Camino Portugues, Day 5, Tomar to Ansaio

Day 5, Thursday, 4/13/17,  Tomar to Ansaio

We planned to taxi part of the way from Tomar to shorten the day's walk a bit, and then to walk to Alvaiazere. The day before we stopped at the taxi stand and met a taxi driver, Joao, who agreed to drive us at 8 am.  We first asked him to drop us at Ponte de Ceras but then he drove a little bit further to Tojal and we started walking from there. The first 3 km were along the road. Then we turned right at a small town, Cortica, with an interesting Casa Torre, a house shaped like a tower. There were so many nice homes in the area, but no cafes, nothing was open.  There didn't seem to be any one in town.  Seemed strange to us.

We had to take a long detour when the path was blocked by a new road, and finally found a gas station with a snack bar on that detour just outside of Alvaiazere.  Finally we got to have our morning coffee there.  I'm still getting used to my huge backpack, and with my torn rotator cuff, I have a hard time getting the backpack on, so Krishna always helps me with it.  I created a huge excitement there at the gas station cafe when I tried to put on my backpack by myself when Krishna stepped away to the bathroom.  I set the backpack on a chair and sat next to it and tried to slide it on.  Quickly I slid on the floor, chair, backpack and all, with a bit thud.  It was entertaining to several young people who just entered, while others tried to help.

We soon walked into Alvaiazere.  It seemed to be a very quiet town with not much going on there.  It was still early in the day and we weren't sure what we would do if we stayed there for the night.  A lady we met on the street directed us to a churrasquera, a Bar-B-Q buffet.  Once inside we were kindly directed, by an older woman who worked there, to put out backpacks in a corner (hidden out of sight) and sent to the bathrooms to wash before sitting.  We pilgrims, did look pretty dusty after a long morning walk!  Once seated, we told the person at the counter that we couldn't eat red meat so we ended up having a great vegetarian lunch with Portuguese style beans and greens and lots of spinach carrots and potatoes.  We actually did see one item in the buffet that looked like chicken, but the lady told us we couldn't have it, thinking we were completely vegetarian. 

We decided to continue walking instead of staying in Alzaiazere...it was too early to stop in such a quiet place and we weren't sure what we would do for the rest of the afternoon.  The ladies at the churrasquera called a taxi for us, because the next town was a bit too far for us to reach within the next few hours.  We taxied a little way, then walked on to Anciao and we were glad of it. 

The route that afternoon took us through small vineyards and peaceful wooded pathways.  It was also the first day we began to notice more and more roadside shrines, often white stucco with colorful tiles depicting religious figures.  We stopped at each to say a prayer and leave a stone.

Small, neatly kept vineyard along the way

Peaceful wooded pathways

One of the many roadside shrines we passed

In Anciao we first stopped at a cafe to have something cold to drink while we decided what to do next, since we didn't know where we were going to stay or where anything was.  A young couple walking to Fatima stopped by to talk to us.  They told us that we had only 2 choices in Anciao - an expensive residential or the fire station for 5 euros. We walked on, actually thinking that it would be interesting to try out the fire station and we were planning on that, but first we came to the residential, Residential Adega Tipica.  So we stopped at there and asked if there was a room, the man at the bar gave us the key.  The residential was above a bar/restaurant and was owned by 2 brothers, one who spoke English and one who didn't.  The brother we met was the one who didn't speak English, so we guessed, that was why he just handed us the key.  It was definitely the quickest check-in ever. 

Warned by the other pilgrims that it was expensive, we asked the price.  The cost was 30 euros.  We just paid 30 euros (15 euros each) the night before for 2 bunk beds in a hostel with shared bathrooms, so the price was right.  It was a nice, clean, lovely place, Residential Adega Tipica.  The room was just like a hotel room with a private bathroom and neat and clean.  Soon we found our Montreal friend, Chantelle, checking in as well.  She was back on the Camino after her detour to Fatima.  We walked to a little market and bought cheese, crackers, fruit and wine and some breakfast items and enjoyed an evening in.  As we got back to our room, a cricket team, some young Brits, was checking in as well.  We thought it would be a noisy night, but it wasn't.  The next day Chantelle told us that she had had a wonderful, wonderful dinner at the restaurant there.