Tomar (Rest day)

1 April 2018

0.0km

There is not much I can say about this day, except that the rest day was exactly what we needed after walking 167km in just 5 days!

Accommodation – Tomar:

The hostel was almost fully booked and we had to move to another room in Hostel 2300 Thomar. It didn’t bother us though as we still had a bed to sleep in.

The rooms were beautifully decorated. This old typewriter on the desk in our room almost invited me to just sit and type stories for the rest of the day

This morning I could barely put pressure on my left foot and we just hung out in the communal area of ​​the hostel for a while.

A visit to the pharmacy didn’t help much – the pharmacist just took one look at my swollen foot and suggested I visit the doctor. However, I decided to buy more pain tablets. It might not have been such a good idea, as a doctor would probably be able to identify the problem and thus speed up recovery. But I was just too afraid it could have meant the end of my Camino!

Tomar is such a beautiful place that it would have been the perfect day to explore this small city, but with one swollen ankle it just wasn’t possible. However, we walked over to the Praca do Republica at the top of the main pedestrian street (it was close to our hostel). We found bench from where we could watch the locals enjoying the sun. It would have been great to walk to the Templar castle on top of the hill, but unfortunately not with this ankle!

 

The Praca do Republica with the statue of Gualdim Pais. He was the first Grand Master of the Knights Templar, who established Tomar as the headquarters of the Order in Portugal

Locals feed the pigeons on Praca do Republica

One must eat:

Later we walked to a restaurant in one of the streets at the back of the hostel where we had a delicious lunch. Meat, roast potatoes and vegetables were on the menu and together with a bottle of red wine it was a good choice for a rest day!

 

Our table was on the street where we could enjoy our lunch

After a nap in our room, we enjoyed an ice cream while walking to the other side of the Nabao River over the old bridge Ponte Velha. There were quite a few families sitting on the grass of the river bank. It was such a peaceful atmosphere on this lovely sunny day.

 

The Nabao River in Tomar

Walking over the bridge – the beautiful town of Tomar in front of us with the Templar castle on the hill

Really? McDonalds:

We spent the late afternoon in the communal area of ​​our hostel reading through their collection of books. Around 19:00 we realised we were actually hungry, but couldn’t find any open café/bar in the street below our hostel. Upon further investigation, we saw a sign for McDonalds. Now, it is true that we are not huge fans of this eatery, but since it was the only place open, we had no other choice. I couldn’t believe we walked almost 2km there (and back again) to eat something. Ironically, back in South Africa, we won’t even drive in our car to eat at McDonalds. But sometimes the rules change when you’re on the Camino …

Before falling into dream world, I wondered if it would be possible to walk a long distance tomorrow. My swollen ankle grew bigger and more painful throughout the day.

Well, I suppose we’ll make a decision tomorrow morning.

Click here for Day 7 …