To Santarem

Sept 6, 2016 Santarem 19km

A hot day expected (40c) and left the hotel at 7:30am to avoid the mid-day heat. We also took advantage of the shade of trees lining today's route. By noon we had 12km left to our destination....too hot and located the bus station to complete our journey. We arrived at Santarem at 1pm and located the tourism office to find our accommodations. This town is similar to most European towns- designed to get lost, which happened again. After 20 minutes of wandering the streets I asked  a local resident for directions, who walked us part way. I felt like an idiot having gone in a complete circle. But once we arrived at N1 Hostel, we were greeted by Maria who gave us lemon water on ice. A very interesting and hospitable person. The building is a cool modern design made mostly of concrete, with a lot of metal and glass for various entrances. And our room was ultra modern, with a huge shower area. Afterwards we headed to the Portas do Sol, an old castle/fortress overlooking the Tejo River. It was still very hot and decided to head back for another shower.  

Dinner was prepared by Maria, which included a starter, soup, main course, wine, dessert and coffee for 8.50E per person. What a feast! At the end of the meal the host brought out his special grappa. Our table included five other peregrinos, two of which were suffering from walking injuries. They were from Budapest, S. Korean studying in NY, Florida and Dublin. A most enjoyable evening.