Yesterday was tough tough – 12 miles with some serious inclines and other sides down on “scribble Scrabble” which moves under your feet and hurt my knee somehow. I know they want us off the main roads and I do appreciate that very much – but the Camino paths are tough and cut into hillsides. It was very pretty however – forgiving scenery.

And the last 3 or 4 K was flat and my Austrian Friend knew I was flagging and just said “the ends of the days are always like this” but I got pretty down regardless.

The Alberque was nice and I took one bunk bed room for myself and my friend took the other room. Then two young guys walking the Fátima direction came and took her room too.

The best part was that it was 20 Euro and included dinner and breakfast. Dinner was in their little Portuguese neighborhood hang out / TV and bar place. I had low expectations for dinner but it was typical fabulous Portuguese food – hot chicken soup, a huge rice of Cod fish with a dusting of toasted breading, fresh potato chips, and a kind of olive oil and sautéed onion base. Wine and or tea and after I asked if there was dessert one of the daughters who worked there opened up a huge Ola ice cream case with dozens of treats lol yay.

I slept a dreamless sleep.

Today started out and stayed less strenuous. My knee was still in trouble on and off – but tonight seems good again. We will see. Last evening I hand washed my clothes in an old stone trough and it was fun. I attracted a little attention so maybe I did not do it right – but really – how many people within the USA retain a memory of that?

This morning was perfect and I made the 10 miles so I guess things are pretty good.

This town used to give Camino walkers wine. And a man from this town ran out into the street to talk to me about the Camino and how he did it on bike on the French Way

Can you see the little St Simons Island shell I left here?

Boa Noite

Another lucky perfect walking day ! Chilly and sunny – will warm nicely later to upper 60’s

Camino Girl!

Coffee and a Nata with my friend

I waited about 90 minutes in town as my Austrian friend walked from her hostel. It was Sunday with church and Sunday school buzz around the small town. It was nice just to hang out and say Bom Dia to people. I saw two other Camino walkers from the EU – in their late 20’s I would guess. I asked if they had passed my friend and they said “no, but do you mean X and said her name.” The Camino is a small inner world that has its own life and communication system. Even when I entered Amigos the family mum said she heard who I had walked with that day because “our friend is Facebook friends with the Austrian women who posted she was walking with an American.”

The walk was a lot uphill, but more gradual and we were on mostly country lanes with maybe 5 cars all day. One piece of equipment I bought that was really wise were lime green waterproof leg gaiters. They kept all low brambles out of my shins and were approved by a Taxi driver that morning who walked past me in town and pointed at them and said “Bom”! He appreciated that I was trying to make myself visible. With all the griping on forums about “Portuguese Drivers” I am guessing few Pilgrims try and be visible enough.

We climbed roads for a while, my legs recovered fine over night. And then things got really interesting. For about 4 hours we were in some of the most beautiful nature – the altitude was starting to pay off – mossy exposed granite out cropping, red soil, low lying juniper like trees mixed with scrub and assorted leafed trees. The occasional abandoned olive grove. If I had just been dropped off their blindfolded and then asked to guess where I was I would had said the north rim of the Grand Canyon!

Every 90 minutes or so the path would start to have stone walls that meant a town up ahead – a very simple medieval town with cobbles and every 4th stone house lived in but the rest in ruins and miss covered. It was a charming pleasure to be in these ancient Camino towns and I can imagine at different times they served pilgrims and had rooms to let and meals to serve. But, these villages are out of fashion and useless to younger Portuguese people who need to move for their education and jobs over the past 75 years. But, yet, there we were walking through in Camino clothes, storybook villagers passer byes I think demonstrating that these folks were still important and meaningful to others and maybe as the Portuguese Camino picks up (I mean 500 people a day can start out in St Jean for the French Way in high season) that maybe these relics can be restored and you will never have a more beautiful days walk in your life!

My favorite meal so far was in the light rain sitting on a rock holding an umbrella eating cheese and bread, dark chocolate, and a tangerine I bought that AM in the super market while waiting. My friend offered me blueberries and I gave her chocolate – a pretty great picnic.

But, by the time we got to our destination we were wet and slightly chilled and drank coffee and then found a kind of little pension house and we bought our own rooms for 20 Euro and slept soundly with each other rooming next door. I was happy to know my super experienced Camino walker “Captain America Woman” (her phone case is Captain America) was also having issues keeping warm and I was normal lol.

Dinner was at the only open place that Sunday night – a pizza place that got more and more busy as we stayed eating. We ordered a ton of food haha, a pizza focaccia with hot garlic oil on it, our own small pizzas that were of course huge and perfect, I had bottled water (and no meat) to the amazement of my European friend. She shared her white port wine and had some red wine in a small carafe. And we each had a cherry Ginja liquor for desert. The entire bill was 21 Euro and that modest price made me emotional for some reason. We left there with local folks enjoying family and friends Sunday night pizza. I wonder if the US had humble prices if more people would congregate and enjoy a more rich social life?

It is 544 here and I woke up early after a solid sleep. My friend gave me one of hers 600 ml Tylenol’s you can get in the EU to quash hip pain – my body is at least distributing the pain points. Today’s walk is very long but much flatter which seems exciting! We each have 3 to 4 slices of pizza to lug out haha. We invented Camino pizza box hats at dinner, gloves with pizza slice compartments etc – but pizza will be our lunch no matter how we get it there.

“Ms Captain America”

You know that scene in the Wizard of Oz and the house falls on the bad witch and her legs roll up? Basically that is how I felt after my first full day on the Camino. After 18 miles or so and then lying down my legs just felt searing pain like they were rolling up! I left Tomar at 630 and followed the arrows out of town. Birds and cats were all I saw – active birds and sleeping cats. I followed the river and I was at least two hours away from sunshine on my face. I felt like a child who is so excited they can go outside and explore without supervision – like what I was doing was slightly wild. The footpath was narrow with rocks and the river was very close to the path. There was white mist rising off of it. I just kept walking and there were like plastic streamers hanging off some of the branches from tour companies who must mark for people who buy their services to help them go the correct way. They had even used chalk to make lines not to cross. So, because the trail was challenging just enough I did not feel too overly informed. Plus, there were bike tire marks and I had spoken to a man at my hostel in Tomar and he had been riding his bike from Santiago south towards Lisbon. And I assumed those bike marks were his and I was in the right place.

About 70 minutes in I had to make a choice to cross a white line and go towards the plastic streamers, or go up a hill on a narrow path with bike tire marks in a thicket. I felt crossing the line was wrong, but those darn streamers seemed to make sense too so I crossed the line – you can guess where this is going.

Right away, after the first bend, things got tense with two huge chained dogs on either side of the path straining towards me. I just walked between them not too fast and not too slowly while eyeing the integrity of the bigger dog’s chain. Eventually I got into a nice olive grove. A few hundred feet away was a house with a man whose fence had Templar Crosses in metal along it. He spoke no English but pointed in the direction I was heading when I said Santiago. After another few hundred feet I came to a bridge and was not sure to walk up a hill into a town or to follow a road straight. Around then, a man with the word Security on his back and a Ninja motorcycle made a circle ⭕️ in front of me, looked at me, yelled “Santiago!” and pointed up the road. It was a very cool moment in my life lol!

I walked up that road hill a bit and saw a gravelly path up the side of a hill with those plastic streamers- but at this point I felt a bit lost. I looked at my GPS and I was off my mark and going to a wrong town. So I literally thought to myself ” well, my Camino lasted an awesome 90 minutes but it is over now.” I had to be brave and force myself through the terrifying dogs and back track a bit. I picked up a rock and put it in my pocket because I read a dog will back down if you raise a rock because – well you know why!

They seemed a bit less snarling my second time through and I just thought “well, if you do not go up that thicket path, I am not sure you will be able to do this Camino.” I just climbed the narrow path with bike tracks and hoped I was not circling around to Tomar again and wished I had brought a compass. Completely unexpectedly I popped out on a bright and open gravel utility road with a Camino sign pointing the way !! That was an amazing moment and while I had missed the mark earlier (another expression to ponder) I still popped out on the right place!

The thicket! (Images of hills never seem to clearly indicate if the slope is going up or down – as if it does not matter to others if one has climbed up or down – there is some metaphor here but I am not sure exactly what it is, do you know)?

Happy! I walked up the broad open path and when it leveled out in an olive grove I sat to have a “boot break” and it was really pretty. Right before I was to go I looked to my right and a woman was walking up – another Camino person. She is from Austria and really nice on her 4th Camino and had started in Lisbon.

I walked with her all day. We even attracted a bunch of town folks at a small cafe and she was amazed that I had “made a party” but you know I am talkative and one man had lived in Canada much of his life from the age of 6 and he was telling stories and he invited his neighbors to the cafe and the bread man came and hung out a while and I bought two rolls from him for 30 cents out of the back of his van! I showed one of the gathering my Pacheco name crest I had pinned to my pack. I was told that my mother’s maiden name, my grandfather was first generation Portuguese, was associated with nobility. But this particular man started to mumble and suck his teeth repeating “Manuel Pacheco” over and over and I thought “maybe we owe him money or something” and I dropped the subject quick!

The walk was gorgeous with orange blossoms in the air, or eucalyptus fragrance – small winding streets in rural villages, olive trees and family vineyards- just gorgeous. The roads were like little English lanes and cars came around fast but we only saw 5 or so the whole day. I usually backed off the road when they came by and smiled at them and they wave and slow right down – it is the social contract.

(Image of the tempting streamers outside of Tomar that lead me into the frantic dogs)

Then the serious hills started and it was tough – even as we got in the eucalyptus forests the hills went on for what seemed miles – I did not train on hills and it was tough going. My Austrian Friend was used to hills and was patient with me! But, towards the end of 17 miles or so I was done and she stayed at a simple hostel – I think the only guest. I had really enjoyed learning about Amigos Alberque – a family run bar and restaurant and Paul the son said he was happy to pick me up at my Austrian friends hostel and take me to his place.

I loved Amigos very much and they actually placed me in their home in a cosy modern guest room and fed me a meal cooked to order! Both Paul and his mom kept me company and chatted and really – there was no reason to ever leave. Paul was even starting a Uke band and we played each other some Uke songs and it was special and even though my legs felt they were curling up I slept great.

In the AM Paul showed me a path out the back of their property and I short cutted it into Alvarizere along a perfect packed gravel path. I hope Amigos becomes the next great hostel in Portugal. Any place that smells like roasting Rosemary at 830 AM (Paul was making Rosemary salt for his restaurant that day) should be world famous!

You can see the dirt road off the back of Amigos! http://amigosalbergue.com

 

I had read that prior to King Manual (1500’s) that the Templar Knights and thriving Jewish population did enjoy a peaceful and perhaps even collaborative relationship. The Knights built their Convent after buildings in Jerusalem and I had read that the very first Knights were actually Jews themselves – guarding all pilgrimages to Jerusalem. But, certainly they evolved into Christian Knights. But, there is no evidence to think they did not work collaboratively. To join the Knights you had to give them your land, livestock etc and the Templar’s power grew throughout Europe. In 1307 the French Kings and Papal powers decided to stop the Templars and outlawed them . Portugal was the only country to give them clearance which was smart as they continued in Tomar under a different name to keep the peace with neighboring countries. About 100 years after that the oldest synagog in Portugal was built on a small street in the shadow of the Templar Castle. Short lived however since King Manual’s wife wanted all Jews expelled which he did — all the while developing the “Templar’s Castle.” (This blog post was written from memory of what I read before I left, I will correct things for date accuracy after I return and read more).

I did visit the synagog today after the Castle. Part of it was closed to a recent discovery of a ritual bath that is being restored. After the Jewish folks were moved out it was used as a jail and private other uses. Here are some artifacts – signage was in Portuguese.

See if you can put together what I discovered in this series of images!

(Hint, I am standing in a similar little prayer bump out as you see on other side above long dining tables)

One of the fun parts of traveling alone is that you get to make all of the decisions, hehe. So when I walked up to the nearby square to head up to the castle I saw some cool looking women driving little Tuk-Tuks and I was trying to not wear myself out before tomorrow’s official Camino start day so I asked her how much it was. She told me five euro and I asked if if 2.50 for one was ok and she said sure and I jumped in. What joy to be jetted through the streets and up the hill with her driving me!

When we got to the top of the hill at the castle gate I gave her five euro to compensate for the lost wages on a single rider.

Extraordinary fortress built 1100. When the Templar Knights were forced out of existence by the French and other European Kings around 1330, they were banished from Europe. Accused of a variety of crimes, such as “bestiality” and the such, there was an order to kill many on Friday the 13th. Of course we still feel unsure of that date, but you probably did not know it came from Templar history. The Portuguese King did not mind the Templar’s and probably realized their usefulness and their wealth and told them they could stay in Tomar as long as they changed the name of their order. The Templars played two roles, one monetary and one pious. To become a Knight, one had to pledge poverty and give all your possessions to the Templars, over 200 hundred years this meant wealth. They also played a role in pilgrim safety which, in part, was to have pilgrims store their wealth with them for safe keeping while they traveled. When done, they could collect their goods minus a fee or the offering of gold or whatever they had of value. I read that they even developed a method to use credit slips so that if you were travelling you could get money from another location, like another branch of your bank. That was supposed to be quite revolutionary at the time. Their other function was pious and to protect Christians and the faith by pushing back enemies such as the Moors. I did read that there was evidence that the Moors had at one time lived in Tomar with the Knights, so as with all conflicts, there is always something that does not make sense or contradicts what we feel we know. I do know that the courtyard pictured below looked a lot like the courtyards at the Moorish castle in Granada, Spain – the Alhambra. I was there when I was 8 with my grandparents and I think I never saw the world the same after that – it made me as wise as any 8 year old can be. I was made aware of indoor plumbing, waterways that ran the castle interiors, sculpture gardens and fountains, and astrological tiles predicting planetary events. I remember just staring at those tiles and thinking about how little I had known about the world.

Rotunda was also built in 1100 (see below)

 

 

 

 

I only had one night two days in Lisbon and I really liked it there. In fact this blog was born my first night in Lisbon when I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote for two hours and then went back to sleep. So, I am grateful to Lisbon for that too.

Everyone I asked for directions or metro help spent time with me – 3 high school kids helped me buy a train ticket, one older woman spoke Portuguese to me trying to get me on the correct bus, and it is amazing how much help you really need to use public transportation. Even on the bus I had to have two graduate law students – in full black capes used for graduate students – tell me when to get off the bus because I had no idea where we were!

A thimble of the popular Ginga drink – sweet cherry liquor in the afternoon sun.

oh, and two more women helped me in the train station buying a ticket to Tomar. I ate well in Lisbon and used the kind of local Portuguese simple restaurants I was used to in Porto. One cod fish cake, one giant Nata, and some coffee at the stand up counter for 2.89 Euro.

I walked around Lisbon, around the big Cathedral, up and down the hills and I was around tourists and locals and it was a really nice and happy and light spirited feeling. The weather was perfect and I was starting to take on more feelings that this was going to be very exciting of a time, to travel on my own, start an adventure, and become immersed into something special for an entire month – such an awesome opportunity. I was finding, re-finding, that part of me that is who I am when alone and free and exploring.

I grabbed some food at a little grocery store right at the Lisbon train station, it had a bakery section, a savory section, and lots of isles, all of it all packed together tightly but really helpful with a great selection. Do we have those at the states at train stations? I think we do, but not this generous of choice I think. I got a pastry and another cod fish cake and a few little items and water for the train ride. I also bought deodorant because I had not brought any and having just two shirts is not the most fresh feeling. The train ride was easy and since it was a local, lots of people got on and off at stops. Some stops must have had high school kids and they would all pile in and then they would pile out a couple of stops later. A few people rode all the way to Tomar, but most did not. It was a sunny and bright afternoon and everything was flat and farm-like for an hour at least. Since local trains never get up to tremendous speeds it was a relaxing and fun time to just look out the window. Some of the small towns I knew by name because they had albergues and I imagined it would have been fun to walk from Lisbon maybe. I saw two Camino walkers out the window, a young couple and that was the first time I saw real Camino walkers and it made me feel kind of excited that I would be joining that path soon also.

 

Tonight in Tomar I was the only client in a family run restaurant that was called Piri-Piri Chicken. When I sat down a cool kinda of punk era young women told me they did not have any Octopus Rice nor Piri-piri chicken lol. So, I ordered three couvert  (bowl of  olives, piece of bread, and soft herbed cheese in olive oil) seriously – just so fresh and good. And grilled chicken with mushrooms, French fries, and gorgeous salad. I had bottled water and a small Portuguese coffee and it was 14 Euro only. It was a feast but I think with jet lag and only several small meals in a row it was perfect.

In the few months before I left, I got into a few scuffles with the folks on Ivar’s beloved Camino site so I just quit using it. It was so frusterating trying to correct what I thought were odd judgements about Portugal (such as north is safe but south not) etc etc etc. But, for the record, I personally inspected 80 percent of the Camino from my train seat today – literally. And it is well maintained, packed white sand or grass tracks, along the regional train line. I saw only two cars in two hours and just land and animals and a few towns. So, please walk that part of the Camino with peace of mind. Just use a solar umbrella if you can because there is little shade I would say for two days walking – think Holland tulip fields – that flat and that sun exposed. But there is only a great opportunity there to walk the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon north – I saw almost every part of it.

This Templar Knight Castle has a kind of bewitching spell on this town. It is kind of camouflaged in a way I cannot understand, somehow green and blends into the landscape. It seems meant to be both seen and not seen. I am not sure it has always been that way, but it possess a certain presence that is both uncomfortable and as if it has taken possession of this town. There is a Fernando Pessoa quote written on my wall in this hostel that says something like “a blend of dream and Life.” And that kind of sums it up.

The town roads of Tomar are situated in a way that each street is long with few cross streets – giving those in the castle ample angles to keep an eye on things. I have to say, and of course if you were here you might feel differently, but there was something, for lack of a better word, something not quite right or normal about the place. The streets a bit too quiet, the stores not quite active nor big enough. I found the men sitting on benches to be oddly spaced, sitting at angles that did not feel right to me, not quite sitting close enough to talk, not really at angles that men sit on a bench. I know the Templars are not supposed to exist, and I know that castle on the hill is a relic, but I am telling you to the place is not normal feeling to me. Just saying, but maybe you can check it out yourself some day.

I will check it out tomorrow and be tourist for the day. Then the day after tomorrow I begin to walk and become a traveler!

costs: free breakfast at hotel, snack at train station 3.45 Euro, train ticket to Tomar 10 Euro, dinner 14 Euro, private room in hostel 25 Euro.

 

 

I imagined going to this church and taking pictures and maybe making a video. This church is behind the Ze Cathedral pictured below on the huge bluff top that lines that entire street overlooking the ocean bay. It is a fun location with tourists and the old timey tram going past. But, sometimes the lack of pictures is important too. This church is ancient and only open two days a week for a couple of hours. Out front sweeping the simple 10 steps or so in was a traditional looking older woman. I asked her if she had a stamp for my Pilgrim book and she pointed to the church doors and opened them and brought me into the back where priest vestments hung and turned on a light using one of those old buttons on the wall. She was so nice and happy to help me. She sat and took my passport and took the official first stamp of the Camino and made the mark in my book. I tried to offer two Euro to her for the church but she said no and then held my arm and we walked over to the candle votive area – she pointed out St Santiago statue and said “Santiago to Santiago” and smiled and I placed my money there and she helped me to get matches and then she headed back outside to sweep. I lit the candle, alone in the church Christopher Columbus was married in to a local Portuguese girl overlooking the immense ocean bay he would sail with his three ships. The women who helped me said goodbye and I left – and truthfully it did not matter at all that she spoke no English at all.

 

“Life is an experimental journey undertaken involuntarily. It is a journey of the spirit through the material world and, since it is the spirit that travels, it is the spirit that is experienced. That is why there exist contemplative souls who have lived more intensely, more widely, more tumultuously than others who have lived their lives purely externally. The end result is what matters. What one felt was what one experienced.” Fernando Pessoa

One can at least try 🙂