This year, we decided to spend Christmas away from Slovakia, in our natural environment—on the trail in Portugal. Our options were limited due to my work and the weather. We bought tickets to Faro, in southern Portugal. We are going to hike the Rota Vicentina, which runs along the southwest coast of Portugal. We’ve planned over 210 km for 7 days. The day before departure, I lay out all our gear on the bed and make sure we have everything packed. Due to the wind and sand, we are bringing a tent with a frame, but the base weight of our backpacks is still 6 kg and 7.5 kg.
One last day at work, and then in the evening, we head to Bratislava. Big thanks to Laurika and Patrik for hosting us once again.
Thursday, 21st December 2023
We wake up at 2:50 AM. At 3:10 AM, we board the N70 night bus and get off at the Saleziáni stop. We have time, so we walk slowly to the Nivy station. We have trouble finding the entrance but manage to locate it eventually. We both fall asleep briefly on the bus. We arrive at the airport well in advance, but we’re glad because it’s incredibly crowded. We repack our backpack and prepare it to be checked in. Meanwhile, Billa (the supermarket) opens, so I buy some bread to go with the five boiled eggs we cooked yesterday but didn’t have time to eat. After breakfast, I feel a bit less groggy. We attach the luggage tag to our backpack ourselves and drop it off, but it gets stuck on the belt. We have to wait in line again, only to be told that we weren’t supposed to bring the backpack there in the first place. There were no signs anywhere telling us this. We hope our luggage doesn’t get lost again. With the luggage checked in, we head to the security check. Unfortunately, we pick the wrong line, stuck behind young women in huge fur coats with lots of stuff, which takes forever. Jozef is quite annoyed. We get through everything in about five minutes, and then we sit down for a bit. I get a terrible coffee from a machine. The flight leaves on time. We’re seated separately, but we downloaded the Briar app, so we can message each other via Bluetooth, and Jozef has free spot next to him. Since everyone is already seated, I stay in my seat and plan to switch after takeoff, but I fall asleep for two hours. When I wake up, I have to nudge my seatmate five times to let me out. The flight is half an hour shorter than expected, so we don’t have to rush. Our luggage arrived, and we reorganize a few things before finding the bus into town.
In the arrivals hall, we are pleasantly surprised by classical music. A few meters later, we realize that an orchestra is playing. It’s truly delightful.
Unfortunately, we can’t stay long. Our bus is just about to leave, so we buy tickets from the driver. We get off near a shopping mall. At the crosswalk, a stylish old man slams on his brakes to stop for us, so I wave at him, and he gives me a thumbs-up with a big American smile. We buy a gas cartridge at Decathlon and walk into town. It doesn’t even seem like people here are going crazy with Christma shopping—everything is quite calm. It’s a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. In the sun, it’s a pleasant 20°C. We find a tucked-away café in an even more tucked-away alley. It’s a bit of a dive, but we like that kind of thing. We order espresso, which they make perfectly everywhere here, and of course, pastel de nata.
It’s a true idyll—what could go wrong? We go to find the bus stop where our bus departs. We’re a bit confused but more or less know where it is, so we sit down on a bench by the harbor for a while. Just to be sure, we ask a lady if the bus really departs from there. It’s a bit late, and I start having doubts, but eventually, it arrives. We have a 2 hour and 40-minute ride ahead to Mimosa, near the town of Alvalade. The journey goes by quickly, with orange groves and olive orchards passing by, everything lush and green. I fall asleep on and off. We get off the bus and decide to hitchhike right away, planning to eat at our final destination. First, we try hitchhiking with a sign saying “Porto Covo” near Alvalade, but after 15 minutes, nobody stops.
Everyone shows that they’re going into town. So, we walk out of town to where the road splits and choose the one heading toward Cercal. We stop using the sign because it seems to put people off. There’s half as much traffic as there is in Korcháň (my home village). Everyone shows that they’re only going a short distance. We’ve been hitchhiking for half an hour and are starting to worry that no one will stop. I had told the accommodation we’d arrive between 4 and 5 PM, but that’s already impossible. After another half hour, I download Bolt to see if there’s anything nearby. There’s nothing. We continue hitchhiking but have no luck. It’s almost 4:30 PM. The sun will set in an hour. We try the other road to at least get closer. I check Bolt again, and there’s a ride! I book it immediately for €30. The driver arrives within two minutes. He tells us he had just dropped someone off from Lisbon to Alvalade. We were really lucky to catch him. The ride takes more than half an hour through various forests, orchards, and fields. The area is really abandoned. Occasionally, there’s a house and I see three small settlements. Now I understand why the traffic here is so sparse. We arrive in Porto Covo at 5 PM, just in time to catch the sunset over the Atlantic.
I call the accommodation to let them know we’re coming soon, as per the instructions, but I must have called the wrong number because I was completely confused. Eventually, we figured out that I had called the same accommodation but in a different town. We arrived at our accommodation, called the correct number, and found the keys to our room. It’s a small studio. We drop our things off and head out to eat. The restaurant we had chosen was already closed, so we went to a pub we had passed earlier. We each had a small beer. I ordered a hamburger with an egg, and Jozef got a sandwich with grilled meat. Jozef wasn’t full, so he ordered the same hamburger I had (the burgers were small, not like in Slovakia). Afterward, we did some shopping for breakfast and headed back to the room. It’s quite cold inside, and there’s no heating. Thankfully, we have our sleeping bags. We’re really tired. I’m writing the blog, and Jozef has been asleep for about an hour. Tomorrow we begin!
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