We had a slow morning, showered, packed, had a satisfying breakfast and left our beautiful hostel at around midday heading for a cafe to drink green tea and form a plan…. Would we head to Lisbon and start the Camino de Santiago from there? Or Porto, where we knew there would be more pilgrims about to meet,it being the 2nd most popular pilgrimage after Camino Frances? But then the sun was shining down on us for the first time in days, our boots were dry, and we knew that the further North we headed the more chance we had of colder weather and rain…. The plan dipped and dived, from Sao Miguel in the Azores, back to Lisbon, eventually evolving in to a vague idea to instead head south and follow the sun. We would walk the bits we had hitched and hitch the bits we had walked….all the way back to Aljezur! Plan sorted,at least for the next few days, we ordered a beer and topped up our tans in the sunny square, before heading out of town past a very large boot.

Next, we started to hitch. We would hitch 3 stages, through Sao Luis, and Odemira, back to Sao Teotonio, stay 2 nights at the Christmas Tree hostel we had liked so much – ‘Carpe Diem.’ Sleep there tonight, hitch back to Odemira and walk to Sao Teotonio, sleep there tomorrow, and then hitch to Odeceixe to walk to Aljezur and the Daguasoul on Monday… By doing this we would have walked every step of the Vicentina Historical Way from Aljezur to Cercal do Alentejo, albeit in a strange haphazard way!

The hitch was slow. The first 2 lifts from old chaps who appeared to tell us they would drop at our destination – Sao Teotonio,, but didn’t…. something was lost in translation and they both dropped us just a few kilometres down the country roads. We ended up eating our packed lunches sat at a bus stop, cars passing only every 15 minutes or so…. We tried various hitching techniques….. 

Eventually, Antonio stopped. He must have been in his 80’s and was a cheerful old guy, blasting his Portuguese pop music out from the car stereo. He dropped us in St. Luis (the Penguin place) and we headed to Gabriela’s for a 1 euro wine before resuming our hitching poses at the side of the ‘main’ road. Who should come by but Antonio again! A little merrier and with an offer to take us all the way to the Christmas Tree town! As we journeyed through the zig zag roads we wondered if perhaps Antonio had been for a few cheeky drinks in the time since our last lift. He was very concerned my hands may be cold and persisted in grabbing them to warm them up, whilst enquiring if I was yet married…. I am not but I am sorry Antonio, you are not the guy for me…. We arrived in Sao Teotonio and gave are ‘obrigadas’ before buying the ingredients for a delicious cauliflower and chickpea balti with rice and marching up the now familiar hill to Carpe Diem. It felt a little like being home and we had a nice evening cooking, eating and watching a movie. We will walk tomorrow….