May 18

Day 5

Tomar

   I’m not feeling well today.  I didn’t sleep at all as Greg snored and the Portuguese Mountain dog, Stella, who lives here barked outside all night. I have my first blister between my big toe on my right foot and today’s walk is supposed to be the longest to date, rain and very hilly. After much consideration I decide to train forward from Golega to Tomar.  Greg and Richard are the only ones who trudge forward by foot. I’m disappointed but know my journey is meant to be this way so I open my heart to what God has planned for me.  

     Michael, Mimi and I leisurely have a cafe at the hostel then walk around Golega one more time to take in the beauty of this pristine  horse village. We pass street signs each with horse symbols and peak inside several opened barn doors on these narrow streets. Each one filled with immaculate stables. Every street has orange trees which are loaded with fruit. We stop for our second cafe and sit outside and people watch. Michael orders an Aguardiente which he calls “fire water”, ie pure alcohol. I don’t know how he does it! He’s battling allergies and still has feet issues... if Zyrtec isn’t kicking in yet maybe this fire water will kill something! We sit and watch men and women all dressed in proper equestrian attire hustling about. Little buggies made for one person are led by tiny little horses. It’s just amazing on every level. The shops and museums don’t open til 10 so we decide to head to the train station and see what our options are. On the walk over hundreds of sparrows are flying all around us and roosters crow in the distance. There is a tile rooftop which is covered in moss and little birds. We see several canary cages attached to apartments on the outside. The Portuguese love canaries. We’ve seen them in each village including Lisbon. 

     We buy our tickets for a mere 2.85Euro. The next train passes thru at 11:15.  It’s now 10am so I walk across the street where there is a huge market full of trinkets and clothes from China. It has a big sign with its name printed in Chinese. It seems out of place here.  

      The train ride only takes 25 minutes.  As soon as I get off the train I’m in love with this city. Church bells are ringing and as we walk towards our hostel we hear a harp playing Pachabels Canon in D.  This village sitting next to a river with waterfalls and a waterwheel remind me of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Provence.  Perched high overlooking the city is a huge castle.  

     “The castle in the city of Tomar or "Castelo dos Templarios" is considered one of the most important Portuguese military buildings of the 12th century. Inside, it houses the Convent of Christ, a monument of great historic value and majestuosidad, forming a unique example of its genre. It has been listed as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1983. The building of the castle began on March 1st, 1160. That date has become the “Day of Tomar.” The building was an issue of military strategy since it was necessary to establish a fort that could defend the borderlands with the Muslim regions.

Guialdim Pais, Master of the Knights Templar, was the main overseer of the building of the castle, considered as one of the largest examples of defensive architecture in Portugal.”  

     Needless to say the Templars had a huge presence  here and the architecture depicts it.  

     We check into our hostel and take the last 5 beds. At this point our companions are Micheal, Richard and Mimi. The hostel is very clean and decorated really cute. The wall paper is all white and has graffiti written by people who’ve stayed here in the past. It’s very artistic and our room has a wall with the writing:

    “I know not whether it is dream or reality. Whether it is a blend of dream and life. That land of smoothness. Which in the extreme island to the south is forgotten. It is the one we long for. Over there, over there life is young and love smiles”.  

Food for thought. 

     We lunch on Burras which is pork cheeks! I dared to try it.  It is served with cabbage and little potatoes.  It is delicious and reminds me of pot roast. Every meal whether lunch or dinner is accompanied with bread, olives and a cheese board. After eating 1/2 my meal I’m feeling like a stuffed pig and it’s about to rain so I head back to our hostel for a much needed nap. I think if I just rest today and catch up on sleep I’ll be fine. My foot hasn’t bothered me and the compeed seems to be working. I sleep like a baby for 2 full hours while rain gently falls. 

     Greg wakes me as he enters our room and is tired but excited about his walk today. He tells me it was only 81 degrees and with cloud cover and a little rain it wasn’t as bad as yesterday. As I expected he tells me we missed pretty scenery unlike any we’d seen.  At this point I’m happy for him that he experienced a great day and I’m doubly happy for me that I nabbed a 2hr nap while it rained.                       

      Lorenz is staying in our hostel as well as 2 women who were in our place last night. One is Italian and 1 is from Denmark. They met on the Camino Francis last year and have met up to walk this Camino. In the hostel kitchen we meet a darling girl named Nicole who is from South Carolina.  She’s in her 20’s, traveling alone and has a car.  She graciously offers to drive us to Fatima tomorrow and we accept. Michael and Mimi will be coming with us.  I’m sure it will be quite the adventure.  Our plan is to return here tomorrow night and continue our walk from here on Sunday. 

             All is good in Tomar. I’ll go to sleep relaxed and deep in thought about the Knights Templar and how life must have been here back in the day. I’ll go to sleep thankful for the blessings of my day and I’ll continue to pray for all the prayer request being sent to me and more. I’ll especially pray for peace for all the family and friends of the Santa Fe High School shooting today in Texas. Senseless. God help us.