Greg's Wanderings

Tag: Tomar

  • 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
  • Day 5 – Sept 15 – Golega to Tomar

    Day 5 – Sept 15 – Golega to Tomar

    It’s another 30+ kilometer day and the forecast is for more hot, sunny skies.  I decided to get an early start and left the hostel in the dark around 5:30. 

    With sidewalks and street lamps, the first couple of kilometers were easy-going. After I left the city and headed back into the countryside, I used my headlamp on low setting – more for making me visible to any oncoming vehicles than for illumination. In over 5 km of walking before dawn, I only encountered two cars. 

    As dawn was breaking, I arrived in the village of Sao Caetano.  

    About a half an hour earlier I had looked down at my watch to see how far I’d gone only to see the red lightning arrow indicating low power. Although my watch had been on the charger all night, it didn’t charge.

    I ended up wrapping the band of my watch around the battery pack and placing it in a pocket of the pack to ensure the connection stayed in place. 

    As I walked the next several kilometers through eucalyptus forest, discovered the freedom of not having a tracker on my arm all of the time.

    After several days in the flatlands of the Tagus River Valley today marked the first trek into the hillside through wooded countryside.  While some appeared to be original native forest, most had been groomed as an agricultural crop, and the trees grew and neat tidy rows.  

    For most of the journey, I didn’t experience the unique scent of eucalyptus until near the top of the hill. I reached a section that had been planted only a few years ago with trees only a couple of meters high. The smell of sweet eucalyptus was extremely pleasant. 

    Eventually I descended out of the forest and into the town of Asseiceiria.  As I write this, I am enjoying a beer in a café next-door to the ruins of an old hospital with a plaque dedicated to the last battle of the Portuguese Civil War of 1834.

    Ruins from a battle of the Portuguese Civil War. The rebels surrendered after losing nearly 3,000 men in the battle.

    This afternoon, I will arrive in the city of Tomar and have booked a hotel for two nights stay as I enjoy my first rest day of the trip. 

    Tomar is a large city (pop. 40,000ish).  Coming into larger towns can be a little depressing because you pass the sign that you’ve entered, but still have several kilometers to reach the city center.  

    After entering the city limits, my path veered off the shoulder of a highway and continued for a few kilometers on a gravel service road along the train tracks.  

    As I write this section, I’m killing time in a lovely air conditioned cafe waiting for the time I can check in. 

    I am very ready for my rest day. I’ve done 20+ miles each of the last four days.  My feet are rebelling against me.   This afternoon I took off my shoes & socks and walked the last two kilometers into Tomar in my plastic sandals.

    I’ve now checked into the hotel and for the first time since I arrived in Portugal, I have a private bathroom! And is a special bonus I’ve discovered that it has a tub. Well, not actually a full-size bathtub but a section of the shower that’s deeper than the rest suitable for soaking your feet.  What a nice surprise!

    Happy feet!

    I’ve soaked my feet, taking a shower, wash my clothes and had a short nap. My devices are all charged and I think it’s time to go out and explore till Tomar.

    Leaving Golega in the dark.
    A little chapel in Sao Caetano
    Outside of Sao Caento is this creepy ghost town. Lots of buildings with collapsed tile roofs and not a soul around.
    This district has these handy signs as you enter town indicating the services available.
    Vila Nova de Barquinha had this cool church listed on the national historic register
    Sometimes trail signs are improvised. This one as I entered the eucalyptus forest
    After days of flat terrain, this hill was a bit shocking.
    Meelis passing me in the forest
    Water was plentiful. I counted at least five places where you could fill water bottles
    Bumper crop of prickly pear
    Giving my feet a breather for the last 2k
    City street in Tomar central district with the Templar castle on the hill in the background