# Pasteis de Nata: 2, Distance Walked: 21.7km, # Floors Climbed: 141
Today was the last day of my hike. My feet have stopped complaining, but I think that is just because they have given up. They are now sulking in silence. However, my right knee and left hip have started grumbling. I'm positively looking forward to spending 4 hours tomorrow sitting on a bus as I go to Lisbon.
Breakfast at my hotel didn't start (officially) until 8:30am. I wandered down at the correct time to find the place full of people who had been breakfasting for some time. The hotel was full of walkers and they'd just shown up at the usual time of 8am and started eating.
I joined Florian and the American, whose name is Dwight (honestly) for breakfast. They'd been there for awhile but sat drinking coffee while I ate. I didn't eat much as I was still digesting last night's dessert.
We all agreed to walk by ourselves at our own pace but Dwight invited us both to join him for dinner in Sagres, which was very kind of him.
I set off before the two of them but they soon passed me. That was fine with me.
The early part of the trail, west to the coast, was easy, if dull, walking. However, once we actually got to the coast I soon caught up with Dwight and Florian. They were determined to walk out to the tip of each headland and admire the view. The coast along this stretch is very wrinkly so this was taking them some time. Below is a photo of the two of them headed off to yet another viewpoint.
I joined them for a few views but then headed on down the trail. I wanted to arrive in Sagres today.
I got to the lighthouse at Capo de São Vincente at around 2pm. This is the most south-westerly point of Portugal and, hence, Europe. Sadly you couldn't go out to the lighthouse itself today for some reason.
Standing on the cliff edge here looking out and knowing there was nothing but sea to the south and the west for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles was awe-inspiring. And yet the Portuguese sailed away from ports all along this coast.
Florian and Dwight caught up with me at the lighthouse. We walked the last 6km or so into Sagres together. They weren't quite so keen on going out to the tip of every headland now as the terrain was very rocky and uneven underfoot along this section.
We ended up staggering into Sagres at 4pm and immediately went to our hotels to check in. I'm in the Marieta View hotel and F&D are in the Marieta Beach just around the corner. I cheerfully waved goodbye to them both with promises to meet up for dinner. Florian is very sweet but he has no filter. If he has a thought, he says it out loud. I ended up walking very quickly to get ahead and leave the job of making conversation to poor Dwight.
Dinner with the two of them was pleasant. We went to a nearby place Ricardo had recommended which specialised in fish & seafood. D&F are both fans. We all had grilled sea bream. For a grilled fish it was quite Decent. For dessert I had something called an almond custard. It was a small tart in a flaky pastry case with a filling almondy custard filling and a crunchy topping. I think the topping was made from sugar and ground almonds. It was very Good.
We then staggered back to our hotels and admitted we are all old, creaky and tired and just want an early night. We said our goodbyes and parted happily. I suspect Dwight fled to his room to avoid having a last drink with Florian. Dwight is a card-carrying introvert and had spent most of the day walking with Florian.
Tomorrow I'm off to Lisbon and back to regular sightseeing. I have one more week in Portugal then I'm off to Italy where the food will be good (please).
One last view from a cliff just because the views were all so beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment