Learning to Walk 10

CAMINHO PORTUGUÊS – Conímbriga

(32,078 STEPS – 24.33 KMS – 15.11 MILES)

“Walk as though you imprint your solidity, your freedom, and your peace on the earth.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

*I jokingly (or was I?) told our gracious host at dinner last night that coffee and pastries are very important to me before a day’s walk. Guess who showed up at the beginning of the day…*

Hospitality

Hospitality is the expression of Christian doctrine. Love in action. The coalescing of Jesus’ teachings…I’ll develop this idea later on. But examples are better teachers.

Our host at the Albergue O Lagareiro had the bar open this morning before the sun was fully up, even though he stayed with us until 10 pm yesterday evening. His desire to be hospitable was the most important thing, not the 3€ he would make from the sale of coffee and pastries to us. This hospitality is inspiring and normal along the way to Santiago.

Brotherly Love

The walk today was another good one, a few well-spaced villages. A few places for the 2nd and 3rd coffees of the day. And rolling, tree covered hills.

In the latter part of the walk, near the village of Poço, I had a conversation in Portu-Spanglish with a farmer walking to one of his fields. He asked where I was from, and when I answered, he told me that there was another American on the trail just 30 minutes ahead of me. I answered, yes, it is my brother. He gave me a puzzled look and then asked, “why are you angry with him?”

I was touched by his concern, but explained to him that we weren’t angry at all, just the opposite, we have different styles and times of walking. We both enjoy solitude, stopping for a break or coffee or both, and we enjoy our own pace of walking. But Doug is an early morning person, I’m not. That’s the main difference. He gets a head start on me, but we end up in the same place.

Angry? No way, it has been a pleasure! I hope the old farmer understands.

A Taste of Home

We ended our day, at different times, at the Albergue Privado de Conímbriga. It was a private home with an outbuilding converted to a shelter. It was a good place with a cool host. He recommended a nearby hamburger place for dinner, said it was very good. It wasn’t a hard sell, he had me at hamb…

At dinner time, Doug and I walked over to the Tennessee Original to test the Portuguese burger quality again. The name was interesting in this small place in the middle of Portugal. The building itself was out of place as well, it was designed like a Texas Roadhouse. They had bad country music (think karaoke quality) playing on the television monitors posted around the restaurant. It was a little funny to the two of us, both from the southern US and familiar with this culture.

What was not funny was the beer selection – they had many Portugal craft beers on tap and in bottles, a first-class selection! And even less funny was the quality of the hamburger, it was amazing! This is a good place and worth a special visit, so, you should fly in to Lisbon and walk to the Tennessee Original in Conímbriga. You won’t regret it.

On the way out, we spoke to the co-owner and asked her about the inspiration for this out-of-place place. She and her husband had vacationed a few years ago in the US, spending a lot of their time in Tennessee. They fell in love with the state and decided to open this restaurant in honor of. Well done!