Bate Água

Today was a lot like yesterday - forests, hills, olive trees, vineyards, flowers, small towns, and suburban neighborhoods. And 20+ miles! Beautiful terrain, truly only appreciated with the naked eye. I missed a photo opportunity this morning. An older woman was walking her goats down the road. I didn't want to take her picture without her permission and when we got closer enough, the goats jumped to the field. The picture reflected the old Portuguese. In the next town, there were new builds and rehabs of older buildings taking place and the making of a newer, contemporary Portuguese. We spent part of our day walking with Senti (South Africa), Connie and Lizbeth (Denmark), and Laura and Fortal (Mexico).

We are starting at a wonderful Alberque and met Alex from Germany. Alex was originally from Essen. He was surprised we knew of it and had been there. Alex is a Packers fan but has friends who are Steelers fans, complete with terrible towels.

We had dinner with Dan and Heather (Maine). Dan is in the Merchant Marines and basically works 70 days on and 70 days off. This trip is part of his 70 days off - they do not have a return flight booked.

And green wine is delicious! (It's not really green or from green grapes - look it up!)

Highlight: A man was getting oranges from his tree and offered us two. They were delicious!!

Late in the day, we encountered our first rain shower since being in Portugal. It wasn't too long or too hard. Today was much cooler (mid 70s), which made the trek easier.

It is great that, despite language barriers we are able to communicate with other pilgrims and the locals. Of course, being able to speak English is a great benefit. However, many locals on the smaller towns do not speak English, and the Mexicans we have traveled with know very little.

Things that I, Jeff, am grateful for:
- that Eileen and I are physically able to do this, despite it being hard/tiring
- that Eileen is willing to do this Camino.
- that we have the means to do it.

When we get to the last hour or two of these 20 miles days, it is easy to ask yourself "Why?". Not sure that i have a good answer for that yet but I think it is good to test your limits and get out of your comfort zone.Read more