Lisbon to Alpriate (14.70 miles/23.67 km)

Make sure and follow me on Twitter: @TedTrekking Instagram: @TedTrekking and Facebook: /TedTrekking

The first day on the Camino Portugues was a fairly good day, but not without some issues.

 

I had no really plans, or even an idea, how far I had to go or where to stay. The first portion of the Camino is not well supported for the pilgrims, so there are limited places to stay. It is illegal to free camp and a tent was never an option.

 

The first day on a new trek is always a little unsettling for me. I was up until after midnight putting everything together and packing and repacking the Wheelie. Then I did not wake up until 7:30 and would have slept later had some noise not awakened me.

 

For fluids I packed two one liter containers of orange juice and three one liter bottles of carbonated mineral water. Orange juice is always by energy drink and I feel that I can never overpack fluids. The mineral water tends to be a bit salty, which is good for hydration in the hot conditions. The fluids took up so much room I had to repack several times to get it all to fit.

 

My early morning start turned out to be 9:30 before I headed out the door to the cathedral. After a few photos with all my purple gear, in support of the Alzheimer’s Association, I followed the first yellow arrow on the corner of the Cathedral pointing me down a side street. I really had to be diligent looking for the directional arrows and other Camino signs because they are painted or mounted on various walls, buildings, street and lamp posts. They are especially hard to see while walking the narrow maze like cobblestone crisscross streets. Within fifteen minutes I was lost! I just stayed on the streets that appeared to be going north and I ended up on a main road near the harbor area. A bicyclist must have seen the lost look on my face and pointed me across the street to a walkway.

 

It well marked pedestrian and bike path, but I never saw another arrow or Camino sign the rest of the morning. Having Camino apps with live maps are great, but I could not find one for the Camino Portugues. I have two guide books on my phone but they are not very clear.

 

The first seven miles or so were along the harbor front and the industrial areas, and I see why some people take the train past this area. It is not only old factory buildings but scattered with lots of homeless encampments. It really is no different than what we have back home and I think it’s part of experiencing everything and not just the beautiful things in a country.

 

I felt fairly frustrated because I never saw a Camino sign all morning and stopped in the afternoon on the main road at a river crossing to look at the map again. Just then two people carrying backpacks walked by and I yelled at them asking if they were pilgrims and if they knew where the Camino was? They said yes and pointed to a big cement block about ten feet right in front of me with a big Camino logo and yellow arrows. They were a nice friendly married couple from New Zealand and had started out about the same time as me so miss direction wasn’t too bad.

 

From this point the Camino moved onto a dirt path that ran along the river for several miles. It was a very nice open and wide area away from any traffic or housing. I walked with the couple until I stopped to drink, and then ran into them again, but not before I got lost one more time. This time a friendly Portugues driver must have noticed my lost look again, backed up and told me to go to the traffic circle and make a left. Unfortunately, there were two traffic circles, one in each direction, and Wrong-way Ted, picked the wrong one and walked around in the roundabout twice looking for that yellow arrow, but none was to be found! Back I went to where I met the driver and asked a bicyclist for directions. Go to the traffic circle, in the other direction, and make a left. I was finally made it back on the Camino.

 

The weather was fairly nice today with some cloud cover that kept the temperature down, and when it occasionally clear the temperature hit the high eighties.

 

I got to Alpriate about 4:00, and where there is only one place to stay, the Albergue de Peregrinos de Alpriate. The next lodging was another six miles, and I had the energy to go further but I didn’t want to get there after 6:00, so I made the decision to stay. The albergue is two stories, eight beds in one room upstairs. It is fairly restrictive as backpacks and personal items can not be taken upstairs, and the doors are closed at 8:30 and locked at 9:30, and lights out at 10:00. Thought it’s not my favorite, I am grateful that I found it because it is full and there are no other lodging options.

 

I got into my usual routine of taking a shower, hand washing my clothes, and walked around the corner for dinner at one of the only two cafes in town. The meal, including cod, potatoes, salad, bread, beer, and fresh fruit was €7.5 ($8.25 US). Not bad!

 

I am still dealing with the eight hour jet lag difference and was wide awake when the hostess told an Australian man and me, the only two still awake, to hold it down, and that it was almost 10:00 for lights out! What?! It is 2:00 pm back home and in my body time clock! One of the dreads of staying in an albergue as many people are in bed at 8:00! I just get irritated with these old people that have to go to bed at the crack of nigh, even though some are younger than me! Old farts!

 

Upstairs I go to my forced bedtime, wide awake enough to run around the block a few times, and I walk into a room with a symphony of snoring! Snoring usually doesn’t wake me up, but when your eyes are wide open, and as big as saucers, it’s hard to try to sleep. The man or woman on my left is sounding like a chain saw, two other people to the right of me sound like they are battling to see who can make the weirdest nosies ranging from sub-sucking to rattles in their throats. And then there is the person on the end that must have a nerves tick as there is about ten seconds of silence and then the squeaking of the bed springs. What the heck is wrong with them?! Oh yes, and then there is the occasional farting to add to the symphony of sounds.

 

It was actually so bad that I was laughing to myself because it couldn’t be worse or funnier, and make for a great skit in a comedy sitcom. I finally dozed off well after midnight, but that didn’t last long. The room was fairly hot because it has no windows and only two skylights, so when it started to pour rain it sounded like a drum. Yes, someone got up and closed the skylights and the temperature shot up to the point I was sweating. Now that’s not the end! I got up and opened the skylights, but for some reason it triggered the four or five neighborhood dogs to start their own symphony of barking! It was crazy and must have gone on for an hour. Needless to say, I got about two hours of sleep, but I really did not get upset but just laughed at it all because I could not have made it up. It’s just part of the Camino experience if you stay in albergues.

 

Tomorrow the option is to trek 13-14 miles to Vila Franca de Xira, where there are two hostels (cheap motels), and no albergue, or go another 13 miles to the next lodging.

 

Best wishes to all,

Ted

 

Please excuse the typos, spelling, grammar, etc., as I am typing this on my phone, and I am probably pretty tired.

 

If you would like to see the Alzheimer’s Association website and see our team page please go to:

 

act.alz.org/goto/tedstrek

 

Starting out at the Lisbon Cathedral

 

Note the yellow area on the lower corner of the Cathedral

 

Note the yellow arrow on the bottom corner of the building to the right

 

The narrow streets and now I am lost

 

The industrial area and homeless camps

 

The industrial area and more camps

 

Nice bike pedestrian path

 

The New Zealand couple trekking on the Camino along the river

 

Nice wild area of the Camino

 

Me

 

Marker along the Camino

 

The albergue

 

My bed straight ahead in the room of horrors!

 

My trek today

 

My trek today