Tuesday 6 March 2018

Camino Portuguese (March 6, 2018) - Day 3 Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja

I woke up this morning with two opposing thoughts ...I can’t possibly walk today with these blisters (balls of my feet) ...I will be walking today as planned. No pictures to gain sympathy comments on the blog!

Late breaking news...another toe blister has magically appeared...allowed Dr. Paulo to try another healing approach!

Immediately I knew the latter thought would win out. Paulo mummified both feet and off we went. Yes it was painful however better than what I expected...hopefully in the next few days Compeed starts doing it’s magic!

Today we walked 20.9 kms in 4.5 hours with only an hour or so of rain. Rain on/off is not the best as clothing continuously comes on and then off.

Overall it was the best day yet although the scenery is so/so. For the first time two dangerous animal incidents occurred...more on this later.

As we expected there is a lot of road walking (hard on the feet😳) on the Camino Portuguese...walking on the left facing oncoming traffic is a must! Drivers so far have been considerate and move over as best they can.

Last night we stayed at DP Hostel and I would recommend it...comfortable...inexpensive 35 euros for both of us and provided a solid breakfast.

Nice solid breakfast
DP Hostel recommend
At breakfast we met Peter from Wales (maybe 65 - 70) who is also walking to Santiago de Compostela ...our first pilgrim. He had walked 40 kms that day and mentioned having a blister as well...and he used Compeed as well. Peter was planning on walking with a friend but a Parkinson’s diagnosis prevented that. He seemed like a real nice guy and hope to see him again.

Tiny speck in the distance...that's Peter!
Now this morning I started the process of getting rid of things...which always happens. I had a paper Wise Pilgrim guidebook however both Paulo and I have the phone app so... an intended giveaway to a future pilgrim. A totally unintended giveaway was a long sleeve t-shirt which never came back from the wash (paid 5 euros to get our clothes sent out to clean/dry). Darn that was a good shirt...one which I have carried through all the Caminos 😩Some pictures from the day...

Of note the Camino de Santiago and Fatima routes are common for 100 kms or so


Lunch break is always a welcome little rest

If you think I am making it up about the rain...look at those fields!!!

This is not the dangerous animal
At some point I turned a corner and there were some very dangerous chickens and a rooster within a few FEET. I was so scared that I froze with my trekking poles at the ready...no picture available as it was raining however the two pictures shown are close to what I saw!


This was scary
We are staying at Casa do Alfaro which seemed like a good plan except 1) it is 8 kms out of the Camino path and 2) it does not serve supper! Paulo was surprised at both!

So we decided to take a taxi to the Casa (cheap) and will take a return taxi to our Camino leaving point tomorrow to stay pure on the walking and save ourselves. Shortly a local restaurant owner is coming to pick us up for supper. Nice place as per a few pictures but honestly not worth the bother...oh well you learn.

Tomorrow 30 kms...trying to stay positive!

Casa do Alfaro
Casa do Alfaro

2 comments:

  1. Be well, your poor feet... I'm catching up on a few entries as I've been travelling...

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    Replies
    1. Betsy so surprised to hear you are travelling!😊

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