Walked 19.1 km (12 mi) about half in the rain--poncho and waterproof socks worked well. About five of us gathered here (so far--it holds 10, and they'll be full tonight) at this Casa da Fernanda albuerge that seems located in the middle of nowhere with an ultra attentive hostess feeding us and caring for our needs--all on a donativo basis. Really cute.

Here are some pics of hospitality (tongue in cheek) along the way, a sample of some of the stretches, and a look at our sleeping quarters.

Extraordinary day! Found the bus that took me to Braga, the 3rd largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon and Porto. Rich in history that goes back to Roman times when it was the capital of Galicia. Its cathedral dates way back, but the archdiocese even further is touted as one of the oldest in the world. Couldn't visit any of the Roman digs because on Mondays museums are closed. Payed Rome a tribute by lunching at the Centurion Restaurant in true Roman style--buffet with 7 courses, but I only took a picture of one of the deserts! I truly ate like a centurion.

The big draw is Bom Jesus, a basilica you climb over 600 stairs to visit while passing chapels along the way that have life-size scenes of the stations of the cross. When I arrived, a tour group from just south of Vienna was celebrating mass--of course, they brought their own priest.

Walked it all: 27.3 km (17 mi) over 7.5 hours and the mid-day sun. Will explore the town after my usual rituals. I'm in my cool-down mode with a beer some 50 yards from the Albuerge, which is relatively huge: 50 to 60 bunks.

Only two pics that say it all, the first warning pilgrims about zero shoulder and cars zooming by at 50 mph, the second my view from just outside the Albuerge:

Walked 26 km (16 mi) a large part just exiting Porto, but I enjoyed it. Lots of the way was over the uneven granite cobblestones with little to no shoulder. I had to be very vigilant around the many blind curves--the bright yellow shirts would have helped.

Despite all that, the Camino felt so good today. I'm in a true groove again: early to rise, fast pace, early arrival at albuerge, shower, wash clothes, BIG beer, a little rest, talk with a Pole, a Dutchman both in English, and the owner in Spanish--wow, it's the Camino!

Just one pic of the albuerge, relatively new, extra clean, and only 10€! Will eat at the cafe 20 meters away tonight.

Had a wonderful day doing the Porto scene, first starting out with the double-decker hop-on/hop-off Yellow Bus historic route--two hours long. Lunch afterwards on the bank of the Douro River. Then some more sightseeing and topped off with two Port Winery tours and tastings: Calem and Sandeman. BTW, the Portuguese name of the city is Porto, whereas the English name is Oporto! Got confused myself seeing both!

After the first round of ports, I spent a few hours just lying on the shore of the Douro and relaxing! It doesn't get much better than that.

So many beautiful sites, but only one picture: the one of me tasting port. Can't get more to the soul of Porto!

Started with a taxi ride of 7.6 km (ca 5 mi) then walked 16.2 km (ca 10 mi) then caught a bus the last portion to Porto for about 10.5 km (ca 6.6 mi). Basically, we rode more than we walked for this stage. That upset Hugo more than I realized and when we checked into our little Pension, it resulted in Jean and I parting ways. We had too many misunderstandings that could have been avoided--we're just too different.

Hugo and I explored the old part of Porto: the Cathedral, Libertade Square with City Hall up the hill, and a rest in the same Square with a big beer while listening to great music by a small musical band. Plan to go to Cafe Guarany famous for their Fado music (mournful music about the sea or longing, and nowadays is always about a "loss"--so it might be serendipitously appropriate).

Check out these pics, including my Pension just alongside the train station:

Walked the first 20 km (12.5 mi) to arrive in Oliveira still 9.2 km (6 mi) short of our goal. We were both beat so we called a taxi. It seems those climbs of 300 or 400 feet in the noon day sun just wipe us out.

The town we're staying in with 29,000 pop. has real cute character, but can't lay my finger on describing it. It's not touristy and not a university town. Maybe because of so much poverty it's a mix. Our Residencial Hotel is well located around a plaza that has a lot of action. These photos are of our place and a little church a few minutes away--shot looking down is from our room.

Hugo had a happy day--we walked the whole stage of 16 km (10 mi), not long but a fun stage. Great breakfast at the Residencial Celeste this morning; close to lunch we crossed an old Roman bridge; and at our destination of Albergaria (the old one--there's a "nova" too) we arrived at our Pension Parente in time to do lots of laundry. To top it off, the owner whose second language was French did the most elaborate stamp (colored by hand)--just had to take a picture of it to blog; she took one too to post on Facebook. Bacalao at the pension tonight--yummy.

At lunch I watched a little of the Fatima celebration--thousands of pilgrims, the same ones that competed with us for resources. Check out the pic taken from the TV coverage. Check out the other pics, most of which Jean took:

What a day! 16 miles of walking and on top of that a start with the train to Mealhada, then some walking to Anadia, followed by a taxi ride to Aguada de Cima that a lovely lady in Anadia arranged. She spent a half an hour with us to help us find a specific restaurant with a superb reputation for suckling pig (Cochinillo in Sp. or Laitao Assado in Portuguese). We left her at the highlight of the day. We thought the restaurant was in her village, but turned out to be some 20 km further on. She arranged a taxi ride there, but we found it closed. We "cried" but walked on to Agueda, our destination for the day.

Nearly at our accommodations, Recidencial Celeste, we spotted a mom and pop restaurant that advertised Cochinillo--they also spoke French there. It all looked rosy again. We agreed to come back later, and he even showed us the pig as he put it in the oven. It made your mouth water! We checked into our place, got settled, and came back only to find that what we got served was an old leftover portion--cold at that. Then came two guys that bought the whole pig that we thought was destined for our tummies!!!!! Unbelievable, but true. We complained. No use. We left nearly all except the bottle of sparkling red and chalked it off to a lesson learned.

Here are some pics of an up-and-down day (tiled Cochinillo going into oven; closed restaurant; our Anadia angel; before and after disappointment):

Happy Mothers Day!!

As Coimbra celebrates graduation of its university senior class, students, parents, and spectators like us revel among them in a wild and crazy parade of more than 60 floats. Most make various politically charged statements. It's amazing to see. BTW, the University of Coimbra is listed as 16th oldest in Europe, dating from 1290!

Check out these pics from last night and today. The floats here are all in the staging area on the university grounds, each packed full of beer, sodas, water, etc. Talked with many students--they've all learned English. SAD NOTE is that as they graduate, there are no jobs!

Red alert--red alert! But only for a few hours until we adjusted our plan. We had all intentions of walking only 16 km (10 mi) today to Condeixa-a-Nova passing through unimaginably beautiful pastoral scenes with cool weather in the valleys and mountainsides.

In Fonte Cuberta, the town went crazy with extravagant tile Camino markers and historical tile plaques. Just a few km before our goal, we passed Roman ruins we flagged for a return later on in the pm.

At Condeixa-a-Nova, a human tsunami came through town (literally 100s of pilgrims--most on yellow shirts and of course w/o back packs that were carried by support cars). They filled ALL the sleeping facilities! PANIC--RED ALERT! They all have to arrive at Fatima on THE BIG DAY, May 13! So we had lunch to think it out and decided to take a taxi to Coimbra (our next planned stop--for 2 nights at that). Lots to see in this university town (pop. 190,000)--siesta time right now.

Check out these pics:

Walked 12 miles today through forests, small paths, and even some asphalt--nice cool day. At Alvorge, the Cafe owner adopted us and showed us around town.

We stopped at an olive oil plant, on the way, where we got a short tour and at Rabacal we ended up staying at an albuerge whose owner also owns a cheese factory where we were treated for a short tour--interesting operation. The picture of the church is in Rabacal.

Finished our first half-stage of about 14.9 km (ca 9.3 mi) through beautiful olive orchards and rugged, undulating hills bestrewn with boulders of all sizes. Full stages are all well over 30 km (18 mi)--a little much for some.

Since we're now north of Fatima, dual pilgrim signs point in opposite directions: for Fatima in blue pointing south and for Santiago in yellow pointing north.

We're staying at the Residencial Adega Tipica (15 €/person) and downstairs they have a wonderful restaurant with traditional cooking. Just finished lunch--jam packed and a big city function going on next door at a large banquet hall with TV coverage.

A few pics along the way.

Started with a 14.6 km (9 mi) ride into this stage followed by a 20 km (12.5 mi) walk through olive orchards and cork tree groves. Beautiful landscape that rolled with the hills. Hugo was getting worried that we might ride more than walk today, but he soon became convinced that it was a respectable walk--everyone was tired at the end (2 pm).

Just up the street from the church in our target town of Alvaiazere we discovered an albuerge (10 € per person) that had just opened 8 months ago--8 beds configured as 4 rooms of 2 normal beds (no bunks). The previous 2 places were hostels (10 € and 12.5 € per person--not much difference between a hostel and an albuerge). What great deals! They all had free WI-FI. And the yellow concha (shell) and yellow arrow on blue background are now appearing everywhere (they look newly minted). Hugo felt as if he were on a real Camino! The great food and wine in the region continue to amaze. Adding to the Camino feel is a group of 6 or 7 of us that continues to run into each other.

Check out the new signs, typical stretch of cobble-stone path, and a pic of the new albuerge.

Used the extra day to visit Fatima, but before catching the bus, I climbed up to the Templar Castle and Convent of Christ. They date back to 11 hundreds and show off fantastic architecture. In my view, the rotunda church is the highlight: 16-sided building on the outside and the traditional 8-sided chapel on the inside representing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Chapter window alludes to many navigational artifacts. After all, here is where the gets discoveries were planned a few hundred years later by Infante (prince) Henry: Columbus, Vasco de Gama, and the list goes on.

Fatima was as solemn as before (2008) but not nearly as many "pilgrims." I suppose these come in waves. Walked the 3-mile round trip of the stations of the cross to the place where several of the apparitions of Mary took place. Serene place to reflect on it "all." I loved it--may be one of my highlights!

Here are some of my memories (first four of Fatima and the rest at the Templar Castle and Convent--note statue of Pope John Paul II with ultra-modern sculpture of the cross behind him):

You can just feel the Knights Templar history in the town--still after 700 years. Had a short (12 km or 6 mi) walk from Golega to Atalaia (all small towns). Then prearranged wheels picked us up at 2 pm and drove us the 15 km (10 mi) to Tomar.

Mid-morning we rested in the shade of an olive tree, and a little later we ran into a deserted cluster of once splendid estates--almost eerie. Here in Tomar, we visited the synagogue, Church of St John the Baptist, and the first Templar church in the city, and then I decided to visit Fatima by myself (by bus) and meet up with Jean in the evening. Check out these pics:

Hugo and I aren't in a groove yet. Still struggling with long hot day getting pretty exhausted after 11 hours on the road and only 24 km (15 mi) to show for it. After the 15 mi of walking we took a taxi to Galega (about 8 miles) and found a great Albuerge ($10) per person. Again, everything seems to be booked because of the Fatima rush.

Vineyards all along the way. A shady spot under an array of solar panels to rest, and a special regional treat: eel in a vegetable stew--yummy!

The day started with a short train ride of maybe 8 miles or so to get us into the vicinity of Valada from where we walked to Santarem. We clocked about 14 miles in hot weather that wiped us both out. Two beers each at the end of the day and two more each with dinner finally rehydrated us.

Azambuja it turns out is another Pamplona with running of the bulls , but there's no bull fight afterwards. The pic shows the wooden barriers ready to be erected at the end of the month for the running. Had tapas last night with Portuguese style baby snails--really had to work to extract them. So many poppies on the way and we saw our first way marker (blue for Fatima and yellow Santiago). BIG rush to Fatima for important anniversary!

The landscape was filled with new seedlings and the fields had tractor traffic everywhere. Red tulip fields spiced up the landscape.

As anyone can see, Hugo was biting at the bit to get going on the Camino. We left Lisbon near 11 am, but not on foot, but rather by train (63 km = 39 mi for only 2.30 Euro). Hugo was disappointed, but understood that that was the plan--out the window, he saw an occasional pilgrim after whom he lusted. I told him to be patient--we will begin walking tomorrow. Lunch, a stop at the church, and a pilgrim's stamp at the city hall, then a visit to the library for WIFI, and a walk around town were our highlights. Love the town of Azambuja!

(PS. I updated the "video" from yesterday so that it now works!)

May Day activities were exciting with small political demo parades and performances in one of main squares. Check out my pics and my first video.