Today was our first day of four on the Fisherman’s Trail, an historic route that connected villages along a section of coast south of Lisbon, Portugal. Yesterday was spent in transit from Rome to Lisbon (RyanAir—not hiking), and then via bus to one of the small towns on the walk spelled Odeciexe, or known to us as, Unpronouncable. Our rudimentary Spanish helps us get by in Portugal, but there are limits. We enjoyed a fabulous meal in that small town and had a restful night before we set out on this adventure.
The trail today was not long—just over 13 and-one-half miles, but much of it was in soft sand and we hiked through ravines and up and down hills leading to beaches.
It was sure worth it.
As you can see from Laurie’s Relive video and the pictures, much of it is along sea cliffs, through trees that grow in arches over the path, and through desert type vegetation in full spring bloom. We passed seven beaches on this leg and stopped at one to soak our feet in the surf. Also felt compelled to take a break at a beach bar where they played what some would call classic American Rock, we call it the rock we grew up with.
Despite the fact that today is a national holiday, the beaches and trails were uncrowded. We ran into hikers from many other countries including ours, but no jams like we experienced last week at Cinque Terre in Italy.
They could have also called this the Stork Walk as we saw storks flying, nesting, feeding, attempting to start little storks (no pictures of that—this is a family friendly blog). This is one of the few places where storks nest on seaside cliffs.
After a warm day we reached our guest house in Zambujeira do Mar (or, Unpronounceable Town #2) where the rooms are clean and the marble floors are hard and cool—a nice change from the trek. Off to a local place for painkiller, what some call adult beverages.
I’m sure I can do better for you than a So-so Bock. Mileage is shorter than a typical camino, but tough!
Bom dia! ONLY 13.5 miles? Slackers.
Have a glass of Super Bock for me.