Rota Vicentina – day 3
Cliff above Praia da Amália – Rogil
Sunday, 24th December 2023 – Christmas Eve
32,11 km – total 99,06 km
The car left at half-past four in the morning. Some fisherman probably went to catch fish for the Christmas Eve table. We get up at 7 AM. It’s noticeably warmer today; I even had to uncover myself during the night. There’s a lot of condensation in the tent. When I open the door and hold it to the side, water trickles down. Jozef makes coffee, and for breakfast, we have the sandwich from yesterday that we packed for the road, so we wouldn’t have to carry ham and cheese wrappers. That’s enough for now. Five kilometers away is the village Azenha do Mar. We set off at 8 AM. The path first leads through a tunnel of oleander trees and then between farms.
We saw raspberries being grown in tunnels, and then various types of lettuce and baby spinach in the fields. We reach the village and hope to find an open café. We’re in luck; one has just opened. To our surprise, it’s full of locals. Everyone is having coffee, and some are starting Christmas Eve with something a bit stronger. We get coffee and one of the last pieces of pastry in the display. Refreshed, we head on.
Firstly, along the cliffs through sand, and then we join a road leading to the town of Odeceixe.
It’s about 5 kilometers inland on the asphalt road, along the river, to the bridge in the town.
At least we can have a proper lunch. Not many places are open, but we find one where they have tuna steak for €13.5, so we go for it. The owner already has tables set up for what seems like a family gathering, but he still seats us. We both get a decent piece of tuna with fries, vegetables, and something like a vegetable stew. I can’t finish mine, so Jozef eats the rest of mine. Then we quickly grab a coffee, and we have to move on. I leave a tip for the guy, and he seems really pleased. We’ve noticed that they aren’t very used to tips here. Jozef left the lady in the café 10 cents, and she came after him, thinking he forgot it. I told him this one was his. Now, we have to go back to the coast on the asphalt again. It’s a bit of a pointless detour, but the lunch was great, and we met an wonderful cat, so it was worth it.
We have 15 kilometers ahead of us, and we need to go fast. We need to stock up in Rogil for tomorrow because everything will likely be closed, and we’re not sure how long the stores will be open today. The first half goes great. We have plenty of energy, we’re full, and our legs are rested, but then the struggle begins. There’s been a lot of asphalt today, and my feet are starting to hurt uncomfortably.
We alternate between cliffs and farms. We even passed through an avocado farm. I had no idea you could grow them here.
The last two kilometers we do on autopilot, on asphalt. We finally reach Rogil a little after 4 PM. The shop is still open. Outside the store, an elderly lady asks us if we speak English, then tells us that everything will be closed tomorrow. Sweet. We buy pasta, tuna, chips, chocolate, almonds, cheese, parmesan, salami, bread, and prosecco for Christmas Eve. We sit on a bench outside the shop, drink a beverage, and finally get some rest. We need to refill our water, so we head to the town square and get water from the public restroom. Hopefully, it’s fine. Then we call our families back in Slovakia. Afterward, we head out of town to find a spot to camp. We had a tip for a forest, but it’s pretty overgrown, so we go another kilometer.
Among a few trees, we find a suitable spot. It’s quite close to the road, but hopefully, no one will mind. We quickly set up, mosquitoes are eating us alive. Jozef inflates the sleeping mats while I freshen up a bit so I can update the blog later. We open the prosecco, and for our Christmas Eve dinner, we have pasta with tuna, parmesan, and ketchup. Phenomenal! It knocks us out for an hour. At 10:15 PM, we wake up, brush our teeth, and go to sleep.
