Another day of walking along the Via Algarviana, a hard journey, made up of many encounters, some of them truly unexpected.
Monday, April 14, 10th day of walking:
There was a German hiker who joined the group in Marmelete. He is a journalist and brought a book that talked about the Via Algarviana. Along the way, he collected schist stones, because he liked the effects and colors. Today he left the group, but yesterday he had dinner with us at Cortelha. Now this German woman has an aunt she hasn't seen for eight years. And isn't it that they met yesterday in that restaurant lost in the Algarve mountains?
This is one of the mysteries – and charms! – from the Via Algarviana!
Today was another route full of ups and downs, but the gods were with us and the weather was almost always cloudy and therefore cooler.
Having completed the first third of the way, we had lunch in Parises, at D. Zézinha's café. Right away we made a victim: the chicken that served for the soup. And what a piece of cake!! There were people who even remembered the flavors of grandparents' food. This soup should be a World Heritage Site!
And that's not to mention eggs – but eggs! – of the chickens that roamed there.
On the way out, we met a young Swiss woman who had been taking the Via Algarviana independently and in the opposite direction to ours. It was a party! We photographed each other and asked if he already knew a few words in Portuguese. I knew: thank you, good morning and…I'm full. I think this says it all!
We also came across a group of hikers, all foreigners, with about fifteen people, a meeting that allowed us to verify that the Via Algarviana is working well.
However, today we walked 11 hours, because after reaching Cachopo, which theoretically was the end of the route, we still had to walk another 4 kilometers overnight (an old adapted primary school, in Casas Baixas).
Tomorrow will be our 11th day of hiking, and we will go 14,88 km, between Cachopo and Vaqueiros.
Comments