Day 3 Lisbon - Vila Franca de Xira

Saturday, April 6, 2024

My phone alarm went off at 6 a.m. After morning routines and rearranging my backpack, I went down for the continental breakfast that opened at 7 a.m. It was a good buffet with scrambled eggs, meats, cheeses, pastries and breads, yogurts, cereals, milk, juices, and more. The coffee came from a machine. That was not so good.

I was out by eight. I knew I had a long day of walking, almost 32 kilometers to Vila Franca de Xira. I expected the walk would take about eight hours, not including time out for lunch and breaks. I dreaded starting with such a long walk, especially without an extra day to adjust to the time change. When I was planning my Camino, I did not see a good choice around it. I started booking reservations for my trip months before leaving. I found it difficult to find accommodations prior to Vila Franca de Xira that I could book online. The few rooms I found around Sacavén, Iria de Azoia, or Parque das Nacões, were not available to book online, or they were only nine or ten kilometers away, half of my daily goal. I thought it was better to go longer than shorter. I will plan for shorter days later, I thought. In hindsight, I realized I should have added a day and walked the shorter distance for the first day to work up to the long hauls later.

There are a few public albergues along the way, but they do not take reservations. It is first to arrive, first to get a bed. Being the coward that I am or the insecure person that I am, and knowing I am a slow walker with a bad knee, I wanted to make sure I had accommodations each night.

Despite the distance I needed to walk, I left the hotel excited to be on my way. I took a left out of the hotel, then a right onto the Avenida da Liberdade. It was a pleasant, pedestrian, tree-lined walkway with mosaic-tiled paths down the center of the avenue. Many monuments and statues decorated the wide walkway. High-end retail outlets and luxury hotels lined the avenue.

 When I reached the Lisbon Cathedral, I looked for the yellow Camino arrow telling me which way to go. I could not find one. I may not have seen the arrow because the actual start of the Camino is at the Igreja de Santiago, the Church of Santiago, just up the hill from the cathedral. A sign at the Church of Santiago reads “Aqui Comeca O Caminho” in Portuguese. Translated to English, it reads “Here Begins the Way.”

Since I did not see a Camino marker, I decided to use Google Maps to make my way through town to the Tagus River. I knew from looking at a Camino Portuguese map before I left for Portugal that the Camino followed a railroad track near the river.

As I approached, I saw the Regent Cruise ship and knew I was going the right way to the river.

I met an elderly couple from Australia walking the Camino. We chatted for a few moments, then they moved ahead. I thought I could follow them for a while, but as with most Camino walkers, they were faster than I was. It took just a few minutes to be back on my own. Even the elderly walked faster than I did, not just the young. They mentioned they were using the Bierley book to stay on track, and in hindsight, I should have done the same. I had a digital copy of his book on my phone.

The Camino de Santiago out of Lisbon, as with any city, was not as attractive to me as the walks in the countryside or along the coast. I walked along the tracks. I passed warehouses, factories, and several homeless encampments filled with tents and other forms of shelter.

I looked forward to reaching scenic views of the sea and the dirt paths of the forest, but I knew that would not happen for a couple of weeks. The coastal route starts in Porto.

I missed the turn somewhere to continue walking along the river and ended up walking most of the way on a major road passing car dealerships, warehouses, and other businesses. I did not pass anywhere to stop for a café con leche and a snack. I stopped at a bus stop and took off my backpack to pull out one of the fruit bars I had brought from home. Although I did have a good breakfast, I needed a pick-me-up after several hours of walking.

When I saw a sign for Parque das Nações indicating a right turn, it confirmed that I was well off the Camino. I considered taking that turn. I had heard that Parque das Nações was a nice part of the Camino Portuguese out of Lisbon. It was the site of the 1998 Lisbon World Exhibition, with special art and architecture remaining after the Exhibition. After the exhibition, there was a boardwalk through the wetlands. I decided to continue following my GPS. I was already exhausted, and my left knee was hurting. It was not the time to be adding kilometers to an already long walk. GPS supposedly offers the shortest route to your destination. That was the way I went.

Entering Sacavém, I saw a McDonald’s Restaurant. I used the bathroom, filled my water bottle, and then sat at one of the tables for a few moments. I thought about getting something to eat, but decided against it due to the effort involved. I left without eating.

Up the road was a gas station convenience store. It was a good place to get something to drink and see if the clerk could call me a taxi. I was done walking for the day. I had been walking for over four hours and still had over 20 kilometers to go. I bought a 500ml bottle of Lipton Mango Iced Tea. I kept the bottle and refilled it many times with water for most of my Camino. The clerk pointed at a man purveying the drinks. “He is taxi man,” the clerk told me. I approached the man, and he pointed across the street to a small building and a line of black cars with green roofs, the taxi colors in Portugal. I walked across the street and took a taxi the rest of my way to the Hostel DP - Suites & Apartments in Vila Franca de Xira for about 42 euros.

On the way to the Vila Franca de Xira, we drove over a bridge, and I saw, to my right, two pilgrims walking along the boardwalk in the wetlands below us. It did look like a beautiful walk, and for a moment, I was sorry that I missed it. Then I accepted that it was not meant for this Camino.

I arrived at the hostel about 1 p.m. I was lucky. They had a mixed bunk bed dorm room with four beds already clean and available. They allowed me to check in early. Since I was the first in the room, I secured a lower bunk. Bell from Australia was next in the room. She claimed the other lower bunk. A female, Aleta from the Czech Republic, and a male from Poland followed. We had a shared bathroom in the hall. The room key fit the bathroom lock.

The guy who checked me in earlier gave me a flyer for a local restaurant with a pilgrim menu offering a soup and entrée for just six euros. Bell and I discussed going there for dinner. She looked it up on her phone and found that it was closed for the day. We ended up going to a pizza place. Bell was a vegetarian, so we ordered half veggie and half with meat. I ordered a 1 ½ liter bottle of lemonade to drink. When the order was ready, I brought it back to the table where we sat waiting. The pizza guy stopped us. “No, you cannot eat that here. It is take-out only.” The owner, who was in the back with a view of the front, told him it was okay. We could stay and eat there. We thanked him and enjoyed our pizza.

When I posted that night about my walk on Facebook, I commented on how poorly marked the Portuguese Camino was compared to the Camino Frances. A lot of comments to my post told me they had no problem finding the arrows. A few said they used the Buen Camino app to keep on the Camino. I was reminded again that I needed to use an app to stay on my “Way.”

Sometimes the arrows are easy to see. Sometimes they are hidden by overgrown vegetation or fade over time.

( To buy the book, click here )