Day 109: Brejos de Carregueira to Setubal A magnificent start and end to the walking today, so-so in between. After two heavy days I was wondering how my legs and body would react today, which was a somewhat shorter day at 23 or 27kms, depending on where I took the boat from to Setubal. I was down for breakfast at 8 sharp…
Day 108: Vila Nova de Santo Andres to Brejos de Carregueira The dreaded second day and on a Saturday, the day where many of my wettest, longest and least memorable walks have taken place. This Saturday was no exception. At breakfast I had a long chat with an American couple who wished they could move to Europe instead of flying home. I set off at 9.30…
Copenhagen to Porto Covo The plane left on time at 6.15am, destination Lisbon. I was up early and my wife drove me to the nearest metro station to enable me to get to the airport by 5.15 am. Safely buckled up on the plane, that is when my traumatic relationship to my ear buds started. I dropped one of…
Day 9: Santarem to Golega Today’s destination is Golega, famous for its Lucitano horses, its equestrian center and a twice annual horse show that attracts tens of thousands of people. Horse trading has taken place in Golega since the 18th century and although I was only there for a few hours, one feels that it is a wealthy town. Breakfast…
Day 8: Azambuja to Santarem It was difficult to get out of bed – the bed was nice and warm, the room cold. The hostel didn’t serve breakfast, so when I finally made it out of bed and after a quick wash, I was on my way by 8.30. As I left the hostel, I noticed a stork sitting on…
Day 7: Porto Covo to Azambuja Today I was supposed to walk the 19kms to the next town, take a bus to Lisbon and a train to Azambuja, north of Lisbon, where I would start walking towards Porto. I ended the day in Azambuja, but a combination of a train strike and my broken shoes changed my plans. Today’s pictures are…
Day 6: Almograve to Porto Covo Today was a big day. I had booked a room in Porto Covo, 36kms from where I stood this morning. Normally, 36 kms would be within my walking range, but today the big unknown is the sand, and not least how deep it is. Loose sand slows me down by ca. 1km per hour, so…
Day 5: Asseiceira to Almograve I woke up to the sound of rain for the first time during this vacation. I’d slept well, but woke up 5 or 6 times with muscle pains, but fell asleep again once l changed position. Breakfast was with a Slovenian tour guide, who was in Portugal to find new walking trips for her clients…
Day 4: Rogil to Asseiceira Breakfast was at 8am at the baker next door to the hotel – the owners own the hotel and the baker. Through a gradual dialogue with the lady behind the desk, who was putting bread and cakes in a display, I went from orange juice and a croissant, which wasn’t particularly filling, followed by a…
Day 3: Chabouco to Rogil I woke somewhat stiff after the hard walk yesterday and wondering how the 34kms today would pan out, not least whether there would be just as much sand to walk through as there was yesterday. And it was a long day, walking from 9.15 to 5pm, 6km through sand and steep descents and ascents, not…
Day 2: Vila do Bispo to Chabouco Today was “only” 27km, but perhaps the most spectacular 27 kms I have ever walked. I know I am repeating myself, but the coastline is spectacular. One beautiful view is replaced by the next, one descent, at times dangerous, is replaced by an equivalent ascent and new spectacular views. I slept well, waking up occasionally,…
Day 1: Sagres to Vila do Bispo As I write the first part of this post, it is lunch time and I am sitting in Sagres, where I slept last night and left this morning, instead of walking towards Vila do Bispo. Not exactly what I had imagined. I had a good night’s sleep, 10 hours all told, waking every now and…
Day 0: Copenhagen to Sagres The alarm went off at 3.45 – I felt that I’d barely fallen asleep, but was still a relief, as I was dreaming that I’d overslept. After a quick shower and standing breakfast we were ready – my wife had “volunteered” to drive me to the airport, through the sludge and rain. The departure boards…
