May 20

Day 7

Alvaiázere

So long Tomar!  We have enjoyed visiting your historic and charming village and will tuck away this memory. Today’s forecast is 50’sF overcast, 50% chance of rain with a high of 79F.  Sounds perfect to us!  I’ve arranged for my big pack to be taxied forward today and I’ve packed a smaller pack with day essentials including rain gear.  The cost to move a “Mochilla” is quite a bit more than it was on the Frances. They are charging me a 30 Euro taxi fee.  In Spain it was 4 Euro.  The Portuguese is simply much less travelled and they don’t have the services the Frances has.  It’s a shame because these distances are consistently farther on a daily basis.  We will be climbing quite a bit of elevation today over 34k and my big pack would bother my neck.   

    As we leave this special village we  start walking up into a very lush hillside. There are super narrow trails and high vegetation on each side. We can hear a small creek with moving water.  I have seen several lone flowers sticking up out of sidewalks and this morning I see a few along the trail. Red poppies and yellow flowers of some sort that just seem to have the strength to push upward thru a crack or hard packed soil and survive.  It reminds of life and how we all come into this world alone and we will all leave alone.  Life is up to us to bloom or not.   

     We pass a farmer driving a tractor towards us. He looks like he’s wearing his Sunday best, ie hat, vest, slacks and an ironed shirt.  It is Sunday so maybe he is! Shortly we walk back into jungle like scenery with vines above us and big trees. We come upon a small water fall and see a woman coming towards us wearing a pack. Turns out she took a wrong turn ahead and was making sure she was on the correct trail. These trails are not well marked and it takes several sets of eyes to locate markers at turns and forks.  The yellow arrows and Camino seashell emblem are used but seems they need to be visible more often. The woman is Italian and speaks no English.  She follows and passes us when I stop to take a photo. Later on we see her again walking up to an RV. Her husband is driving it and basically her sag wagon as she walks the Camino. Not a bad idea on this long stretch of no facilities. Each day we have seen less than 5 Pilgrims on the trail. Very different from the Frances where we’d see people in front of us and behind us constantly. It makes you pay attention to signs and directions. 

    Today Greg and I are walking together just the 2 of us.  Mimi left us yesterday and so did Richard and Lorenz. Michael is sick and taxiing forward. We are worried about him and I hope he goes to a doctor on Monday.  He’s coughing a lot and feels bad. The Aussies stayed back in Tomar to visit the castle.  Last night at dinner we met an American couple from Wyoming. Cici and Jeff picked us out of the restaurant as being Pilgrims and Americans. We must really stand out! Ha. They introduced themselves and told us they had already completed their Camino and had stopped in Tomar on their way back to Lisbon to fly home. They walked from Porto to Santiago this Camino. They have walked the Frances twice and Portuguese twice. They appeared to be our age group and super friendly with advice for us on the Porto leg of our journey.  

      Walking just the two of us on this hike is a first.  We get into our rhythm and plug in our headphones.  Even though I love talking it is very nice having alone time to go deep in prayer and thought. I’ve had a pit in my stomach since I’ve left home and need a day to just pray. I pray all day today for requested personal prayers, mental illness, addiction, cancer, families and peace.  I feel like I’m a wondering soul traveling this trail alone and wanting to take in all the incredible natural beauty surrounding me. I do just that.  The wild flowers are every color and variety. The trees and grasses large and small.  The sounds of insects and chirping birds intoxicating. God is present in every living thing surrounding me and I recognize this as a huge blessing. I listen to the song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns:

     “Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth

Would care to know my name,

Would care to feel my hurt?

Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star

Would choose to light the way

For my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am,

But because of what You've done.

Not because of what I've done,

But because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading:

Here today and gone tomorrow.

A wave tossed in the ocean,

A vapor in the wind.

Still You hear me when I'm calling.

Lord, You catch me when I'm falling.

And You've told me who I am.

I am Yours, I am Yours.

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin

Would look on me with love and watch me rise again?

Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea

Would call out through the rain

And calm the storm in me?”

      These lyrics are perfect for me today and help me climb higher.  We walk at least 8k before we find 1 lone cafe open in Calvinos. There are no pastries so I grab a water and we share a bag of Cheetos!  Not my typical hiking fare.  We head upward again and each of us takes turns dancing and playing the air guitar to our own headphone music as we start a small decent.  Later on I am drawn to objects in threes.  I see flowers where 3 are standing alone more than once and I think of Mom, Dad and Ronnie being right here with me. We pass a small house and on the fence out of nowhere lands 3 white doves. They are here with me and Mom lingers as if to say “I love you sweetie... everything is going to be ok”.  I cry.  Lionel Richies song “Just To Be With You Again” plays in perfect timing.  

     As we climb higher the scenery has changed to lots and lots of olives trees.  They are planted in rows and several look ancient. We are so tired and famished but take a break and eat an orange. Greg has an old piece of bread with mold on it I make him get rid it.  We almost walk past an Alburgue in Campo until we notice there are 2 men having a refreshment outside. We stop in hopes of food eventhough we are 7k away from our home tonight. We meet 2 gentlemen from Germany and the owner of the Alburgue. He’s a very handsome guy in his early 40’s and shows us around his beautiful place. It is ancient mixed with modern and all newly renovated. I wish we were staying here! He inherited the gorgeous Villa and property from his relative and has made part into an Alburgue. It is Amazing and I tell him I will put positive remarks on the Camino Blog. He has an antique pitch fork by the patio and we pose with it for a photo like American Gothic. We bid him farewell and wish him success with his new place. 

      We arrive in Alvaiázere at 5pm.....a 10 hr day!  Thats what climbing long distances requires.... long time!  Our Alburgue is called 

O Bras and Michael is waiting for us upstairs asleep. He sounds worse but goes downstairs to dinner with us.  We meet a couple from Germany and a Gentleman from Sweden.  Beer is shared and the 3 of us has a Pilgrim  meal before going to bed at 8:30pm. We are exhausted!