Santarém to Golega

IT RAINED!!! SO HAPPY!!!

After the flooded boot incident last year, I never thought I would be so happy to be walking in the rain. PERFECT temperature for walking in the low 20’s, a breeze the whole day and RAIN. We headed off from Santorem and headed “down” to the valley of the river Targa and started our way to Golegã. We were so happy because we were not hunting for shade and we were not on asphalt, but back on farm tracks and walking through vineyards almost the entire way.

The little towns all had cafes open and so we were able to stop for coffee and eat the bits and pieces we stashed in our back packs from our early breakfast. The owners of last night’s amazing house offered us breakfast for 8.30 – very civilized however, we chose as usual to head out early. The nice offer rather than a late breakfast was that they laid us out some fruit and croissants the night before and we made ourselves a coffee and headed off.

The walking today was great because it was cool and essentially we got into our stride getting closer to the 5km an hour we are used to walking. And the most exciting event of the day was that we got to crack out our wet weather gear again. We both commented that it is so much more pleasant walking in the rain than in the heat.

We are now in an area of Portugal that is known for its horse studs as well as its vineyards and the place we are staying in is clearly reminiscent of the old El Caballo Blanco – no Andalusian horses in sight though. On the way to Golegã we walked through Azinhaga where the entire town was decorated for a festival that occurs every four years – streets and streets with “festoons” and bunting. Very festive.

So tomorrow another 32 km day….if the weather stays the way it is, we should be fine.