Different end stops
Not all caminho stories end in Santiago de Compostela. Of course it is only logical that something happens and that you end up somewhere else, in Casa da Lima for example. This is also a caminho and if necessary new plans are made.
We had a woman from America, who reserved, but we didn’t see her at all. She called me a few days ahead of her arrival day to tell that she couldn’t make it anymore. She was so sad and she was taking a flight back home. All was hurting.
When I walked myself with Willeke, we saw a woman who had a lot of blisters. Later Willeke went back to Porto to fly home and she met her again in a hotel somewhere in Porto. She couldn’t walk anymore and decided to take a flight home.
Last week we had a group of three young men from New Zealand. One was accompanying his friends for a few days until Coimbra. And unfortunately one of them was in pain. His calves were hurting. He took some rest 4 days but on the day to us, it hurt again so much that he made another plan. He left his ‘mate’. He decided at our place to go to Coimbra with the bus. Here he would spend time with his friends in Coimbra, and then he would go to Porto and other places in Europe. He wanted to see Madrid too, and he had a friend in Leiden, The Netherlands. A new caminho for him started at our place.
Mild Portuguese Temperatures
While it was very hot in July throughout Europe, Portugal was not that hot. We had a few days of 36 degrees, but that was it. There are some wildfires in the North. Here in Central Portugal all is still fine. Don’t be deceived, when you are walking in the sun, it is hot. You really need protection, and it is good to leave early, to avoid the heat after lunch.
Lots of pilgrims are mistaken by the Portugal heat. It is different than in other countries. We had a young pilgrim from Italy, and he was so hot that he walked without T-shirt, well he found out that this wasn’t the best solution. The sunrays are different than in Italy, he said…
Luckily we had nice dinners outside with our pilgrims. After the bad and rainy winter and spring, it is really nice to be outside in the evening. We saw that there was a real difference last year and this year in the times we ate outside and inside in spring with our pilgrims
Above you see a pic of a delicacy you can have in Coimbra. A street in Coimbra and a pilgrim on a sunny Portuguese day.
