Rabacal – Cernache 17km

A rough night with bad dreams

Why, as I’m settling into my Camino,did I have that ‘exam’ dream last night? Perhaps because of the very hard and uncomfortable bed! At least I’ve graduated from not being prepared for my final school Latin exam to almost missing a university English exam! Not that I ever did university English! The church bells ringing at 6:00am saved me from certain failure.

Rural Portugal

The walk from Rabacal to Cernache started with a lovely walk through olive groves and small veggie fields and on to a late breakfast. But first we met goats being taken for milking.

More generous strangers

Then on asking to photograph his walnuts drying in the sun we were given a large handful for our journey.

So many tiles

There are beautiful tiles everywhere. The internal church and chapel walls are lined with tiles. Religious or agricultural scenes adorn front doors and one village had a specially made pilgrim tile.

Our first real Albergue

Now that we’re able to break the stages into manageable sections without relying on pick up or drop offs, we’re not pre-booking our accommodation. Not much of a risk as there are very few pilgrims. Tonight we’re in our first true Albergue.

There are 14 beds but it’s quite possible that we’ll be alone tonight.

Next Post: Cernache to Fornos