Tuesday 14 October 2014

Camino de Santiago de Compestella 340 kms to go.

Hi readers a lot has happened since my last post in short the weather has changed. Portugal is having the wettest October for 80 years.  Seems the weather is not behaving. Citt reckons there is more on the way with a huge low coming in off the Atlantic next week.

Anyways we were walking along a Roman road on a Sunday morning happy happy

3 hours out of Rabacal  on a desolate  hill with Sunday pheasant shooters with big guns going boom boom.
Me with bright red coat and Citt whistling Dixie. Pam thought the whole gun thing was silly but the dogs worried her.

Then a huge mob of Sunday cyclists came from nowhere 20 Mountain bikes going hell for leather in some sort of race. Not fun for us on a mountain track. Get out of the way.

THEN THE HEAVENS OPENED. It started to rain not tippy rain, but like real rain lots of it. Our problem or my problem was my rain coat had split. Pam's problem she had no rain pants.  Citt's problem was she had a hole in her coat and did not think it worth putting on her real wet gear.

Imagine 3 hours walking in pouring rain we made for the main road and stayed on it to Rabacal.
There boots full of water, clothes soaked, cold and miserable we took stock. 3.00 in the afternoon. No sign of the rain stopping. Next day forecast more of the same. What to do?
Result. We took a taxi to the next big town Coimbra. Booked into a pension. Stripped off all our gear. Had a hot shower. Got into dry gear and went out with brollies and had some  excellent wine at he local restaurant.
Next day we took all our stinky gear to the laundromat let them deal with it.

The  countryside we are walking is truly magnificent. Vines, Olive trees, eucalypt forests, cork- oak forests, orchards of apple and pomegranate. Old villages half deserted but proud. The ceramic tiles depicting scenes of hunting fishing tending crops and being entertained adorn  each house. We surmise and make stories of where the occupants are. One beautiful old house I am sure the owners had moved to Ingham NQ Australia in the 50s.

We are 345 klms from Santiago de Compestella. 3 days walk out of Opporto.

I received this quote from my mate Mike Scales and it pretty well says it all.

"The Camino offers many things to many people, each comes on the journey with their own  motivations - but all are united by the common goal of reaching Santiago. For centuries the Camino de Santiago has been a great teacher and leveller, all those who travel it's path connect with simplicity and are changed in some way, great or small."

I am tired now having walked 26 klms from Coimbra. 
Pam is asleep and Citt is too. 
I wanted to tell you about the pasteleiro shops but will save it till I have a bit more energy. 
Oh we had the local speciality for dinner. 
suckling pig with crispy potatoes and green salad
New goats cheese, olives, bread
With a Douro unwooded 2009 vino 
Ah the joy of being a Pergrino
Bom Camino my friends. 
Ah the perils of a Perigrino! 

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