Category Archives: Portugal

Morgado to Santarem

September 2, 2014Backpacking, Caminho Portugues, Hiking, Portugal, Travelgrapes, Morgado, Pilgrims, Santarem, tomatoeskarenfranza

9/2 – after a hearty breakfast of ham and cheese sandwich, juice and coffee, Mario drove us back to where he found us yesterday so we could complete the remaining 10 miles of our walk to Santarem. This will be an easy day, as our heavy packs are at the hostel, and we are just carrying a camera and a canteen of water.

We walked along the levee until we left the river:

Then we had nine miles of dusty dirt road, with tomatoes, squash, corn and grape vineyards lining both sides of the road. And yes, we sampled both the tomatoes and the grapes – sweet and tasty, although a bit dusty!

Finally, we saw Santarem in the distance, and knew we were only an hour’s uphill climb from home.

Here are the first citizens of Santarem to greet us:

Halfway up the hill, we stopped at a cool fountain to clean off some dust before walking into town:

There is an American pilgrim from California, Anita, staying at the hostel tonight, and we had a nice chat while we cooked our respective suppers. It’s nice to be able to communicate without a language barrier!

Azambuja to Morgado

September 2, 2014Backpacking, Caminho Portugues, Hiking, Portugal, TravelAzambuja, Morgado, Pilgrims, Santarem, tomatoeskarenfranza

9/1 – when we arrived at the cafe at 7 this morning for our coffee, it was full of English-speaking men! Four Americans and two Canadians had arrived late last night, and, of course, they were responsible for the chorus of God Bless America that we heard in the wee hours. They are all veterans of other caminhos, and are all walking the 20+ miles to Santarem in today’s 93 degree heat.

We have opted to walk 10 miles to Morgado, and Mario, who owns the Santarem Hostel, will pick us up. We will spend the night in his hostel, then he will drop us back at this halfway point tomorrow so we can complete the segment. We want to walk every step of this Caminho, taking time to enjoy whatever there is to experience.

We were on the road as the sun came up, as we wished to avoid the heat of the day.

We walked along the water, along a path that was part of an old Roman road:

The path took us through miles of tomato fields:

We got to watch as the tomatoes were harvested by a big machine that sucked up the tomato plants, separated the ripe tomatoes down a chute onto a waiting truck, ground up the rest of the plant and returned it to the field as mulch, along with any unripe fruit. Darned if we could figure out how the the machine knew the difference, but only the red fruit went onto the truck!

We walked through the little town of Valada, with its 16th century church, and viewed the River Tejo from the levee that we walked along for several miles:

Mario came for us at noon, and he stopped and offered rides to the other pilgrims on the way to Santarem, but they all opted to walk in. We were grateful for the private room, and I loved the artwork displayed throughout the hostel of cows engaged in very human pursuits:

Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja

September 1, 2014Backpacking, Caminho Portugues, Hiking, Portugal, TravelAzumbaja, Bull fighting, Futbol, Piri Piri, Vila Franca de Xirakarenfranza

8/31 – our 12 mile trek today was mostly on highway, which was nasty, but would have been worse on a weekday with heavier traffic. We met no other pilgrims today.

We stopped in a small town at a cafe for lunch, and asked for a sandwich (sande). This is invariably one slice of ham (prosciutto) on a hard roll, with no mustard or mayo. Dry, dry, dry. Imagine our delight when the sandwiches came with ham, cheese and margarine! A culinary delight, that we could probably always have if we just knew how to order it…

We noticed several houses with Our Lady of Fatima displayed over the door:

As we walked along, I kept noticing tomatoes on the ground; some smashed, some eaten by bugs or birds, but many more in perfect condition, or almost so. Have the town folk been tossing them out the windows? Is this some sort of cultural phenomenon? My ruminations were answered soon enough when we spotted a double length tractor trailer barreling down the highway with an unsecured cargo of ripe red tomatoes bouncing around and spilling out. Mystery solved!

Here are some flowers from today’s walk:

Azambuja is another town with a bull ring, and we passed lots of posters advertising upcoming events. I’m happy to report that there are female bullfighters too, if this poster is any indication.

We are staying in a quiet pensao, without internet, so we didn’t expect much excitement for the evening. When we went to seek out supper around 7:30 ( that’s really the earliest you can get fed in this country), we found every restaurant full to bursting, with the soccer game blaring out on the TV. We passed by the first two restaurants, then decided there was nothing else for it, and made our way into the third. The proprietor found us two seats at a long table filled with shouting futbol fans, and brought us pork and fried potatoes for two. And, he brought out some hot sauce, called Piri Piri, the first condiment we’ve seen! We ate every bit, and rooted for the home team. The uniforms for one team advertised beer, and the other advertised TV satellite dishes. No idea who won!

Lying in bed, we listened to the shouting, singing and general carousing that seems to be a nightly event here, until the bars close at 2am. Amid all the noise we distinctly heard a full verse of God Bless America! Now, who can that be?

Alverca to Vila Franca de Xira

August 30, 2014Backpacking, Caminho Portugues, Hiking, Portugal, TravelAlverca, Nice People of Portugal, Pilgrims, Vila Franca de Xirakarenfranza

8/30 – today we planned an easy day of just 7 miles. Our guidebook recommended a 19 mile day, but we split it, as we are taking our time, and wanted to enjoy the town of Vila Franca de Xira. Tomorrow we will walk the other 12 miles.

We met two pilgrims from Brazil, who have completed six different caminhos. They arrived in Lisbon yesterday, walked until 10:30 last night, and would walk another 20 miles today. Everyone walks their own Caminho.

We walked some dusty early morning trail, and got to see some roses and morning glories in bloom:

We spent an hour on a nasty road walk along highway N10, but during this stretch several bikers wished us Bom Caminho, and an old man waved his arms to slow down the traffic as we passed. Nice People of a Portugal! We are asked if we are walking to Fatima, as both pilgrimages share a trail at this point. As Fatima is on the way, we are considering going there too. Why not?

Finally, the path took us back to the River Tejo, where we enjoyed walking on a multi-use track with bikers, joggers and families enjoying a Saturday outing.

We got to see our first bullfighting stadium, from a distance, there are posters of matadors all over, and bull is on the menu, so we think this is a bullfighting town:

We had another mystery lunch, as this is not Lisbon, so there are no tourist menus translated to English. We asked for the specials of the day, and the waitress asked lots of questions, to which we replied Yes. I ended up with codfish soup (delicious!) and a pork sandwich. Jim got fried pork loin with (the now expected) rice, fries and salad. This really isn’t hard, if you don’t care what you get!

Here is our hostel, where we have a private room, and our own bathroom across the hall. We just did some laundry – see Jim’s red shirt hanging out to dry?

A lovely afternoon in a lovely town.

Sacavem to Alverca

August 30, 2014Backpacking, Caminho Portugues, Hiking, Portugal, TravelAlverca, Nice People of Portugal, Pilgrims, Sacavemkarenfranza

8/29 – we caught the 7:30 train out of Sintra, and were back in Sacavem in an hour, right where we left off the other day. Our walk today is 11.5 miles, mostly on dirt or gravel paths, occasionally on a busy highway, and a beautiful stretch along a boardwalk overlooking the River Tejo.

We met two other pelligrinas on their way to Santiago, both young girls moving much faster than we. We exchanged the pilgrim greeting, wishing them Bom Caminho! (have a good journey!) because we are pilgrims.

As we walked down a busy street, a car leaned on the horn. I looked up to see the female driver waving and blowing kisses to us, because we are pilgrims.

As we reached our room for the night, a car stopped in the street and the driver leaned out and asked in English, “Are you okay? Do you need any help?”, because we are pilgrims.

It’s good to be back on the Caminho!

Images of Sintra

August 28, 2014Portugal, TravelPastels de Nata, Sintrakarenfranza

Sintra celebrates beauty. Here are some pictures to share.

Our quiet guesthouse:

Our breakfast, cafe com leite and delicious custard tarts called Pastels de Nata:

Garden paths, lovingly tended:

In the morning we’ll be on the train to Sacavem to resume our Caminho. Sintra, you’ve been wonderful!

The Castle and the Palace

August 27, 2014Portugal, TravelMoorish Castle, Pena National Palace, Sintrakarenfranza

8/27 – if you look way up when standing on the main street of Sintra, you can see the battlements of a castle on top of the mountain in the distance. Today we took a bus 3 miles up the mountain, to walk among the ruins of the 8th century Moorish Castle, Castelo dos Mouros. Time and earthquakes have brought down most of the structure, but the turrets and walls that remain provide a wonderful view of the countryside below.

One of the things you can see from the castle is the visually striking Pena National Palace. Originally a monastery from the Middle Ages, it was mostly destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, then restored in the early 1800s by young King Ferdinand. It has tiled walls, trompe l’oeil, minarets, Moorish arches, and whatever else struck the royal family’s fancy.

The tour displayed lots of rich-people stuff. My favorite was the kitchen:

We walked through the natural gardens that surround the palace, and climbed to the mountain summit to see the High Cross:

From the Cross, we looked down on the palace below:

Enough climbing for one day – time for a nap!

Quinta da Regaleira

August 27, 2014Portugal, TravelQuinta da Regaleira, Sintrakarenfranza

8/26 – there once was a millionaire who wanted the best estate ever. He hired landscapers to make the gardens magnificent, and added underground tunnels, secret grottoes, waterfalls, Rapunzel towers, and everything you ever dreamed in a fairy tale. He added secret Masonic and alchemy references, and threw in some stuff from the Knights Templar for good measure. The result is Quinta da Regaleira.

Here is the Inverted Tower, or Initiatic Well, that links earth and sky. Climb down the wet stone stair to reach underground tunnels to the chapel and the lake:

We climbed up winding paths, crawled down dark tunnels, hopped on stepping stones across a lake, and came home exhausted. What a place!

Beautiful Sintra

August 26, 2014Portugal, TravelSintrakarenfranza

8/25 – As our train left Lisbon behind, we saw mile after mile of high rises and urban landscape. Then, 30 minutes later, we were in a land of fairy tale castles. Welcome to Sintra! On our first afternoon, we just walked around to get our bearings:

We peeked into a park with papier mâché animals, where a little old man played El Condor Pasa on his recorder:

We’re going to enjoy the beauty and the quiet for the next few days.

Goodbye Lisbon, Hello Sintra

August 25, 2014Portugal, TravelIgreja Sao Roque, Lisbon, reliquary, Sintrakarenfranza

8/24 – we are in Lisbon for one more day. What should we see? Not too far away is the Igreja Sao Roque, or the Church of Saint Rocco. This is the oldest Jesuit church in Portugal, and perhaps the most ornate. At the time it was being built (1700s), the Portuguese explorers were bringing more gold and jewels home from Brazil and the new world than anyone knew what to do with. Many of the riches ended up here. Here is one of the large gold candlesticks, over six feet tall:

Here is a bone of Sao Roque himself, in a gold reliquary:

This church has so many saint parts, that there are two reliquary chapels on either side of the main altar, one for male bones, and one for female bones:

If you are not familiar with Saint Rocco, he is always depicted as having sores on his leg, and is accompanied by a dog offering him a loaf of bread:

We are staying at the Lisbon Amazing Hostel, so every morning we meet different people at breakfast. Today we met a Chinese couple who are going to grad school in Milan, and have come to Portugal for a summer holiday. They are getting Masters degrees in business. It turns out that David (his chosen Anglican name) already owns several factories, and the degree will help them to run the companies better. As we ate toast and jam, he asked us what type of vegetable oil was the healthiest – he was thinking of starting another company to import healthy oil to China! We marveled at his ingenuity.

As an antidote to the noise and crowds of Lisbon, we are taking the train 30 minutes west to the delightful town of Sintra, where we will spend several days walking through gardens and castles before resuming our Caminho. The New York Times featured a travel section on Sintra just last week, so we fear it is no longer an undiscovered idyll, but we shall see!

Taking Our Time

Seeing the World, Nice and Slow

Category Archives: Portugal

Morgado to Santarem

Azambuja to Morgado

Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja

Alverca to Vila Franca de Xira

Sacavem to Alverca

Images of Sintra

The Castle and the Palace

Quinta da Regaleira

Beautiful Sintra

Goodbye Lisbon, Hello Sintra

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