Category: Caminos

• Portuguese Camino: Day 02 / Alpriate to Vila Franca de Xira
• Distance: 11.7 miles / Total 26.2
• Time: 7 hours
• Ascent: 353’ / Decent: 410’
• Weather: 76 degrees / partly cloudy, one rain sprinkle

Today’s picks….

• Portuguese Camino: Day 02 / Alpriate to Vila Franca de Xira
• Distance: 11.7 miles / Total 26.2 Time: 7 hours
• Ascent: 353’ / Decent: 410’
• Weather: 76 degrees / partly cloudy, one rain sprinkle

Vila Franca de Xira is know for its bull fights and running of bulls through the city.

• Portuguese Camino: Day 02 / Alpriate to Vila Franca de Xira
• Distance: 11.7 miles / Total 26.2 Time: 7 hours
• Ascent: 353’ / Decent: 410’
• Weather: 76 degrees / partly cloudy, one rain sprinkle

“Are you Linda?” comes a soft voice. I was overwhelmed to find Christian standing by the river front café. We met June 2014 on the Camino France (Spain). By happenstance our itinerary for the Portugués Camino overlap. All that is missing is his brother Bertrand also from the 2014 Camino. Now we walk.

• Portuguese Camino: Day 02 / Alpriate to Vila Franca de Xira
• Distance: 11.7 miles / Total 26.2
• Time: 7 hours
• Ascent: 353’ / Decent: 410’
• Weather: 76 degrees / partly cloudy, one rain sprinkle

Living up to its reputation as an unsightly commercial district, the outskirt of Lisbon is dominated by trains, trucks, storage containers, and warehouses. As my eyes constantly roam for way markers, I look for beauty in a sea of commerce.

• Portuguese Camino: Day 01 / Lisbon to Alpriate
• Distance: 14.5 miles / Total 14.5
• Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
• Ascent: 504’ / Decent: 563’
• Weather: 85 degrees / cycling overcast, rain, sunny

It’s debatable which is more slipper when wet…black-and-white city stone sidewalks or muddy dirt paths. Muddy dirt paths get the “Slip and Slide” award. It’s certainly the dirtier of the two.

• Portuguese Camino: Day 01 / Lisbon to Alpriate
• Distance: 14.5 miles / Total 14.5
• Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
• Ascent: 504’ / Decent: 563’
• Weather: 85 degrees / cycling overcast, rain, sunny

What to expect Camino post-Covid? The Albergue host confirms there are fewer hostels and those open fill daily. A local baker delivers breads, sweets, and cheeses every day to the village. These deliveries are more than a convenience to communities without grocery stores.

• Portuguese Camino: Day 01 / Lisbon to Alpriate
• Distance: 14.5 miles / Total 14.5
• Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
• Ascent: 504’ / Decent 563’
• Weather: 85 degrees / cycling overcast, rain, sunny

For me, beginning the Camino from a kitchen seems befitting. Close to the Rua Augusta Arch is Sé Cathedral, considered the official Camino start for Lisbon. After asking the cathedral usher three times where was the Camino’s way-marker, he escorted me. Figure-background…do you see purple graffiti or the Camino way-marker?