# Pasteis de Nata: 3, Distance Walked: 20.4km, # Floors Climbed: 114
Today was brutally hard work. It was the first day on the Fisherman's Trail. The scenery up til now has been lovely, but the views from the coast are spectacular. However, most of today's route was through soft sand which is very tiring to walk on. It also gets in your boots and in your socks. I had to stop and empty them out several times. I had expected today's walk to take about 5 1/2 to 6 hours including stops. It actually took me closer to 7 hours.
This trail is much more popular than the Historical Trail I've been walking until now. Before my suitcase was the only one being collected from the hotel. This morning there were 6 suitcases to be collected by the company I'm using, Vicentina Travel, and a full dozen with another company. When set off this morning there was a good 20 people ahead of me on the trail and about that many coming along behind. It was less of a walk and more of a parade.
Most of the walk was on the cliffs above the beaches but sometimes we dropped down into a cove and up the other side. When we didn't, I amused myself by trying to work out if I'd be able to climb up if I had been shipwrecked in the cove. Mostly I think I could, given sufficent determination.
At one point the path went inland as the original cliff edge path was deemed too dangerous. Given the risks the Portuguese authorities are OK with the general public taking, I decided to pay attention when they think the risk is too great. Mind you they thought this bit of path was just fine
in spite of this sign just before it.
I took a break at around the 5km point and ate 2 pasteis de nata I'd bought in a bakery in Porto Covo. I hid around a corner to avoid running into Bob&Tammy. At around the 10km mark, the path was along the cliff top but there were stairs down to a lovely beach so I headed down there for lunch. Again, successfully avoiding B&T. I didn't see them at all today. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to try and keep pace with them on the sandy trails. Today I didn't amble so much as slowly slog along.
At one point I saw a group of teenage boys having a surfing lesson. They were all on the beach being taught how to lie down on their boards and then jump up in an appropriate surfer stance. I watched for a while and after a bit they headed out to the sea to try it for real. One boy got as far out as up to his knees in the water and noped right out and headed back to shore. I guess the water was too cold.
The last 3km of today's walk was mostly along dirt paths and roads. I was so scornful of such things yesterday but was so thankful when I got to them today. Loose sand is exhausting to walk on. Mind you, a good 2km of the path actually was taking you all the way through town. It was definitely the scenic route. I stopped at the first cafe I came to and had a coffee, a pastel de nata and 1/2 litre of water. Ricardo had suggested bringing 2 litres of water but I thought that sounded excessive so I only carried 1 litre. Ricardo was right.
My hotel here is right in the centre of town in a largely pedestrian area. It only has about a dozen rooms and they all seem to be taken up with people travelling with Vicentina Travel. We all checked in in a bunch. The others are all travelling together. They made plans to meet up in the rooftop bar. I thought about heading up there myself. I figured they might invite me to join them for dinner which might be enjoyable. However, I thought they might then invite me to walk with them tomorrow, which wouldn't be, so I didn't go to the bar.
My route notes recommended 4 restaurants in town. One specialised in seafood so I passed on that one, two others were more expensive than I wanted but the 4th seemed a good bet. However, you can guess which night of the week they are closed.
I wandered randomly around instead. I was briefly tempted by a Calabrese pizzeria but when I peered inside it seemed a little cheap and nasty - and entirely empty which didn't seem to be a good sign.
In the end I had dinner at a place called Stress Free. I had pork loin cooked in a mustard and honey sauce which was served with sauteed vegetables. The veg was cabbage, leek, zucchini and carrot which had been fried in lashings of butter. It also came with a puck of something that I think was soft breadcrumbs made into a patty somehow and fried. Strictly speaking the meal was only Good but it was such an interesting change from everything I've had to date it was Absolutely Delicious. For dessert I had cheesecake topped with fig jam and nuts. Sadly the cheesecake was bland so this was just Decent.
Tomorrow's walk is meant to be easier than today. I'm still going to carry 2 litres of water.
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