After we went to be last night, two busloads of nine-year-olds arrived. It was bedlam as the adults tried to corral the kids to their rooms. We left this morning at 7:40 A.M., without breakfast, not wanting to deal with all the kids. We returned to the tree-lined Alameda dos Oceanos, a path along the riverbank, to follow the Camino. We past the Statue of Catherine dos Braganz, who introduced tea and teatime to England. We past the 17 km bridge which reminded me of the Sunshine Bridge in FL.
It was a lovely walk, but, bad we known, we could have taken an alternate route and saved walking a few kilometers.
We did not get an opportunity to eat until 11:am in Granja about 15 km (9 mi) later. I could have kissed the proprietor when he told us where we were…we thought we were at least 5 km back.
Tired and sore,we stopped in Verdelha de Baixo (near Alverca) and stayed at the La Laterna, where they have WIFI. Both of us have sore legs, shoulders, and feet. It should take us about a week to adjust to the weight of the packs and the walking. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and, since there are few places to bed on the route, we may take a day off. Will see.
Oh, Jane!
And the fun starts…soon?
Liz, let’s hope so. Sun is shinning this morning, that is a good start.
Did u start in Lisbon ?
Lil, Yes we started at the Cathedral. Since the John Brierley guidebook has 30+ km stages right from the beginning, we only did half. As sexagenarians we decided to start slow, let our feet and legs get use to the pounding and weight of our packs.