“I never won a fight in the ring. I always won in preparation.” Written by the greatest prize fighter ever, Mohammed Ali. So true in all aspects of life.

George and I were up at 6AM and were out looking for the trail by 7:15AM. I thought for sure others in the Hostel would be up with us, but evidently they were up earlier and already left. We are just a step behind. Today was going to be a big day. We had miles to cover, hills to climb, heat to overcome and not a lot of options for provisions.

The trail was obscure with few clues on where to go. We made our way through the City Streets and found our way back to the dirt trail. It was cool in the morning with lots of trees, some fairly well graded terrain and nice forest views. It truly was the first time I felt that I was on a trail. Just tall Eucalyptus, Pines and Olive Trees. I was in my element.

We made good time and by 9:30AM we stopped at a roadside cafe. I was quite surprised as the owner cooked hard boiled eggs. I commandeered a couple of apples from the Hostel, add that to the egg with espresso, and breakfast was served! What a treat. We topped off our water bottles, I pulled out my umbrella and we headed out of town.

The locals were tending to their gardens, trimming bushes, watering and just hanging out doing what they do. An 80 year-old woman passed me on her bicycle and when she turned the corner, stood up on her peddles and climbed the hill. I was so impressed, as if she was half her age and never giving it a second thought! What is it like being Portuguese? Being fit, healthy and capable of doing whatever it is that you’d like to do.

We meandered through many small villages with donkeys, goats, sheep, dogs and cats. Every garden or jardim, as they would say, had kale. In Portugal, Calde Verde is their authentic vegetable soup and it must always have kale. So why would you buy it when it grows like a weed out here?! The Kale is picked and grows like a stalk. As you pick the leaf, the stalk continues to grow upward and I suppose it continues to produce new leaves as long as you water and tend to it. One older gentleman was flooding his field and offered me a kale leaf. It was bigger than my face! Sweet and bitter in the same bite. And big enough to use as a fan to cool me down. I just love this versatile plant.

George and I made it to a fork in the road, one path heading straight up and another relatively easier to climb. Of course, our route was straight up a fairly steep dirt path. It was hot and a bit rocky, but nothing I haven’t seen before. George on the other hand, wasn’t loving it. The trail was lined with EucalyptusTrees most of the way. Before long, we made it to the crest of the hill. Downhill and on our way to our planned lunch stop.

On our map, it clearly stated that there was a knife and fork. Symbol for lunch stop in my head. We made the right turn and walked back on the asphalt for a good mile or so. No restaurant anywhere. Bummer, looks like we have leftovers. Fortunately I have learned that you always pack snacks and so I found a shady spot next to a house and made us lunch. A roll with ham, more apples and a cookie. Our water was running low but now, at least we had enough calories to get us up the next hill.

We finished our lackluster lunch and continued northbound. I pointed out the windmills up ahead as our final destination and I thought George was going to crap his pants! What? There’s no way I’m going to make it that far.

We ran into a family that was harvesting olives from their orchard. The family had obviously done this before as they had quite the system. Dad had the shaker that vibrated the tree enough to shake off the olives. Mom and her daughter had a net-like tarp that caught the olives. As they filled the tarp, they would dump the olives in a 5 gallon bucket. They had buckets of olives lining their street. I’m sure this is their main crop for the year. Hard working people, no doubt about it.

The road started climbing again, and when we came to another fork, there was a sign for a Restaurant. This time we had to go as we were bone dry on water and both of us needed a cold drink. As we made the turn, Paulo stopped and asked us if we were headed to the restaurant? Yes, as a matter of fact we are. He too was a Pilgrim walking the Camino years ago and gave us a ride. Without a second thought, we were riding in a van to food, drink and shelter. About five minutes later, we were ordering water and beer, in that order! We drank the water and chugged it down with a beer. Oh, did that taste good.

We got our packs and headed back down the road to reconnect with the trail. Paulo said he’d take us back to where the trail connected. Awesome, that’d be great. We made the turn and he said he’d drop us off at a shady spot and within two minutes, we were at our destination. What a great ride indeed! George was sure that the dear Lord had provided this ride for him because he was done. I think he was right.

We checked in and ran into the gal from Holland, Janny, Jenny from Finland, Sonya from Taiwan and the French guy. Ends up there is a pool at our Hostel/Hotel and without a second thought, George and I were changed and headed to the pool. It wasn’t heated but boy oh boy, it felt marvelous. We all sat around for a bit and then headed inside to sit around some more.

Everyone had stories of the day, what we saw, how hard it was, how hot it was and the fact, we can’t wait till the rain starts! We are having a change in the weather as of tomorrow and I think we are all game for that. We got to know each other a bit better, made reservations for the up coming stages and ordered dinner.

At 7PM, the six of us were sharing dinner together, talking about different Camino’s, hikes we have done and just having a great time conversing. It’s amazing how much we all have in common even though we live worlds apart.

So another day on the Camino. George is doing pretty darn well. He has a blister or two he’s trying to keep under wraps and still gimping a bit on his knee, but all in all, he’s doing quite well. I’m hoping we can continue northbound at a reasonable pace so we can get to Santiago before our plane ride home. We will need to pick up a few more miles but there is always a train or bus, if need be. As long as we complete our last 100 kilometers, we will get our prized Compostela and all will be good in our world. We have lots of time for that to happen.

After touring the towns, taking in the sights of Santarem, Tomar and Fatima, we were both thrilled to be back on the trail by foot power. It felt good to make progress, see the small towns and villages, meet the locals and hang out with our fellow Piligrinos. Tomorrow we will be back at it again with a few more hills to climb and miles to cover. Until then, Bon Camino.