Today was always going to be a hit or miss day. I needed to take a taxi ca. 30km to the start point, I needed to walk 32 kilometers, that turned out to be 35km in a hilly terrain and there was a bus to catch at 16.30.
Breakfast was at 8am, and the hotel ordered a taxi for 8.30am, which arrived 5 minutes early. This is only the second time I have taken a taxi on my European walks, and the first time was to Freixianda as well. That was two years ago when I was supposed to walk from Fatima to Freixianda after walking from Tomar to Fatima. Two years ago I didn’t feel great and decided to spend a day in Fatima. After the rest day I took a taxi to Freixianda and continued walking along the Camino Carmelita route towards Coimbra.
Today the taxi arrived in Freixianda by 9am and my first decision was whether to take a road route that was 30km but mostly along roads, or the official route, which I believed was 32km, but turned out to be 39km – I took a short-cut that saved me 2km. I decided to follow the official route, which was very well marked the whole way.
Rested after yesterday’s relatively short stage, I quickly made good progress mainly along dirt tracks through eucalyptus forests. There had been a fire here, Portugal had a number last summer, and one could clearly smell it – a sour charcoal smell. Some trees had survived and the undergrowth was already growing again – it is amazing how resilient nature is.
I continued along paths and dirt tracks, through small villages and a number of fields with grape vines. Getting closer to the town of Ourem, I decided to take a short cut along the road, instead of into the forest, saving a couple of kilometers. However, it was heavy going along the main road, partly because they were renovating part of it, so it was very dusty and partly because I was feeling a bit hungry.
I stopped at a baker/cafe, that was either very popular or the only place in Ourem – many people came in and out. I ordered a sandwich and a Pasteis de Ourem, a local specialty custard tart, that tasted so good I ordered a second.
Refreshed, I continued towards Fatima. The castle of Ourem stood atop a steep hill, and for a few minutes I wondered whether I was going to have to walk up the hill. Thankfully the path turned off before the hill. It was still a mix of small villages, local backroads and dirt tracks with vines and olive trees.
I was still following the Camino Carmelita and in Alveijar, 6km before Fatima I must have crossed the path I walked two years ago when walking between Tomar and Fatima. It would have been nice with a bus waiting to take me to Fatima, but it didn’t happen so I continued towards Fatima, following a different path than 2 years ago.
I finally made it to Fatima with an hour to spare in relation to the bus. I walked across the massive square in front of the church, surprisingly empty in relation to last time I was here. I managed to get a coffee before walking down to the bus station.
I have now joined the dots from Sagres to Coimbra, to where I took a bus and spent the night. Coimbra bus station is a a couple of kilometers from downtown, so I wasn’t finished walking for the day. The hotel had expanded since my last visit but is still across the road from the Bacalau (dried cod) restaurant that I visited last time and which I visited again.