The albergue in Beira Valente

Just so you know that I did in fact get into the Albergue, I thought I’d write a quick follow up with a few pictures. I got a phone call from the hospitalero Paulo. It turns out he was in the Algarve but wanted to tell me where to get the key. It was a totally hilarious conversation – my bad Portuguese, a generally bad connection, but one very patient man. I did finally get the keys which were on a hook in a very cleverly hidden place. Can’t tell you where, though. 😀

The next step was to get inside, and there were two different doors to be opened. More conversations in my broken Portuguese. Finally once inside, the last task was for me to turn on the gas to heat up the water for the shower. Being a dumb American who never turns gas on or off, I had a hard time following his instructions again. But I am happy to report that it all worked.

Next topic was my dinner. He had told me in a WhatsApp that I could get dinner at the restaurant Paulo Ferreira. I told him that I had walked through town and hadn’t seen a restaurant, so I was wondering how far away it was. Thankfully after about eight or nine tries, I understood that what I was hearing as Tay-K was actually “take away.” I didn’t really understand what he was saying, but I knew it was something about 8 PM..

And at 8 pm, an association member showed up outside the albergue and drove me to a Restaurant that had take away. I got some pulpo salad and chicken on the rotisserie. No vegetables anywhere in sight.

I have to confess that I would not have even thought to stay in this Albergue had it not been for the fact that all of the accommodations in the town 3 km earlier were full. This is because it’s their harvest festival weekend.

This is a beautiful Albergue in the old school house. Such undeserved kindness.Read more