Bitch Ass Day

 This was a tough one and we knew it before we started.  We decided to get a taxi in the morning to move us ahead 6 miles.  We still ended up walking 16 miles in some rather warm weather.  There was a breeze which helped but it was still a long day.  

The first part was thru some beautiful valleys on country tracks.  We saw more olive trees and more wine vines.  We got to see the real Portugal countryside as we walked thru many small villages.  We stopped at a fun cafe where the locals were out for a nice Sunday lunch.  We picked the cheese plate since others had ordered it and it was goat cheese from the local area.  

We went across the street to change our socks and locals gaped at us as we stripped off our socks and taped and newskinned each foot.  One car came by 3 times - we assume they wondered what we were doing at the bus stop bench.  

The next stage was back out into the countryside on gravel roads between farmers fields.  We looked at the different types of pruning done on the olive trees - some very minor and others major cutting of trunks.  We have no idea why they decide to cut each tree different. 

We stopped at a ‘natural center’ manned by hippies that wanted people to pray for peace.  Definitely a worthwhile goal.  We continued on up the valley next to the dry riverbed that snaked up to the Roman ruins.  This part was long and dry and uphill.  

We decided to keep moving thru the Roman museum and the ruins. Our legs were getting tired and sore each minute - and we were both about done for the day.  We left the ruins and faced another one and a half mile walk to our 4 star hotel - seems like 5 miles.  We finally trudged into our hotel glad to be done.

Supper was great and the grounds were beautiful.  Tomorrow is a shorter walk and then we take off before heading on to Porto.