Asphalt walking

 Today was spent mainly on hard surfaces including a stretch on the shoulder of their major highway. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel in Coimbra with omelette and scrambled eggs and fruit. That is not the breakfast you get in the small villages.  We headed out around 8:40 and the Camino ran just a block from our hotel.  It took us several miles to get out of Coimbra as we battled traffic and roundabouts. 

Finally we were in the countryside but still on narrow two lane roads.  The villages were small and quaint and quiet.  We did not see another Santiago walker all day.  There were Fatima walkers but they are in the opposite direction. 

We exited Santa Luzia and finally had some time on a soft trail in the woods.  It only lasted  0.8 miles and then back onto small roads with no shoulder.  We just kept walking.  There wasn’t much up and down so that was good - and the temperature peaked at 80degrees around 1 PM and then the wind shifted and it got cooler every hour.  We also picked up a breeze which made a big difference.  

We saw a TON of churches today - every village had one big or small.  Most were closed but still fun to get a picture. They’re streamers on most of them - not sure why.  Even the smallest village had plastic streamers above the roads whipping in the wind.  

We finished just as it began to rain and we caught a taxi to our hotel about 5 miles outside town/. It is a beautifully old hotel in the old town of Luso.  We are one of the few guests and we will walk down to the old city for supper at a small taverna.  Should be fun.

Tomorrow we plan on moving about 5 miles ahead to make our walk more fun.  It may be raining which will also slow us down.  Breakfast doesn’t start till 8:30 so that will also get us started late.  Either way we will have fun.  


Comments

  1. Your trip reminds me of my bike tours or long ago, where road conditions, weather and local accommodations for food and shelter are a major focus. Yet that was part of the experience – the uncertainty and sense of discovery. Somewhat part of the calculus of living in the moment :) When you slow down to experience the moment, the moment sort of expands to a larger scope and range of elements. Possibly the entire point of such a trip.

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