May 6 – the day before

After a 12 hour sleep I finally awoke from my jet lagged state – I was ready to take on the day!  Stopped by a little place down the street and had a most delicious coffee and pastry. For anyone who knows me that’s my kind of breakfast. Out of Alfama I headed, which meant many hills and staircases. I noticed a lot of graffiti on the walls in Lisbon. Back home it is frowned upon, but here it seems to fit right in and adds something totally unique.  

 

  My white rock group will appreciate the stair picture. I walked a lot of stairs today. It was then onwards to a few lookouts where I found beautiful churches  at each. It seems the churches have been very well positioned with spectacular  views . I went inside all of them and soaked in all they had to offer. They are magnificent structures and something to behold.  There was a great earthquake in 1755 that destroyed most of the amazing buildings that once stood. So much of what you see is since that time.  The views tho can never be taken away. 

  Now for the descent to the city – can’t live in the clouds forever. I passed thru many beautiful squares with statues and fountains. Below is a cute photo where it looks like the statue man is throwing a coin to the musician below – and he deserved it.
  Later it was onwards to the Elevador De Santa Justa which is a tall multi tiered structure that affords a 180 degree view of the city – quite spectacular and affordable at E1.50. There is an elevator present but it doesn’t look like it has been in use for quite some time. Now there are spiral staircases, one for up and another for down.
   
      As I stood looking over towards Jorge Castelo it called my name. Thirty minutes later I had climbed the massive hillside to arrive. Another ancient place-a castle in fact. And as I strove up and down I wondered where the every day people  hid during times of attack. 

   
  

As I was leaving I heard a great commotion  from above and it seemed like  a group of peacocks were having it out in the tree limbs above. What a racket !!

  I began the walk down yet another group of hills and decided I would try to accomplish my last tourist task for the day – Tram 23!  Walked for another great distance and boarded the notorious tram 23. Let a few crowded ones go  by first tho and hopped on a later one where  I secured a single seat at the front.  Rode till the end of the line and then walked the remainder to my neighbourhood.

Tonight I went to  a delightful restaurant nearby and enjoyed the efforts of a few musicians as I ate my first full meal in a while.     And alas finally back at home and feeling ready to begin day one tomorrow which will begin with  a 10 minute walk to the train station and a short ride to Azambuja where my 35 km trek to Santarum will begin.  Forecast for the day is sunny and warm and continued for  many days ahead, lucky me!

Mock camino continued….

I travelled along an old country road towards my first destination. I passed by a few of my favorite homes – one old, the other new. Each have their own unique character. 

  The older home has a very unique roof design but I’m not sure what it’s called. There could easily have been cows in the area I passed thru and there probably was at one time. Now it is still homes on acreages but with no one doing much with the land. Some has been turned into a golf course called Newlands, and many enjoy their time swinging  their clubs all day. Me, I’d rather be out walking.   The quiet flat road was soon to end and I would begin my ascent up into Murrayville.

 But first past an old building that has been turned into a private school for children. Previously it had been a darling little teahouse. I have fond memories of being there and enjoying tea with some fancy cakes.  Mmm!

  I continued on and was quite warm by the top of the hill. As Portugal will be even warmer,  I may need to rethink a few of my clothing choices.  As I walked along I noticed some pretty spring flowers. I know one is lilac and I think the other is called a corn flower. Someone more knowledgeable can please correct me if I’m wrong. 

  

 Eventually it was time for breakfast at a place called Porters that is located where 5 corners converge. It’s a very old building and may have been a post office at one time. It’s now a fine and very quaint coffee house. I was very hungry having skipped breakfast and walking for 2 hours only increased my appetite. The food could not have tasted better. I was in my own little starving pilgrim heaven. I will definitely be back to this place.  When ordering my food I even remembered to ask for the wifi password. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive,  I hooked up to the internet  and posted a few of my pictures. I made use of my time by editing some photos as well.  If you’re hungry right now you may not want to view the picture of my breakfast below….

Porters

  I see that I’ve got the hang of blogging and could easily carry on for quite some time. However, as they say I’ve got places to go and people to meet. Blogging is loads of fun but sure uses up your time. Before I get on my way there is one other thing I will share. As I plodded along today I noticed the many lovely homes and the landscaping people had done. I took special notice of the entrance areas of a few in particular – most inspiring!  Not many go to these lengths, altho I do have a friend that has a very large  rabbit doll on her front porch. Certainly wish I had a picture of that to share. Enjoy the efforts of the home owners below.  I did.

   I will now wish everyone a fond farewell. And a bow wow from my friend at the dog park  – also on my route today.

A mock camino

I began today by skipping breakfast and strapping an 18 pound pack to my back. Out the door by 7:30 and into the fresh morning sunshine. 

  The pack felt good, the temperature a cool 8 celcius. Not much traffic on the road this early. I tried to stay mindful of my surroundings and take pictures that would be of interest to others. Below is a very camino like picture that I’ve seen on more than one blog. 
  I will try posting this now and continue on when I see success. Lots more to come. 

Walking on empty

After a fairly sleepless night the training must continue. It’s either good training for childbirth (been there, done it) or a walk on the Camino.  The day was bright and sunny altho still a little cool. I found myself with good friend Debbie at one of our favorite places to walk – a place called White Rock. It’s a seaside town with many steep hills and staircases. Years ago I began using White Rock as my training ground for a long distance walk called The Great Walk, so what better place to once  again build strength and stamina. While there I had Debbie take a picture or two that I could share on this blog. As you may know, I need the practice. So below is the shot taken from the dazzling hillside where our walk began yesterday. The picture does not do the place justice.

 We spent a couple hours plodding up and down the hills. With my added weight I was considerably slowed down but Debbie was patient with me and it gave her more of an opportunity to talk as I huffed and puffed my way thru our course.

Once I returned home I got to thinking about my gear and decided to lay it all out and take a picture for future reference. My what a heap it made and that’s not even all of it. I am determined to keep the weight between 15 and 20 pounds. Not so easy when I’m going to Paris for a week after my Camino. Well a girl has to pack a few nice outfits for that doesn’t she?  My friend Sue had a good laugh when she heard I had included a couple dresses and a skirt etc.   Anyway, captured below is the ever growing accumulation of what I think I need and a few items of what I want. Any suggestions from anyone would be appreciated.

 It’s quite a collection is it not?

Early hours

It looks like I figured out how to post from my iPhone – woohoo! This is a major accomplishment as it means my decision to take my old iPhone with me on the Camino to post to my blog has the potential of working.  I can use my old phone when wifi is available and will purchase or borrow a European phone for emergency use. One more key decision made 😊

I have not posted as often as I thought I might. There has been a truckload of preparing to be done  and I have slowly and steadily plugged away at it. My salomon boots have become good friends with  600+ kms on them, which just happens to be the distance of the Portuguese camino. Not one blister or hot spot!  My pack is now at the respectable weight  of 15 pounds and I have attached a few sponges on the shoulder straps to ease the pressure – an idea I admit to stealing from Magwood. They work beautifully and can be shifted around as need be. Thank you Maggie!

My next attempt will be to post with some pictures added in as there will be plenty I’ll want to share when my walk begins on May  10 – countdown is on!

Wide awake

I guess it was bound to happen – awake in the wee hours with thoughts of all things Camino. This is actually my second attempt to post a blog this morning.  I won’t get too carried away with my nocturnal ramblings until I actually see if I can figure out how to post from my iPhone. So here goes…

Boots (check), Backpack (check), Warm Jacket (check)

And so why am I still sitting here?  I guess it’s because I’ve made a commitment to enter the world of blogging and therefore must be a dedicated producer of thoughts and words.  So for today I will not be allowing myself to go outside and play until the blog is published for all of my loyal followers. I think there may be as many as 5 of you now, altho I could be out by 1 or 2.  In any case, here I am and all I really want to do is stuff my feet into my brand new hiking boots, load up my pack to a tenth of my body weight, grab my jacket and head out into the sunshine that has patiently been waiting.

It is now December and I have about 5 months to go before my solo adventure on the Portuguese Camino.  Slowly over the last year I have been thinking, reading, and at last planning the logistics of how this will take place. There have been many details to figure out such as:  when will I travel, which route will I travel, will I travel on my own, how long will I need, what will I need, and of course when will I begin my training.  All these questions have found answers.  I will travel in early May 2015, I will walk the Portuguese route, I will travel on my own, I will need 3-4 weeks to complete the route, I have a pretty good idea of what I will need thanks to the many other pilgrims that have posted their packing lists.  As for when the training begins, well that’s easy, it begins today!  As soon as I get my blog finished and posted of course.

I sit here gazing towards the door where my backpack and boots have patiently been waiting all morning.  If they could speak I know they would say, ” Hurry up and get that thing posted already, we wanna go!”  Well who am I to argue with a pair of kick ass boots and a purple pack.  Off I go then – day one of many. Let the training begin!

FORGET THE POLES?!

For a while now I’ve been thinking about all the gear I’m going to need when I walk the Portuguese Camino in May 2015.  Since I’ll be there at a good time of the year – supposedly not too cold, I will be able to get by with packing less and lighter, or so the assumption is.  Everywhere I look online, people have their own ideas of what they need, think they need, don’t need, took and didn’t use, and of course wished they had brought.  These lists are very valuable to me and I thank everyone that has taken the time to put them together.  My own list then is going to be a compilation from the lists of others and will also be based on my own common sense and experiences.

For instance, while hiking the Durrand Glacier (British Columbia, Canada) this past summer with the good folks of the Selkirk Mountain Experience, I noticed how everyone (13 people) on the  trip (except me) had brought their own set of hiking poles.  The majority of people were from Alberta and of course as they commented, BC is the Albertan’s playground.  Here they  find all the glorious mountains they could wish for.  So it’s not surprising they would come well equipped with their high tech poles – they being the people from the flat lands of the Prairies.  Myself on the other hand, brought no such item and for the most part got by quite well on the steam of my own legs.  Only once did I think I could have benefited from a pole or two, and that was for balance as we stopped and started across a slightly treacherous ridge of snow.  Other than that one episode however, there was no apparent reason I could see for having poles.  Two of the male hikers decided on the 3rd and final day to also leave their poles behind.

Now as I contemplate the Camino, I am again faced with the question – should I leave the  poles behind?  Just go with the lighter pack and see how I do?  Or do I give  into my fear of being an ill-equipped hiker and add those darn poles onto my shopping list – right next to the security blanket?  Right now I’m leaning towards ditching the poles.   I understand there are a lot of cobblestone roads and that I will be facing many days of walking.  But it’s not like I’m walking the French Camino with the Pyrenees Mountains thrown in.  My knees are good and I will be trained up for the walk.  The Portuguese Camino is relatively flat, there are no mountain ranges to cross and certainly no snow.  We shall see what ends up on my own list. Hopefully poles will not be the item I wished I’d brought…..

Is blogging contagious?

Well look at me, day 1 of Blogging 101 and doing my first assignment – writing, also known as blogging. Why am I blogging? A very good question. I think after reading so many good blogs other people have written, I just kind of caught the bug. The plan is to walk the Portuguese Camino next May and I’d like a more permanent record of the journey. I don’t have the best sense of direction so it will also be a way for my friends and family to keep track of me – hopefully I won’t be lost in the Eucalyptus forests for too long. Maybe I’ll even connect with a few fellow pilgrims. There is a lot of preparation involved and I’ve begun with the reading of other peoples experiences – thank you to all that have shared, are sharing and will share. Information is so valuable and I hope to do my share of sharing also.

Ready, Set, Go!

I’m such a newbie at blogging and haven’t written anything in weeks. I’ve been waiting for the Blogging 101 course to start which is beginning on Nov 3rd. Excited to begin and have some structure and direction. I only write now to have a benchmark for the future as to how really pathetic my site is at this point. Big things to come in the future….I hope.