It is now time to start the primary focus of our summer travels — walking the Fisherman’s Trail and afterward the Camino de Santiago. You may recall we purposely packed an extra bag so we would have nicer clothes and extra “stuff” for our 23-day cruise and 12-days of bopping around Spain. Mission accomplished. Prior to departing Finca Las Encinas (our B&B cooking school) we downsized to fit everything into our two backpacks. The host of our stay gladly accepted our hand-me-downs, which were donated to the local animal rescue for their monthly fundraiser.
When we packed the morning of our departure for our hike from Lagos, we picked up our bags and thought “wow, these are pretty heavy”. The goal was to keep our bags below 20 pounds and we suspect they were at least 25 pounds. Oh well, we’ve built up years of muscle memory, let’s get on with it. Probably within 15 minutes of walking both our individual inner thoughts and our outward conversation quickly turned to how can we get rid of some of this weight. After walking an hour or so we took a break at the Farol da Ponta da Piedade lighthouse, a very popular destination for tourists. While there I jokingly texted the couple we met on cruise whom completed the Camino last year and told him we were already discussing what gear we could dump. He wrote back that they were 1 hour into their visit to Balbao and already on their first glass of wine. Vastly different paths!
The scenery was spectacular. The Fisherman’s Trail is rated one of the best coastal hikes in the world and you quickly understand why. We took our time, stopping for the views and taking a lot of pictures. We saw a really cool bird with a black cap, blue wings and a long tail . Although a new bird to us, it is probably as common as a sea gull for the area. We later learned from our neighbor KK that it is an Iberian Magpie. Once we left the lighthouse area we were walking on dirt paths that were very uneven, with relatively steep ascents and descents. Although we were walking 8-10 miles a day during some of our port visits, we were not carrying 25 pound packs or walking on such uneven ground. The hike was a little more challenging than we thought it would be. Midway through the walk Julie’s heel started bothering her. We did not take advice from our Camino friends to stop immediately and assess the pain; instead Julie pressed on ahead. Not sure if stopping would have made a difference, but we both recognized the next day we ignored one of the golden rules of hiking.
We stopped at the only cafe on the trail and met a couple from the Lake District in the UK. There was a line and wait to get a table at the cafe and P asked Julie if they could join us. Julie only had one requirement: no smoking. They replied not a problem and joined us. They were spending time in the Lagos area doing day hikes along the coast. Very pleasant couple and so glad we were able to meet them and share a meal.
The last section of the hike required us to walk down a steep hill that brought us into the small beach town of Praia de Luz. We checked into our hotel and hung out by the pool before heading into town for dinner. We found an amazing restaurant called Latitude Wine and Tapas Bar. Tapas sounded good, but two other dishes drew our attention: Shrimp and Saffron Risotto and Roast Duck with a blackberry reduction sauce. Latitude had a very cozy vibe and was clearly a hot spot for locals and visitors alike. Get there before 6pm if you don’t have a reservation. Julie did not finish her dish and asked for a take out box. It seemed to take a while and when they returned her food was on one of their plates with saran wrap. They said they ran out of take-out boxes and said we could bring back the plate tomorrow (we did)!
When we returned to the hotel we were both exhausted. It felt like we went through a full-body workout today – all good.
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Accommodations: Sol a Sol Hostel (Lagos) and Luz Bay Hotel (Praia de Luz)
I’m having heel problems here on Makely myself. It’s not the walking, but the starting and stopping! I love that you thought to say the only rule is no smoking! It’s really interesting that not a single person on our end of the Street smokes at all! Love lower Makelyites.
So true Rhonda – we especially notice it when we are slowly navigating down steep terrain, where you are constantly stopping and starting. Re. smoking, in Europe it appears smoking is not allowed inside, however no limits if you are eating your meal outside in the beautiful weather. We estimate we have smoked a pack a cigarettes through second hand smoke so far on this trip (and its not suppressing our appetite!).