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Published: October 30th 2017
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Templar Castle/Convento de Cristo Tuesday, October 24th to Santarem, Santarem Hostel. Breakfast at Quinta da Burra was as good and nourishing as supper. Paula encouraged us to take sandwiches with us because the next facilities were 13.5 km. away. Another cool morning as we continued along the dike of the river and then through fields that farmers were preparing for fall crops. Santarem is on a hill, a 400-foot steep climb. Not normally a big problem, but after walking all day with no facilities (i.e., bathrooms) or snack bars, increasing heat and tiredness, the climb up the hill was grueling. Well, the 13.5 km walk to the next facilities turned into almost 16 as the place was closed. Yikes! Almost at the top we found a little pastry shop and had a well-earned sugar boost. The owner was very proud that she made all the pastries herself. Finally arriving at Santarem Hostel we were warmly greeted by Mario. He is a member of the Camino Forum to which we subscribe, and we had corresponded previously. We had a nice double room with a private bath – one of the few he has as most rooms have bunkbeds. We got to wash clothes – yay! We’ve
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Main church of the Convento de Cristo hardly seen any other pilgrims this time of year.
Wednesday, October 25th, by bus to Fatima, Sao Mateus. We enjoyed sleeping a little late and caught at 12:30 bus to Fatima (which is farther east of the Camino route). Unlike our visit last year after our Camino Frances, there are hordes of people here. The apartment where we have a room is just a few meters from the Shrine. We booked it on Booking.com with a shared bath for 27 euros, so we didn’t expect much. But it’s bright and modern and surprisingly peaceful for being on a main street. She gave us a room with a private bath (a “gift” she said), and we immediately said we’d take it for an extra day. At last, a rest day – a time to sleep late, catch up on some business and finally post to my blog (I was getting the “worried” messages from the kids). We went to the English Mass in the afternoon and at night to the candlelight procession we loved so much last year, although there were probably 10 times as many participants. Why do we feel so worn out when we’re resting today? Food here
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Inside the main church is so-so. Tourist fare. French fries with everything, but good gelato.
Thursday, October 26th, 2nd day in Fatima. A busy day catching up on some things. My stomach is still adjusting to so much bread I think. We went to check on the bus schedule for tomorrow. As we walked out of the station, a young couple passed us, and they had shells (the symbol of the Camino) on their backpacks! We’ve seen no other Camino pilgrims in Fatima so we called out to them. They had just finished walking the Norte Camino and were so excited to talk to us about our different Camino experiences. Such a cute couple – from Poland.
Friday, October 27th, Tomar, Hostel 2300 Thomar. In Fatima we took a final walk to the Chapel of Apparitions and then caught the 12:30 bus to Tomar to return to the Camino. We’ve skipped ahead a few days (missing the 2-3 stages between Santarem and Tomar). Tomar is a medieval town, former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar. We spent several hours visiting the Templar Castle, a World Heritage site, and the Convent of Christ within it. Unlike the monasteries we’ve seen that
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Inside of the main church are mostly ruins this one has been wonderfully preserved and restored. We’re at a nice hostel, with only 5 other guests. We’ll be here for 2 days. The next town (Alviázere) with any accommodations is 32 kms. away, too much for me to walk through the hills and heat (did I tell you it’s unseasonably warm here – mid 80’s tomorrow?). So we are taking advantage of a transportation service that some of the hostels in this part of Portugal have set up for pilgrims for long stages. They will pick us up ½ way to Alviázere and bring us back to Tomar for the night. The next morning they will drop us off where we left off, the end result being two 15-16 kms. days instead of one 32 km. day.
More tomorrow.
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Dianne Hartenburg
non-member comment
Thanks
We are enjoying reading your blog. My husband and I walked from Lisboa to Santiago in Sept/Oct of this year. Amazing and wonderful. It is a joy to read of your journey.