We Baraga’s always have something going on in the mornings. Today was the same as any other. George woke up with Hearing Aid issues. There’s a filter that gets clogged in hearing aids. It’s a very small piece that should be replaced monthly. Ends up, he either forgot them at home or he can’t find where he put the filters in his backpack. So in Baraga fashion, George will clean it himself. He fills a cup with warm water and puts the filters in the cup. Now, comes the problem! One of the filters doesn’t make it in the cup and the hunt is on. It is a minuscule piece of fuzz that has dropped on the floor. God, be with us because I’m not sure how we will find this piece of lint. After crawling around for close to a half hour, George finds it by the door. That’s a long ways from where it was dropped. So once again, we leave later than expected!

After grabbing our double shot of espresso and a small pastry, we hit the trail. Today is Sunday, and hunting season is open. The funny thing is in Portugal, open hunts are only allowed on Sundays and Thursdays. We hear lots of gunfire and see many hunting vehicles along the way.

We find our way to the first town, Zambujal. It is a small village with a beautiful church. We could hear the choir singing as we made our way into town. The other very unexpected nicety was Joseph, a US Citizen from New Jersey, now known as the local baker. He has fresh bread and pastries that he sells from his van. What luck as George and I stock up!

An informative and poignant plaque is displayed in town. It tells the story and reason that many Pilgrims decide to journey to Santiago.

According to the Iberian legend, Santiago (St. James), one of Jesus Apostles, disembarked south of the Iberian Peninsula, and made his way north to Galicia. He passes through these lands, now belonging to the Freguesia do Zambujal. In the year of 44 AC, St. James returns to Santiago and then Jerusalem, where he was beheaded by the Roman representative, Herod Agripa II. Still according to the same legend, his body was brought back to Galicia by his disciples, Atanasio and Teodoro. In a boat guided by an angel, it is believed that his body was buried in the place now known as Santiago de Compostela. This is where the Cathedral was built, and the place that George and I plan to walk to.

After leaving Zambujal, we hear Freddie and Suni approaching from behind. Once again, we are not the last Pilgrims to leave. We talk for a bit and they continue ahead. The weather begins to change and after a week of extreme heat, I think we are going to have a shower. Just a light drizzle that lasts a minute or two. Not much but enough to cool things down.

We make our way to Fonte Comberta, which is not a town but rather a place for stray dogs and cats to hang out. There is a home that has an interesting collection of art. What I was thoroughly amazed by is the Rosetta Beads that are hanging from a tree. It is made of wooden balls that are larger than me. It truly is a piece of artwork.

As I make my way down the road, there’s this sweet dog I see running across the field. She’s a wired-hair terrier and has a collar on so she belongs to some lucky home. Me and the dog head over to an old bridge that was constructed in the 16th Century. Under the reign of the so called Philip Kings, Spain occupied Portugal between the years 1580-1640. During this period they repaired and rebuilt roads as well as bridges to consolidate the Iberian Union. The Fonte Coberta Bridge was part of that policy,

This bridge was built by order on Philip Ill of Portugal (IV of Spain), in the years 1636-1637 under Jose da Fonseca master builder from Ansiao. Imagine that! This bridge from nearly three hundred years is still standing and used today.

The dog escorts George and I up to our final ascent of the day. It winds up and over a beautiful hillside that protects one valley from another. Once we arrive on top, we are passed by Trail Runners and Mountain Bikers. Being Sunday, it seems many locals are out taking advantage of their day off and doing what they like to do, which appears to be running up and down hills and riding bikes really fast!

Once we crest the hill, we notice a fence around a historical site. It ends up that we have walked to Conimbriga, which is a Roman Settlement from 1st Century. Oh my goodness, this should be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is fascinating. (See my next blog post as I will share the pictures and explain the city that was unearthed recently.)

We headed to the Cafe at the Museum and sat with Freddie and Suni, our pilgrim friends. I had purchased salami, cheese, bread, pears and chocolate wafer cookies in town yesterday. We shared our feast, drank some coffee and talked about our Camino to date. It’s funny what comes up. All the wrong directions, the route finding and the lack of signage. Yep, it appears we are all on the same Camino.

After lunch Freddie and Suni continue north. George and I take in sites of the old Roman Empire. After a couple of hours, we head into Coinimbriga. There’s one Albergue in town. It’s 3:00PM and figure we won’t have enough time to make it the extra ten miles to Coimbriga, which sounds like the town we are in, but it lacks the “n” . We stop at the Albergue and find out they are full. Oh no, this is the first time I did not make a reservation ahead of time. Well then, there’s always a taxi to the next town. We talk with the owners and they call for a taxi. We are whisked away to Coimbriga, the bigger of the two towns and on the river.

This time I get on my WisePulgrims app and make a reservation for “Change the World” Hostel. It’s the hostel I have been reading about since we got on the trail. Sure enough we get a room for the night, a private room with a bath. These are very important facts when you stay in a Hostel.

We arrive to this big city which I am falling in love with! It is the most beautiful place I have seen in Portugal. We get checked in and decide to stay an additional night. There’s just too much to see! Wandering the streets, we run into a couple of pilgrims, both from Germany. It’s funny how you can be in a big city and still see people you’ve met along the way. We visit one of the oldest and most ornate churches-monastery’s I ever seen.

This Monastery of Santa Cruz, was founded in 1131 by King Afonso Henriques for the Order of Saint Augustine. It was the most influential monastery in the city and country, at the time. In the 16th century, it was restructured, which was encouraged by the Kings Manuel l and João III. Major highlights to the tombs of the founders of Portugal dated from the late gothic times with manueline and renaissance decorations. In 2003, the church is raised to the category of National Pantheon. It is stunning. When we walked inside, there was a service being conducted, all in Portuguese of course.

We took the advise of our Hotel concierge and made our way to a opulent bar that sits above the city. Oh my, we have arrived. This is stunning. The sun was setting, the clouds were plentiful, and we had the best table in the house. Well honestly, there’s not a bad table anywhere! We bought a bottle of red wine and watched the sunset. The couple next to us were from South Carolina and we talked most the evening with them.

Afterwards we went to Arcada, a Tapas Restaurant and proceeded to enjoy the best meal, hands down, that we’ve had in Portugal! I’m not sure where we were transported to this afternoon, but it is by far, my most favorite location I’ve seen in this country. I can’t even describe the incredible, delectable food we consumed but it included stuffed mushroom, octopus ceviche, meats, cheese, olives, dried fruits and so much more. After dinner, we made reservations for the same table tomorrow night. It was that special!

Coimbra Fado is a genre of fado originating in this city. While adopted by students at the University of Coimbra, and sometimes known as Student Fado, it is usually considered the typical music of Coimbra itself. The Bar next to our Hostel was playing Fado this evening. George and I finished our evening listening to this music till late in the evening. What a magical night.

So some of you are saying to yourself, this does not seem like much of a hike? And you are right and wrong. This is more of an experience. When George and I planned to set off for The Camino, I did not expect it to be anything like this! Our Pilgrimage has been a love affair with a country that has so much to offer! The people are delightful, the cultural experience has been amazing and the countryside is splendid. This is much more than any walk or hike that I have ever done. And we have only begun!