Day 1, Lisbon to Alverca do Ribatejo

Total Distance: 16.44 miles
Steps: 34,340
Highlight of the day: Ricardo, a friend we made in 2016, when we hiked the Inca Trail together, lives in Madeira, but he is visiting his parents in Lisbon. He knew we were starting today and just happened to see us as he was driving his parents around, so he stopped and chatted with us for a bit. What a great surprise!

Today was spent mostly walking out of Lisbon, but part of that was walking through Lisbon’s impressive World Expo Park. A great place for families to enjoy the lovely gardens and the oceanfront.
We met a few other Camino pilgrims today: Nic, who is active duty Navy, and is stationed in Morocco; a woman named Pitra; Scott from Canada, who we walked with for the last part of the day; and a couple we met from Holland right before we got to our alburgue (hostel).

We’re both a bit tired and our feet are sore, but overall it was a great first day. The weather was perfect. We stopped at a restaurant around the 11th mile and ate delicious burgers with bacon and pineapple and homemade chips, and beer!Read more