I'm fired.

Today we walked from Santerem to Vale de Figueira. The beginning of the trail today took us outside the city walls and down a steep path into the valley. It had rained the night before and the path was very rocky and slippery. My hiking poles saved me from tumbling a few times. It was a 2 mile hike down to the bottom and back into the vineyards. And just then it began to rain again, making the whole route one huge puddle of slimy, slippery mud. Again, my poles kept me from falling a few times. This went on for about 4 or 5 miles before we hit asphalt, and coincidentally the rain finally stopped. What was amazing though, was how easy the hike was and how our packs felt like nothing on our backs. The last mile or so was uphill, and back into the sunshine and heat.
This stage of the Camino is actually over 20 miles long, and after Vale de Figueira, there is nothing until Azinhaga, another 12 miles. There is also nothing but a café in V de F, so we decided to Uber to a town off the Camino to a hostel, then Uber back and continue tomorrow. Well I booked the hotel, and I swear I do not know how I did this, but I thought it was 3.5 miles away, turns out it was back past Santerem and another dozen or so miles away for a total of about 21 miles!!!!! And the booking is non-refundable. So, tonight we are in Alpiarca and tomorrow we will go back to the train station in Santerem and take the train to rejoin the Camino. And Jayme has fired me from ever booking our stays again!
But, it is a cute town and we met a friendly bartender/pizza guy who spoke some English, served an incredibly large and tasty gin and tonic (for 5 euro) and was very interested in our story.
One screw up, but overall a pretty good day.Read more