To Santiago de Compostela: 604.9 km
Walked today: 17.9 km
Total walked: 35.2 km
We really started today our pilgrimage walk. On the map we only advanced 9.2 km but we walked around 4 km to the cathedral, we walked in the museum and sightseeing sites and some more on the way back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we'll take the metro to the Park of Nations and finally leave Lisbon behind.
It is easy to forget how hard the first days are. Lying in bed I can feel my sore feet and all the muscless in my legs and really we did not walked a lot. All the sidewalks in Lisbon are of pretty cobblestones, nice to look at but very hard on the feet. Besides, today I had a light pack, may be 5 kg, half load. Tomorrow I will have the full 10 kg on my back. It is going to get worse before it gets better.
We started the day at a small bakery that seems to be a favorite in this neighborhood. It is busy but no tourists. We have learned a few words there, like cha de camomila (camomile tea) or pao (bread). The people there, clients and staff, seem to have as much fun as I do with my Portuguese lessons.
After breakfast we walked thru downtown to the cathedral - about 4 km away - this was the only time we met pilgrims. First we met Salvatore from Italy, he starts tomorrow, and Petra, a young Croatian gal who planned to walk 40 km today.
The rest of the day no a single pilgrim more. The Portuguese people are rarely aware of pilgrims and they cannot give directionns for el Camino. In Spain everyone knew exactly where the Camino is.
We walked thru Alfama, the old Moorish quarter. Tiny streets, lots of houses covered in tiles and nice people everywhere.
Eventually we arrived to the Tile Museum. It is housed in the old Convent Madre Deus. A large building of Manueline style. It houses a baroque church covered in medieval gold decorations. The large collection of tile masterpieces goes back to the Moorish occupation and includes modern pieces. Fascinating as Spock would say.
The temperature today was supposed to be a comfortable 19C but walking in the sun felt very, very hot. Enough for me to get hikers rash on my legs. In a few days the temperature is going up to 28C. I don't know what we are going to do.
Later in the street we found a bench under a tree and we had a lunch of fresh fruit and nuts. It was a nice rest.
And then walk, walk walk, the buildings changed and suddenly we found ourselves in an area full of modern buildings. Brenda spotted the Oriente metro station. We had arrived to the Park of Nations, our objective for today. It was around 3:30 pm and we were getting hungry. The Vasco de Gama shopping Centre is right there so we entered, found the food court and had an early dinner.
Then, we just jumped into the metro to come back to our hotel Aviz.
Now, what is Aviz? It took a bit of research, the hotel in named after the royal house of Aviz that ruled Portugal from the XIV to the XVI centuries.
Tomorrow out of the city should feel more like a pilgrimage. We are still trying to take it easy and planning for something under 20 km.
Sao Jorge is the patron saint of Portugal so tonight we say: St. George protect us and all pilgrims and pray for all of us
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