Day 11 - To Coimbra

Walked today: 20.6 km
No of steps: 26,230
Total walked: 145.1 km

We left the hotel still in the dark.  We were not sure where the Caminho was and eventually we found an arrow. 

We had heard about the forest fires and were a bit concerned.  We could smell the smoke and see a hazy and smoky sky. 

Somehow, later, we found ourselves without our beloved yellow arrows and we suddenly were on the busy IC2 highway.  It is only a 2 lane highway but it is very busy and has no shoulders. Pretty tense moments. Luckily, we walked only about half kilometre before we found a way to get out of there. 

Very soon we arrived to Cernache and found an open cafe.  We stopped there and watching the news we learned there are now several major fires.  One is near Alvaiazere and another one near Porto.  No way for us to know if they are near the Caminho.  We'll have to keep checking to make sure we don't get in trouble .

In the village of  Palheira we found a small chapel that was open.  There was a lady cleaning and had the chapel was impecable.  She offered us water, access to a bathroom and even offered to make us a cafesinho. We thank hard and take advantage of the opportunity to pray our daily rosary.

We continued walking for hours. Very hard day.  We have walked as many steps other days but today we had full backpacks, lots of up and down hills, lots of cobblestones. It took us 7 hours for only 18 km.  On top, it is still our first week and we are not in shape yet.

Once we got to Coimbra, we had lunch, burger, fries, and ice cream. We crossed the bridge and found a hotel, it is old, but clean and cheap.

We showered, Wonder woman found a laundromat and we are now clean and ready to go and visit a bit of the city and find dinner somewhere.

At the chapel, the lady gave us a booklet with the story of Fatima.  So again today we proclaim ourselves to travel under the protection of Our Lady. Hail Mary full of Grace.