My friend shared with me recently that she had walked to Lisbon Cathedral before her Camino, for training and to get her Camino passport. I decided to walk in her footprints… what an epic journey and I loved every step of the way.
It was a tough day out though because it was so hot. I had good intentions to leave at 6am but only left at 7am, which meant I arrived in the heat of the day and it was hot as hell.
I survived.
It was still early by Portugal standards and I love being out when it’s so beautifully quiet. The only thing to remember is that WC’s only open at 9/10am in Portugal, so it’s advisable not to have a big cup of coffee before you leave. Due to me leaving a bit later, I had to put the hammer down all the way to Belem to try make up distance in the cooler part of the day. I did take some time out, to photograph my journey though. It was so beautiful. I am doing this route often by train or car but I saw so much more on foot and I loved it. It is absolutely worth the effort. I can highly recommend.
After a little refuel at Pateis de Belem, I stocked up with more cold water and kept trekking. I left Belem at around 12pm and it was scorching hot. As I was mapping out the last part of my route, I discovered that the Cathedral is closed on Sundays. Oopsy, it hadn’t occurred to me to check this fact, it’s a Catholic church in Europe after all, one would assume it’s open on a Sunday. I had to keep going even though I was a bit gutted. I wasn’t going to get my passport but I was going to get my kms and training done.
When I got to to Honest Greens close to the Cais de Sodre station, arguably I could have headed home due to the fact that the Cathedral wasn’t open but I was determined to get there. It was a mental game for me now, the last 2-4km’s were killer. I had my dear friend Sonia (who just did the Camino), my Mom and Corksi talking me to my imaginary finish line. It was so hot and I was struggling with the crowds and heat at the end so the virtual company was so welcome. When I got to the end I sat on the steps by the closed doors for a while to try and compose myself.
Walking to Lisbon Cathedral - 24.5km
Guys, I walked to Lisbon from my apartment. Someone pinch me please.
I now feel good about my pilgrimage that’s coming up and we are going to be okay. We only have one 25km day on our journey… our last day to Santiago Compostela. The other days are more around 20kms. I’ve broken in my new shoes and my new day pack and I’m happy with everything. We have sorted out our route to and from Porto and Spain. Now we focus on keeping healthy and keeping our mileage up.
Counting down the days…
