank this morning
    Long stretches of pavement was the agenda for today
    Gorgeous estate I passed
    Most of the day was walking through industrial zones. Fortunately, it was Sunday, so it was quiet
    I’ve noticed that many advertisements and company slogans have English taglines.
    Our alberge for the night.
    Shoes and boots left behind
    The official greeting crew for the alberge
    Serving up my spaghetti creation
    Enjoying our spaghetti dinner

  • Day 10 – Coimbra to Sernadelo

    Day 10 – Coimbra to Sernadelo

    Sept 20

    I did end up having a room to myself last night and had a luxurious night of sleep thanks to my eye mask and earplugs, which blocked out the festivities going on outside my window.

    I woke up about 6 AM feeling refreshed and very slowly started getting ready for the day.  I realized I had less than 130 km to get to Porto. The next major city along the route. Most of the travel guides had that broken into five segments averaging roughly 25 km a day I thought about trying to do it in four days (33 kilometers a day), but the locations of accommodations didn’t align.  So today I started off for Sernadelo. 

    I have to admit I was very tired yesterday on my Uber ride into town and wasn’t paying great attention. In the morning, I looked at the map and it looked as if I needed to cross the river to head out of town. I started down the hill in a foggy mist and started off across the bridge. About mid span a guy with hiking poles and a white ball cap was heading the other way. It was Meelis!  He said “do you know you’re going the wrong way?“

    Sure enough in my foggy state the day before I hadn’t realized that I’d already crossed the river and needed to be heading in the opposite direction. The Camino does provide and in this case it was a friendly face to point me in the right direction before I had gone too far out of my way.

    We walked along the river walk for a cup of kilometers and the city quickly gave way to cornfields.  Harvest was beginning and lots of people were pulling over to the side of the road with big bushel baskets to pick the corn.

    We caught up with Dan who stayed at the monastery with Melis the night before.

    The hike today was uneventful. Lots of small villages to pass through interspersed with service roads through agricultural land and forests.

    Tonight’s accommodation is the pilgrim-only alberge Residencial Hilario. I’m staying in the 12-bed dormitory.

    The dormitory is beginning to fill up with guests from France, Australia, Estonia, UK, Slovenia and me as the only Yank so far.

    Not a photo heavy day today…

    Typical trail today
    Talk about targeted marketing: this flyer was in a forest miles from anything except pilgrims
    Outside of the alberge
    Inside the dormitory

  • Day 9 – Sept 19 – Alvorge to Coimbra

    Day 9 – Sept 19 – Alvorge to Coimbra

    Last night’s hostel wasn’t the quietest of accommodations. Karen, the Austrian, left at four this morning and was extremely stealthy getting out the door. I can’t say the same for others who began wrestling around sometime between 430 and five. By 530. I decided there was no more sleep to be had and got up.

    I took my belongings out to the terrace so I could pack without disturbing the few remaining sleepers. Sherry and John were out packing up at the same time as well. 

    With the aid of my headlamp, I headed out of town and down fairly steep rocky gully that was the exit from Alvorge. 

    Today is supposed to be the last day of the heat wave but like yesterday there are some scattered clouds and so far the sun has yet to really become an issue.  As I’m typing this segment, it’s nearing 10 AM and I’m stopping for my 15 km break. 

    I always carry two water bottles with me and left Alvorge with both full. I drained the first as I was entering the small village of Zambujal.  I decided to go into town to look for a Mercado or a bar where I could buy some additional water. Just, as I rounded the corner into town, there was a public fountain. The Camino provides! 

    Another 6.7 km from where I’m currently resting is an ancient Roman city called Coninbriga.  There is a museum there and ruins that you can tour. I am going to make a detour and visit them.

    My goal for today is to make it to Coimbra, where most of my friends are also planning to be tonight. At nearly 40 km from my starting point, I plan to take a bus or an Uber once I get to mid afternoon. 25K for the day is plenty for me.

    The ruins of Coninbriga were amazing.   22 Centuries old and yet mosaic tile floors were still intact in many places.  The adjacent museum had interesting displays of the various relics found on site. 

    I walked another 4km past the ruins, but my energy was simply tapped out.  I’m really looking forward to the dramatic shift in the forecast starting tomorrow.  

    Hopping into my Uber ride was a bit of a shock after moving at a walking speed for days.  We were going so FAST.  I peaked over at the speedometer but we were just doing the posted speed.  It’s funny how you adjust to a new pace. 

    With only a sliver moon and Venus for natural light, a headlamp was essential this morning.
    Energy break leaning up against an ancient olive tree.
    An old wind mill (without the sails). Likely used for pressing olives.
    Grape harvest under way. This guy was feeding buckets into a pressing machine
    An old bridge – still in use – constructed in 1636
    Besides Camino signs, I keep seeing these markers. Turns out, I’m also on Grand Route 26, one of many across Europe
    Roman house with floor tile still in good shape after 22 centuries
    Part of the bath system
    These columns are all that was left of the forum which was torn down in the middle ages.
    Exterior wall of the city
    Excavations you could climb down into
    More examples of the mosaic floor tile
    A rendering of what the forum looked like in the 1st century BC
    Wild blackberries
    After a week of high temperatures between 31-35 (88-95F). The next week is much cooler 21-27 (70-80 F)
  • Day 8 – Sept 18 – Vila Verde to ?

    Day 8 – Sept 18 – Vila Verde to ?

    I left my lovely hostel from the previous night shortly after six and well before the sun began to brighten the sky. The hostel was not on the Camino. so I hiked down the highway about 1.5 km until the Camino intercepted my road. 

    The temperature today so far has been moderate although it is again expected to get into the low 30s which translates to low 90s  

    I’m trying to stop every 5 km to rest with with stops ending in 5 being brief rests by the side of the road in the shade and on the tens with food and beverage.

    I’m traveling with some snacks, including some peanuts and a Tupperware container that I continue to toss different items in. It currently contains some dried apricots, grapes, and some trail mix. 

    As I write this, I’m taking my 15 km break just outside the hamlet of Vendas at the highest point between Lisbon & Porto (450 meters).

    I have not yet decided how far to go today. There were really only two options within reasonable walking distance. The town of Ansiao is about 27 km from my start point and the town of Alvorge is another 8 beyond that. The reason I may have been considering Alvorge is that if I can make it there, I might be able to catch back up with the people I’ve been walking with for the majority of my pilgrimage.

    Of the four communities in between the two towns, only one even has a café and none has overnight accommodations.

    I will see how my feet feel and how hot it is when I reach Ansaio and we’ll make a decision then as to whether to go on.

    I reached Ansaio around 1 pm and had yet to see another pilgrim.  In fact, I went a couple hours without seeing another human.  

    Shortly after entering Ansaio, I found a mercado and bought a couple bananas and an ice cold can of 7-up.  One banana was consumed practically on the threshold of the store.  Then I opened the soda and started walking down the street.  

    As I rounded the next corner, there was a restaurant with outdoor seating and sitting there was John & Sherry (Idaho), Jennifer (Tennessee) and Charlie from Germany, whom I had not yet met 

    I joined them and we started discussing where to end the day.   Jennifer decided to press on to Riberia – 15 km away – but hired a bag service to take her backpack.

    The rest of us decided to shoot for Alvorge since the weather was overcast and not nearly as oppressively hot as the prior few days.  

    I arrived at the O Lagarerio Hostel in time to claim the last of the 5 lower bunks.   The one familiar face was Karen from Austria, whom I had met yesterday at a cafe.  I’m sure that I’ll get to know the others at dinner, but right now people are napping or talking to family (in what sounds like Italian).  

    As I’m writing this, John and Sherry arrive and claim two of the five upper bunks.  

    We have a nice pilgrim dinner with new friends from Italy & Spain, as well as those met earlier on the trail.

    In this section of the Camino, directions to pilgrims heading to Fatima point the other way. Follow yellow arrows to Santiago.
    Cork oak with recently harvested bark
    The local municipality does a great job with signage and history
    The alberge where my friends stayed last night have the most amazing pilgrim stamps
    How the trail must have looked to pilgrims centuries ago
    34 kilometers. My longest day yet. And that’s before the walk to the grocery store
    Typical hostel & alberge bunk setups.
    Pilgrim dinner