Tuesday 5th April

31.5 km (221.6 km)

Starting the day with no coffee 🙁

The lovely hospitalario told us that one of the cafés opened at 7:30 am and as there wasn’t a stop for 13.5km we decided to hang about, of course, it wasn’t open at 7:30 so we went off in the knowledge that we would be hungry for a good 3 hours. The terrain was pretty similar to yesterday; olive groves, forests of eucalyptus and cork and a scattering of quaint little hamlets. There seems to be quite a lot of growth in this area – apparently, due to covid, people are moving out of Lisbon and Porto and looking to build or buy a home in a rural setting. The result is a strange mix of ancient, dilapidated buildings sitting side by side with new, expansive, builds.

Terra de Sicó

We have now entered the Terra de Sicó, known for its limestone, oak trees and olive groves…I am not sure how this is any different than yesterday? Today was pretty hilly by Camino standards with 672m of ascent and 800m of descent. The blisters and arthritic hips (mine not Robyn’s) did not enjoy this descent but we trudged on, the sky looking threatening but the rain kept away. The temperature was again perfect for walking but not great for photos (grey skies) although once I’m back home I can photoshop in some blue skies 🙂

Rabaçal

We have arrived at Albergue Bonito, there are 6 of us here tonight so it will be another communal dinner of…the menu is the same as last night (Camino staple!): soup, steak (well sort of), chips lettuce and as much red wine as you want for €8. I made the mistake of washing all my clothes as there was a washing and drying service at the Albergue, the dryer has broken so now I have a bag of wet walking clothes to carry…I should have put off the washing and stayed in my grimy kit it would seem! Tomorrow we will be in Coimbra which is called ‘Cambridge of the Camino’ I am expecting at least more palatable food and a tumble dryer 🙄

My thoughts so far…

My thoughts so far on this camino? It is very ‘samey’ every day and there is a feeling that the route has been ‘cobbled together’ for us to reach Porto, where the official Portuguese Camino starts. We will be there next Monday or Tuesday and I think/hope that the route will be more varied and interesting at that point (fingers crossed). For now, there is an endless supply of red wine to dull the pain of the Camino feet!