Águeda

I woke this morning to see a big fat bedbug climbing up my sleeping sheet. Yuk! Squashed it between my fingers and sure enough, it had just feasted. So a report to the hospitalero, who was very grateful to be told and reacted exactly as one would hope. He said an albergue between Coimbra and Mealhade has a real infestation and the priest there refuses to get proper eradication or control because it costs too much. Which causes a problem further up the line with pilgrims being inadvertent carriers. He drove me to the big laundromat in town and I did the hot dryer thing with bedding and clothes. Luckily I had kept a sealed dry bag of clothes just for this contingency - so changed into those - rather proud of that - it was a Mr Bean effort in front of a plate glass window beside a busy street. The skills one learns at boarding school! No bites showing up yet but I’m prepared with antihistamine at the ready.
Then another rather trying walk to Águeda where I have a lovely room in a good hotel.Les mer