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 (probably more for me than for Berto!)

Accommodation – Tomar:

The hostel was almost full and we had to move to another room in Hostel 2300 Tomar … that didn’t bother us too much as we still had a bed to sleep in.

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

This morning, I could hardly put any pressure on my left foot and we spent some time just lazing around in the communal area of the hostel.

A visit to the pharmacy did not help much – the pharmacist had one look at my swollen foot and suggested I pay a visit to the doctor. But I rather decided to buy more pain tablets. Maybe not such a good idea, because a doctor would probably identify the problem and accelerate recovery, but I was so scared it could have meant an end to my Camino!

Tomar is such a beautiful place that it would have been the perfect day to explore the town, but with one swollen ankle it was just not possible. We did however walk over to the Praca do Republica at the top end of the main pedestrian street (that was close to our hostel) and sat on a bench watching the locals enjoying the sun and being outdoors. It would have been great to walk to the Templar Castle on top of the hill … hmm, but 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 feeding the pigeons on the Praca do Republica

One must eat:

Later we have walked to a restaurant in one of the streets at the back of the hostel where we had a delicious lunch – meat, roasted potatoes and vegetables together with a bottle of red wine … a great choice for a rest day!

We had a table 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 River Nabao over the old bridge Ponte Velha. Families were sitting on the grass of the river bank – there was such a peaceful atmosphere on this lovely sunny day.

The River Nabao 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 late afternoon reading in the communal area in our hostel. At around 19:00 we got hungry, but could not find any open café/bar in the street below our hostel. We saw a sign for McDonalds (we are not huge fans of this eatery), but since this was the only place open, we had no other choice. I cannot believe we walked almost 2km there (and back again) to get something to eat. Ironically, back in South Africa, we won’t even drive in our car to eat McDonalds. But sometimes, the rules change when you are on the Camino …

Before I fell into dreamworld, I was wondering whether walking a long distance tomorrow would be possible. My swollen ankle got bigger and more painful during the day.

We will make a decision tomorrow morning …

Click here for Day 7 …