Europe 2023

The last day of my month long exploration of the Rota Vincenta ended in Santiago do Cacem. The place seemed to pitch itself as a Santiago de Compestello knock off. Note the graphic art to the entrance of the town.  I met two very pleasant people from Germany, Peter and Helga. They were about to embark on their own journey of the same route

Upon my reaching Vale Seco after 16 exhausting miles, i sat down to a beer. This is where I met Pouche (Pu-chA in Portuguese) or Pooch in English. Given my lack of Portuguese, the next best thing was to connect with the dog. He was busy licking up some flavorable discharge water with the cats. His three legs made him endearing. So i bought him an ice cream. At that point, i made a friend for life. The next morning when I came to the store for my 0830 coffee, Pooch was waiting for me excited to see me. I petted him even though his dirt caked fir felt like petting chalk. Then when the place opened, i shared my coffee cake with him. The locals got a kick out of me making friends with the dog.

Or in this case, a one store town. Lucky for me, there was beer and water! The lady would open the store up the next day early, 0830 for my coffee fix.

Off in the distance is a wind mill, typical to each town for grinding grains. After 15 miles of walking, i started listening to music on my phone

There hasnt been much water in the Alentejo (and Algarve) region in the last three years. I guess the area has more in common with California than just looks. 

This was a long 16mile day for me. Plus there arent any trees to get out of the sun. The upside is that this was really the first day for me to get rained on in over 5 weeks. And it was very little rain to speak of. The clouds kept the temp down for most of the day  

The route was very mountainous most of the way. This afforded me great views of the coast line. Lots of Eucalyptus trees. Once i got to Cercal, i had to grab a coffee and "pastel nata" or cream donut. The coffee i get is called "cafe pingado" which is a shot of espresso with a dash of milk. Very tipical. Only cost 75cents too! Along with an outstanding bottle of wine for 3$, it is hard to beat.

Sao Luis is a really small and cute town. I would say it was probably my favorite town along my travels. Quiet, pictureresque and friendly. Again, most of these towns along the Historical route are ag towns.  I came across this large group of 20 somethings walking down a street. I asked them if they were a church group. They told me they were part of an Erasmus Group sponsered by the European Commission to help young people figure out their own personal calling in life. I laughed at the idea of the US government doing something like that

This day was wonderful. Lots of trees and creeks. The days have been getting into the 80s with one 94degree day. So tree canopy was key. Some Northern European built these cob houses along the way. No one had been living in them for awhile if at all.

Part of the benefit of having many Indians and Nepalese provides for gastronomical diversity. So i had dinner in Odemira at a Himalayan place. I asked for the most authentic experience, short of traveling to Nepal. In short, it was not good. Salty comes to mind. The dark purple blob in the middle is flavorless flour dough. There was some dal, a bit of cole slaw, yogurt, a soy nut type concoction and something else. The price was stupid too, $15. Not wanting to offend the owner, i told him i was not use to tge cuisine and that it was "okay."

I passed a number of meadows with beautiful spring flowers along the way. Here there were a mix of purple and gold

A duck poses for me along the river in town. When I arrived in town, i expected to see Little Bavaria given reports of 50% German Dutch here. It turns out that stat applies to Odemira County, not city.

The pic is of the cork bark that is harvested from the trunk of the local cork tree. It looks like it comes off pretty easy. I walked 22miles this day. I ran out of water toward the end which sucked. I usually can walk 10-12  miles not consuming much water. But after that, i was needing much more. The route was really beautiful walking along Sao Teotino creek full of tall trees. The water was prestine. Rolling hills. Reminded me of Sonoma or Napa Valley. 

I walked two stages this day as I couldnt find a place in Sao Tonitonio. A local told me the town tripled in size over the last 3 years as large agriculture companies (ie tomato hot houses, sweet potatos) imported men from Punjab India and some from Nepal. He told me they had 10 to a house some places! So i had lunch at a kebab place owned by an Indian. The guy gave me this sweet desert. It was so sweet i couldnt eat it. Tasted like they found a way to extract suger from suger somehow! 

Beautiful arches. This stretch from Zambu...do Mar to Odeceixe was the best! 

TV towers, shops with local artisan stuff, the occassional tourist bus. I could see the entire coast line that I just hiked. I saw some lone American hiker doing a GR from the border of Spain to the Cabo Vincenta lighthouse

A food truck. Picture is from Dave of truck. Other photo is from me, looking back over Lagos and Portimao

The first day i arrived in Monchique, i parked my scooter in the town square. Then i proceeded with a 7 mile hike up above the town. I passed by this abandoned church convent where some guy was raising farm animals. He gave me a tour of the place which was nice of him

A town high up on a mountain. It has a reputation as one of the last affordable places in Algarve. It also has a certain Bohemium vibe with art shops, yoga and meditation centers. It has a tourist vibe too with people going there to visit the highest peak which you can drive up to. The local towns folks seem friendly too.

The entire southern Portugal area has been in drought over the last three years

I really wanted to explore Monchique, the highest mountain in Algarve. Since trying to do it on foot was not realistic, i rented a scooter in Lagos.  It was 125cc and new. I had the best time riding the back roads for two days

I stayed 2 days in Lagos. While I wasnt scootering all over Algarve, i spent the two evenings eating roasted chicken picked up at the local supermarket. As i layed on my bed with the chicken next to me, this seagull showed up at my open door. I was bummed i had no bread to toss it. But then i was curious if he would eat the chicken bones after i was done with it. I wonder if it would be like canabalism for birds. That seagull proceeded to swallow just about every bone from the chicken! The next morning, he is there ar my door for more. I decided to get roasted chicken again that night, to the delight of the seagull i am sure.