May 17 (Rachel’s Birthday)

Day 4

Golega 

Today is my daughter’s 25th birthday. We celebrated our birthdays before we left but as a mom it feels strange  not making the birthday dinner and cake on a child’s actual birthday. We love her more than anything and are so proud of the beautiful 25 yr/old woman she has become. We are walking for you today, Rachel... this wonderful day of thankfulness for you! You are loved beyond words. 

      Last night we met 3 Australian gentlemen at the restaurant and it turns out they are staying at our hostel. Hilarious and cute men who are real Aussie buddies. They remind me of the 3 Stooges and are super outgoing and friendly. Bill and Mary would love them being fellow Aussies. They are all from Perth, however Stuart grew up in New Zealand.  These guys have a smile on their faces 24/7. I love that!  As we walked home from dinner they were all singing “The eyes of Texas are upon you”. How funny they know this song!

   This morning is another gorgeous day.  We eat a light breakfast provided by our Alburgue then start walking out of town. Before we get to the edge of town we see a beautiful park with great views from this high hilltop town. Looking out from the top is a reminder of where we have walked.  It’s always good in life to look back to where you’ve been but start each day with a step forward.  Moving forward gives each of us an opportunity to improve on the day before.  

     The descending walk leads us to a path of packed dirt with many hard stones. It’s so hard on our feet as these stones bruise the bottoms. As we walk we try and maneuver to walk on the smooth dirt. It is not easy. The first village is 12k away.  Such long distances before a break to refuel our bodies. On the Camino Frances the villages were so often much closer together. The hot sun makes it feel twice as far.  The joy of the morning is seeing prolific colorful roses and at one point I stop to smell the most beautiful orange rose and it perfectly matches my Nike shirt. The downside is walking thru one path where the wild rose bushes scratch our legs and arms as we pass thru.  Ouch! Truly the landscape we travel thru today could be in Southern France, Italy or Northern Spain.  A painting by God’s design. The reminder we are in Portugal are the beautiful hand painted tiles on homes, buildings, and every house number or farm name. The red tile roofs mixed with these colorful tiles are just beautiful. As soon as I pick one that is my favorite I come upon another that I love even more. 

      At our stop we see the Aussies at a cafe and join them. My feet, ankles and shoulders hurt so badly I can hardly wait to get my backpack off and elevate my throbbing feet.  Mimi and Richard both remove their shoes and discover blisters. Yikes!!! I pray daily daily for no blisters. Greg brings me a glass of the most delicious fresh squeezed orange juice and I drink it down immediately. I end up eating a 1/2 of Greg’s chocolate croissant and 1 more glass of juice before I feel better. We are only 1/3 of our way so we can’t sit long.  We painfully put our packs back on and set out.  

      At one point walking thru the vineyards and farms we see a lone tree surrounded by a huge vineyard. The tree has no branches.  It looks like they’ve all been cutoff. In front of the tree sits a double chair which is empty. I stand and stare and think of the Bible verse “I am the vine and ye are the branches”.  Maybe this is God’s way of showing me today that I need to be more of a light to others in my life. Farther down the road we encounter many Cork trees which have the bark harvested and large white numbers painted on each tree. We can actually see and feel the Cork.  It’s amazing and these trees are huge. We have 13k to walk before our next village and at one point I have to use the outdoor facilities. I find a big tree to hide behind and hear big tractors plowing fields in front of me. Note to self....2 glasses of orange juice is too much at one break! Ha. I start to feel on my right foot an area that could be a blister forming. Come on Vick’s work for me please! I know the difference between the Camino Frances and our walking in Portugal has been the heat. My feet sweat and I’ve had to wear thinner socks that are supposed to be better.  I beg to disagree. It seems like hours before we see a village in the distance. Oddly enough when we approach villages there are moments they seem to be moving farther away from us than closer. The anticipation of getting to rest again is often overwhelming. 

      We finally reach Azinhaga and unfortunately it is Siesta time (between 2-4). Most cafes are closed. We are directed by locals to an open cafe which serves food. Between the 4 of us our lack of the Portuguese language lands us in a bit of a quandary. We ask for sandwiches and we are led to a back room where ladies start bringing us salad, rice, potatoes, pork and bread. A sharing meal.  We continually tell them no more! When we get ready to pay, the bill is 50Euro.  This meal should have cost maybe 10Euro as it was a shared meal.  We feel scammed and the ladies are laughing and talking about us. We know this because Mimi understands Portuguese. It’s a very uncomfortable situation and Greg pays the bill an unhappy man.  This whole situation makes me think of how one bad experience often leads people to blame a whole society. We have had very kind And helpful interaction with the Portuguese people and cannot judge the people by this one situation. The same could have happened in any country including America. Blow it off and move forward. As we walk out of town Richard shares stories of how poor the people were in Lithuania. Wasting even a bite of bread would have gotten a slap from a father. His family left their country for a better life in Norway. It’s stories like these that make me feel spoiled and remind me to never take my life for granted. 

     Our destination for the evening is Golega. It is the horse capital of Portugal.  The city is pristine and full of the most gorgeous horses you’ve ever seen. Shout out to Kate to put on her bucket list. It’s a horse lovers paradise.  Apts line the streets with attached barn doors with horse stables in place of garages. Each one meticulous.  The village is busy preparing for a fiesta tomorrow where the Priest bless all the horses. Carriages large and small and ponies large and small are found around each street corner. 

     Michael has secured for us an Alburgue called Casa de Tia Guida.  It is hidden behind tall walls and attached to a hotel. A large courtyard with a patio and 2 dogs greet us. One dog is named Stella and is a Portuguese Mountain dog. Very friendly and quite large. Rachel would be in love with this pretty girl. Leonor is our innkeeper and offers to wash all of our clothes. A blessing. Greg pays 15Euro each for us a private room. After a light dinner of soup and salad I collapse in bed. 

       

     

     

Thank