Greg's Wanderings

Category: Trail Blog

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

  • Dinner on the Farm

    Dinner on the Farm

    I meant to post this last night, so this is my Wednesday dinner…

    Part of the reason I chose to stay in Vila Verde were the rave reviews of the dinners they served.  

    When I arrived and discovered Andrus’ wife, Lea was in Lisbon for the day and that I was the only guest arriving in time for dinner, I was concerned dinner might not live up to my expectations.  Boy was I wrong.  

    First course was cream of pumpkin soup, with carrots and sweet potatoes.  Andrus apologized that the sweet potatoes were store bought, but said the other vegetables were from his garden.  The course was served with grilled bread – topped with olive oil – from their orchard – and Estonian rye bread.

    Second course was Estonian smoked chicken (smoked, then baked, then covered with mayonnaise and paprika); fries; riced, cooked with pepper corn and other spices; and a garden salad – literally from the garden.  Even the olive oil and lemon juice dressing were from the farm.  

    Dessert was a homemade ice cream with orange peal.  A perfect top off.  

    After fixing my meal, Andrus excused himself to go care for the animals.  The farm has sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese and quail.  

    As I sit here watching the sunset, it’s hard to think of a more pleasant place to be: surrounded avocado, olive and citrus trees. 

    Just as I was heading for bed, the other two guests for the night arrived. A very pleasant couple from Israel. When I said I was from Oregon, they said “oh we love Oregon”. They spent two months in an RV traveling across the western US.  For the second time today, someone mentioned Multnomah Falls after I said I was from Oregon.

  • Day 7 – Sept. 17 – Tomar to Vila Verde

    Day 7 – Sept. 17 – Tomar to Vila Verde

    The heat wave continues. However, since I only had about 21K to go today, I didn’t get out the door until 7 AM.

    At the edge of Tomar, the Camino splits, sending walkers down a narrow path along the river. Bicyclists (and hikers in the rainy season) have a less picturesque route.

    Hikers get the pretty route

    Today’s trek went through many small villages, but most of them had little to no services to offer pilgrims. I think in part because of my rest day, I have encountered many people today that I have not seen on the trail before. I assume that they didn’t take a rest day and started the day after I did.

    I stopped for coffee and pastry in the small village of Soianda. I was soon joined by Barney, the Aussie. Barney injured his knee just prior to Santarem and decided to continue his journey via bicycle after until his knee feels better. He found a bike on Facebook marketplace for €50 and plans to ride it until he reaches Porto where he will give it away.

    Barney is an interesting cat. If you saw them on the street, you’d likely give them a wide berth. He’s got a shaved head and tattoos all the way up to below his chin, but he’s a really nice guy who is a social worker back home in Australia.  He says he is planning to take his 80 year-old mother on one of the shorter Caminos next year.

    Barney (Australia) with Jennifer (Tennessee) outside a hostel – one of the few places to stop for a beverage today.

    The list of countries of people I have met continues to grow.  Today I met my first Italian and Croatian.  I’ve now met people from 18 different countries.

    I arrived at the village of Vila Verde almost 90 minutes before my check in time. Since there hadn’t been a place to stop for lunch along the way, I found a café near my hostel and had a delicious lunch of roasted chicken, baked potatoes, rice, and salad for a fixed price meal also included a beer and pudding for dessert (€10.50).

    When I reached the hostel, I felt I had died and gone to heaven. This is the loveliest place I’ve stayed on this Camino and quite frankly in a very long time anywhere.

    Since I’m not traveling with anyone, I have a double room for just myself with a shared bath with one other room. According to Andrus, my host, he expects to have a total of three guests tonight.

    I am currently sitting under the shaded courtyard with a bar and a salted swimming pool. I’m waiting for the sun’s rays to be a little less direct before I hop in.

    I’ve hand-washed my clothes and they are drying in the hot Portugal sun. I expect they will be drying fast faster than if I was putting them in the dryer at home.

    The walk along the river Trail was the most stereotypical trail I’ve been on so far.
    Where the Rio Nabao Splits. The near bank feeds a canal that runs the watermill in Tomar.
    Ancient bridge
    Simple chapel
    “Main Street”
    Fortunately, fountains with non-portable water or well marked
    Lunch: €10.50 inclusive of beer & dessert
    My home for the night: Herdade di Luce
    Guest kitchen
    Dining & common room (air conditioned)
    Salt water pool
    Courtyard bar
    Covered area to relaxed adjacent to the bar
  • Day 6 – Sept 16 – rest day in Tomar

    Day 6 – Sept 16 – rest day in Tomar

    It feels a little funny calling a day with 25,000 steps a rest day, but since none of those steps was carrying a backpack, it was definitely a rest day.

    I allowed myself to be really lazy and hung around in bed until the 8 AM breakfast at my hotel. served as part of the package. 

    Breakfast: ham, cheese, bread, juice and do-it-yourself latte with a pitcher each of espresso and heated milk.

    After eating breakfast, I wandered over to a nearby Merdato, which is essentially a farmers market in a permanent structure. Lots of fruit and vegetable stands as well as a fish market and several butcher shops all under one roof. 

    Mercado

    I wandered up the street to explore town a little and walk-through both the courtyard of a church under repair and what appeared to be an ancient cemetery.  However  I discovered most of the graves were from the 1880s or newer.

    Interesting gravestones

    After dropping off my groceries at the hotel, I wandered up the hill to the Castle of Tomar, which I wrote about in a previous post. 

    I wanted to see the aquaduct that fed the castle and was told it was only about 1.5k up the hill. I started my walk only to have my phone app continue to increase the distance even though I was heading in the correct path.   Given that the temperature was approaching 90°, and I had only a small portion of water left. I decided to abandon that effort and went back down the hill.

    Near my hotel was a café with a beer tap and I ordered a large beer expecting to get something akin to a pint.   Instead, I was brought a huge beer stein, which I felt obligated to finish.  

    After that, it was back to my room for a shower and a nap.

    Late afternoon I made another excursion out to buy some bottled water and some grapes for my hike tomorrow.

    I then met up with John and Sherry for dinner and we had a delightful evening together.   They are planning to go further tomorrow than I do, but we will hopefully catch up further down the trail.

    Dinner with Sherry & John
  • The castle and the convent

    The castle and the convent

    In 1160 after successfully driving the Moors out of Portugal, the Knights Templar were granted land in Tomar where they built a castle fortress. For approximately 150 years, the Castle of Tomar was their headquarters for the Templars.  In the early 1300s. the Templars were disbanded – something to do with debts of the king of France and a deal made with the pope.

    At that time, a convent (what I would call a monastery) was constructed adjacent to the castle. The two structures together are massive – just the gardens inside of the castle walls measure 65 acres. 

    I can’t do this structure justice by describing it with words so I’ll let pictures tell the story. 

    A view of the Castle walls
    From the wall looking down into the orchard
    You can walk around most of the ramparts
    Even the shooting ports are in the shape of the cross
    A guardhouse at the far end of the castle wall. A fireplace to keep them warm on cold nights
    A view of the city of Tomar from the Castle wall
    The castle keep
    The angle base of the castle walls was a defensive technique to make it difficult for siege engines
    One of the castle Gates
    A Knight, Templar greeting at the gate
    A 3-D model of the compound. The convent at the lower half and the cast in the upper half.
    One of four inner courtyards within the convent
    A chapel with tiled walls
    Exterior view of the convent
     The tile work was exquisite
    Another of the courtyards
    The main sanctuary
    The other end of the sanctuary
    A prayer room
    Architectural detail wherever you look
    Another courtyard
    The priority with 40 cells for the friars who lived at the convent
    A narrow circular staircase
    Courtyard #4
    The rectory
    Staircase down to the cistern
    The sister filled by an aqueduct that extended for 6.6 km
    Courtyard
    Oil storage room
    Aquaduct