Mudança de Planos - Day 12

Change of Plans

Águeda - Albergaria-a-Nova (13.2 miles) 

Last night I had another room all to myself at the albergue. Instead of one big room with many beds, this albergue had several smaller rooms with various numbers of beds. The girls had debated over which room they wanted and decided to take the bigger room since there were more of them. That meant I had the small room with a bunk bed all to myself. I slept with the door closed and the curtains pulled shut. It was very dark and I barely heard anyone leaving in the morning, which meant I got an excellent night's sleep! I woke up a little after 7 am, loaded up my backpack, had a banana and yogurt for breakfast, then hit the road around 8 am. I was in no rush this morning because my guidebook had today being a short 10 mile day. I was already a mile away from downtown Águeda, so it was really only 9 miles to Albergaria-a-Velha. Farther up the road was a McDonald's, which I did not stop at for breakfast. I guess I couldn't have even if I wanted to, because they are closed from midnight to 10 am.

I found Alana taking her breakfast break later on and we walked together for at least several miles. Joining up with Sharon and Chris from Oregon, we all crossed the Marnel River on an old 16th century bridge. Then B from Belgium joined us as we crossed over a very long bridge above the Vouga River. Sharon kept talking about how long that bridge was and how she had never crossed one that large. It did span a great distance, but I didn't think it was as big as she made it out to be. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is definitely bigger than this one. On the other side of the bridge was when I decided to take off and really start walking. I powered my way up some hills and through the quiet neighborhoods.

The route went through some eucalyptus forests. I created some distance between me and everyone else. It was nice to be away from the city and highways; to have space and time for my own thoughts. When I was just over 8 miles into the day, I found Xenia finishing what seemed to be an important phone call from Germany. I sat down at a nearby table outside the café and waited for her to finish. I was there no more than 2 or 3 minutes and we were walking again. My knees and feet were feeling great and I wanted to keep walking.

We passed through the new looking streets of Albergaria-a-Velha and headed to the seemingly older town of Albergaria-a-Nova. Funny how that worked: what's old is new and what's new is old. In 1117, the mother of King Afonso Henriques (Portugals first King), requested an inn to be built here for pilgrims, the poor, and the sick. Both towns were well marked with yellow arrows to guide me through. I stopped at the albergue in Albergaria-a-Nova and Xenia kept on walking. She had planned on going to a hostel along the Rio Antuã that had a watermill. It was a little ways west off the route from Bemposta. My feet were tired and I was ready to stop for the day.

I had already changed my plans that day by hiking 4 additional miles. I decided that I would try and push past São João da Madeira tomorrow and then arrive in Porto by the 19th of October. This would put me 1 day ahead of schedule, which I feel good about. Having arrived earlier in the day, I got the first pick of beds and had plenty of time for my laundry to dry in the sun. I spent the afternoon reviewing my bird list at the kitchen table surrounded by some beautiful bird tiles.

Again, restaurants were farther away from my lodging accommodations, but they keep a fridge and pantry stocked with food items for us to purchase here at the albergue. I bought a £5 frozen pizza, not a hot-n-ready, to eat for dinner. It took longer to cook than it said on the instructions and was good enough for tonight. I want to try real Portuguese food at the restaurants more. I then talked with Alana outside until 9 pm. We talked mostly about birds and she showed me photos of some birds she likes. Somewhere in the conversation, she was reminded that she needed to cast her vote for New Zealand's favorite national bird. Each year, the winning species gets funding for conservation work. I think that is a wonderful idea! She tells me that the Kakapo, a flightless parrot, won it twice and has since been removed from the competition. Other species also need funding and recognition. Besides, I am sure there are alternative ways of donating to Kakapo conservation programs. Time for bed and to get ready for another day of walking with a new set of plans!

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