Camino Day 11 - Coimbra to Mealhada

The route from Coimbra to Mealhada today (Tuesday, September 6th) was @ 14 miles, with an elevation gain of only @ 1575 feet. Although we traversed short stretches of Roman roads (calzada romano), the majority of the day was spent on asphalt, primarily what Brierly calls secondary roads. One would think these roads would be moderately traveled, at a much-reduced speed than one would travel on major highways. Not true with the Portuguese drivers! We’ve all been flabbergasted at the speeds these drivers pass us, sometimes as fast as 60 or 70 mph! Typically, the shoulders on these roads are very narrow or non-existent and drivers don’t slow down at all. It’s especially scary when two cars are coming toward each other, and you happen to be on the road where they pass. In these instances, the safest bet is to often jump into the ditch or move off the road entirely into an adjacent field.

One high point on our route today was in the small town of Trouxemil, where artists had painted a mural highlighting the Camino.

Part of the Trouxemil mural depicting pilgrims,

waymarkers, pilgrim shells, Santiago cross, etc.

We had a picnic lunch on felled logs in the middle of a eucalyptus forest and proceeded on our journey to Mealhada. A little further on we passed a sign indicating the remaining distance to Santiago (346.7 km). (Distance markers are very common on the French Camino, but this is the first we've seen on our travels this year and it wasn't even an official marker, but an advertisement for an albergue!) Our starting point, the cathedral in Lisbon, was 611.2 km from Santiago so we've walked 264.5 km, almost halfway! 

Mealhada, our destination today, is a famous wine growing area. There is even a statue of Bacchus, Roman god of wine, to greet travelers as they enter the town.

                       Enjoying our picnic lunch

Almost halfway there!   

Bacchus, god of wine and the harvest