Portugal Day 14

Breakfast may have been the best part of the day.
They gave us lots of choices and we fueled our tanks for the day. The walk today was not great as it was on a lot of paved roads and through towns. Eventually we arrived at our destination of Grijo and checked out the Albergue. It was very rudimentary so we considered looking elsewhere but decided to stay. We walked into town to buy a few things and stopped at the cathedral on the way back. This is a small town but the cathedral beats the one in Fatima hands down. At 8 pm we went to our host's home for dinner. It was great.  The food was good and plentiful and we had a ball talking to our French and Canadian colleagues and Portugal hosts and son-in-law in English, French and Portuguese.  In retrospect, dinner was the highlight of the day.

Portugal Day 13

Today is a rest day with plans for about 23 km. Last night in the Albergue was very good because we had the whole building to ourselves. After making coffee and a Continental breakfast, we started walking around 8 am with jackets. It was  only after half an hour that I removed my jacket. This area seems to be quite wealthy because every second car was either a Mercedes or BMW. The yards are full of orange and lemon trees. We walked into Oliveira de Azeima a little after 1 am and looked about for a hotel.  On booking.com the 4 star Dighton Hotel was listed at €53, so we stopped in and asked about the rate. We were offered a room at €58, so I showed them the lower price. They advised me to book it on line, which I did; the end price was  €52.65 with continental breakfast. I will never understand how hotels set their prices. We got a nice quiet room at the rear of the hotel with a huge bed and nice bathroom. The view from the window is interesting as there are chicken in an adjacent yard.  As we walked into town, we came upon an excavation in the gravel road, which turned out to be a section of a road built by the Romans. There is history all over this country.

Portugal Day 12

Last night we stayed in a very nice hotel and were provided with a nice breakfast to fuel our engines today. This is our last 30 km day for now. Also it was the coolest day since we arrived so walking was easier. The most notable things today were the flowers. People seem to grow anything and everything here.  The orange and lemon trees are loaded with fruit much of which is allowed to fall on the ground and decay. We even picked up a few from the road and ate them.
Last night we were the only ones in the hotel and tonight we are the only ones in the Albergue. It is very nice and clean, and is very well equipped. Tomorrow will be a short day as we have to stop at 23 km.

Portugal Day 11

Today we walked from Coimbra to Anadia. We were up around 5 am thinking that we could beat some of the heat by leaving our hotel just after 6 am. It was kind of comical because we had asked for a breakfast basket to accommodate our leaving before they served breakfast. When we arrived at the breakfast room there was no food put out for us. So we looked around and found the kitchen open so that we could help ourselves. It turned out to be a decent breakfast. When we left our room, Susie locked the room and front door key inside. Then we found that we were locked in the building.  In order to get out, I had to figure out how to open the permanent side of the double doors.
Our walk today was through city then farm land then a series of small towns then wooded hills and back to small towns. Today was impressive for the flowers and citrus fruit. Many people have trees in their yards that are laden with oranges, lemons or pumalow. So much that there was a lot that had fallen to the ground and were left there.

Portugal Day 10

Today we walked from Rabacal to Coimbra in warm and sunny weather with little wind. We are definitely out of flat farmland and in wooded hills. After leaving our friends yesterday we saw very few pilgrims today.  In fact we were hailed by a couple of Aussies as we entered Coimbra and were told that we were the first pilgrims that they have encountered. While we walked through countryside, we have encountered small villages where we didn't expect them. We also experienced generosity unexpectedly.  Thus, an elderly man on a bicycle stopped in front of us, reached into his bag and gave a couple of the tastiest oranges. We are also on the Camino that leads southward to Fatima so we have seen many blue arrows pointed in the opposite direction.

Portugal Day 9

Today we started to get up at 6am which is the earliest day yet. After having breakfast with our Camino friends from Almonte, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Germany we started walking in perfect conditions. Today we walked on a mixture of small roads and foot paths. The up and down made it more interesting. By early afternoon our Camino friends reached their destination for the day at Alvorge so we left them and continued on to Rabacal.  On entering town we came upon a nice looking albergue and checked in. It was equipped with an area to wash clothes so I did that while Susie had a shower. Instead of a shower, I took advantage of the above ground swimming pool for about 15 minutes; it was excellent.

Portugal Day 8

We have not been eating breakfast on the Camino because our experience in Spain was not great. Usually we got just coffee and bread. But we decided to try a Portuguese hotel breakfast and were pleasantly surprised. Cavaleras de Cristo gave us freshly squeezed orange juice, toast, coffee, cold cuts, yogurt, fresh fruit, tarts and boiled eggs. That's fuel for the engine. We walked through lots of wooded hills today with flowers and other vegetation interspersed. In  Susie's books this has been the best hiking on this Camino.  Alvaiazere we decided to stay at the albergue just to experience a hostel in Portugal; it's been great. We are in a room with double bed and shared bathroom; no dorms here. Four people who we met earlier on the Camino are here as well. In a way we are lucky that there is little to see in this village so we can spend more time resting. The picture shows our host with our embossed stamps as well as our wax stamps.