One of the benefits of the platform I’m using is that I get reports on the number of page views and visitors to my website. It also shows by country where visitors are.
While the vast number of readers are friends & family, it’s fun to see that I’ve had visitors from xx different countries and the site has over 4,300 page views.
Thanks to all who have left comments, especially the words of encouragement as I deal with my injured leg.
With the help of my Uber driver, Fernando, I made it to Coimbra, the fourth largest city in Portugal. At first, I was a little overwhelmed because of so many days in the countryside walking through small villages.
My hostel was on a street that was closed to vehicles, so I was dropped off about 200m away. I arrived a half an hour before check-in and wondered where I would wait until I could check in. Not to fear I counted at least 15 bars within 50 m of my hostile.
I had a lovely glass of Port directly across the street and at 3 o’clock checked in to the Change the World hostile. It’s part of a chain of hostels that use the proceeds to fund projects to help the underserved in Third World countries.
I sprang for the “luxury” accommodations a two bunk/4 bed unit with a private bath (€24). As I write this, it’s nearing 10 PM and I’m the only one occupying the room.
After a shower, laundry, and a quick nap I hit the streets and quickly discovered that this “big“ city was extremely walkable and had plenty of interesting things to see nearby.
I got a text from my friends John and Sherry asking if I wanted to join them for dinner. I wandered down to their hotel and we had a drink together before a Rick Steves-recommended restaurant opened for dinner at 7 PM. We had an incredible meal. Sherry and I both had grilled salmon steaks while John had seared tuna.
As we were leaving, we bumped into Barney from Australia and a couple of Italian pilgrims right outside the door. We were quickly joined by Cristiano and Mariana, who had stayed at the hostel with us last night. John went back into the restaurant to find someone to take a photo of the group And came out with Jennifer from Tennessee who is also dating there.
Most of the group is going to stay another night here. Both Mariana and Sherry are nursing injured legs
I on the other hand, will be moving on in an attempt to gain some additional days so at the end of my trip, I can do both a side trip to Finisterra and go to Morocco.
I’ve tried really hard to resist the temptation of adding things to my packing list. And for the most part, I’ve been successful. However, as my departure looms, I have given in and decided to add a few more things to make my stay more comfortable and enjoyable. collectively, these things come to 175g or just over 6 ounces.
Vasoline – after reading several Travel blogs I decided having a small container of Vaseline is a good preventative in case of friction, both between toes and potentially arms or thighs if it gets hot and you get sweaty.
Mini tripod – I’m being encouraged to try doing some video blogging and if I do, I’ll need something to hold my camera in a steady position. This little guy weighs less than 2 ounces and has flexible legs that will allow me to put it on basically any surface, including wrapping around a tree branch.
AirPods, I do not intend to have earbuds plugged in as I’m walking, but if I want to listen to music in the evenings, I thought it would be useful to have something that would allow me to do so without bothering other people. At 65g this is the heaviest of the additions to my packing list
Food container & spork – on a recommendation from the CaminoTellers blog, I decided bring to along a container to store food and means of eating things on the trail. I went with one of the disposable, lightweight food containers, which is roughly half the weight of a traditional Tupperware container.