10. Odeciexe – Vila Nova de Milfontes

We didn’t sleep well last night.  The bed was even harder than we first thought and the pillow even lumpier.  Some of my foam lumps fell out from my broken pillow and I don’t know which was worse… more lumps or less pillow.

The town was quite lively too for a Sunday night and the party seemed to be just outside our window. And the street light was also there alongside the party… like an enormous bedside lamp that just wouldn’t switch off.

In short it was not the most relaxing of evenings.  What we needed was a nice long hot shower to iron out the tension this morning… what we got was short and cold… followed by an exfoliation from the threadbare hand towels that had been left for us.  This was not the best hotel; although we did leave with a healthy glow! There are a number to choose from in town so maybe shop around.

Just to add to our list of woes I think I might have cracked a filling on my bread over breakfast… WTF!  Fortunately I have a dentist appointment when I get home.

We left town and drove back to the coast.  Odeciexe is the end of the Fisherman’s Trail and it says in the book it has an amazing beach.

As we approached we could hear the roar of the ocean. As we parked and walked down to the beach we could see the sea spray hanging over the village like mist and the huge waves rolling in from the Atlantic.  The air is humid and the sky grey with cloud. Hurricane Ophelia is making landfall in Ireland today and we guess that all this swell is left in her wake?

 

We wandered down to the beach front, watching the surfers who had gathered… surely it’s too rough for them; the coastline is littered with rocks? We reckon they agreed as they headed off in the opposite direction and they were off drinking coffee when we walked back.

We walked on, following the road up out of town to take in the views.  We wondered if it was better or worse walking today? It’s a lot cooler but breezier?  We decided the cooler the better!

We walked back to the village and then back the car.  It was time for my clinic appointment.

I had a different nurse today.  He pulled out my file!  I have a file now!  Off we trotted to the treatment room. Most of my knee is looking better but the area that they cut away is still infected.  He had a good look and shook his head and set to work.  I needed a slightly smaller dressing today though but he said I still have to go back.

Gerry wanted a coffee now, he finds it traumatic sitting in there with me.  We knew a very nice little coffee and cake shop a hop and a skip away… we don’t need cake but we had some anyway.

What shall we do? Should we take an early flight? We could get a bus this afternoon back to Lisbon and a flight for Bordeaux tomorrow.   I was tempted. I need sleep and I don’t want to keep moving everyday.  Moving from town to town when you’re walking is perfect and after a 25km walk I can usually sleep anywhere.  But we’re not walking and we’re both in need of sleep.

Gerry showed me a website of apartments for hire. It’s a 5 minute walk from the coffee shop.  Off we wandered to ask if we can see one of the studios. We decided that if it’s nice we will stay and if not then we’ll book the flight.  It was perfect. It’s not luxurious of course but it’s perfect for what we need.  As we walked back to reception I spot the apartment number…14!  That’s our lucky number! Maybe our luck is changing?

We walked up to a little supermarket for a few supplies.  Then we wandered over to the Chinese Bazaar and bought two mugs… we have a kettle and we can now make a mug of tea whenever we feel like it.  We walked back to the clinic to collect the car and we had a little drive around the town and surrounding area.  We ended up at the fishing port a few kilometres out of town.  As always we could see the Rota markings everywhere, we should have walked this bit the day I stopped.

Again we just watched the waves.   The coast looks very much more wild in this weather… but still very beautiful.  Just out of the harbour is a large rock sticking up out of the water.  On its top are dozens of birds,  I guess waiting out the storm.  On the beach a group of seagulls stand together doing much the same… I wonder if they’re talking to each other about the weather?  Ophelia was trending number two on twitter today. (Get it?  Twitter?  Gerry didn’t 😉)

We’ve booked number 14 for the rest of the holiday. We have the car until Friday and we have a rather nice hotel already booked in Lisbon for Saturday (it was meant to be our end of walk treat). We’ll take the bus back on Saturday morning.

I am really sad that we never got to finish our walk.  We’ve looked forward to this trip all year… but we did manage a few days, and we’ve seen lots,  and we’ve discovered the Vincentino coastline which is stunning.

We’re going to chill for a few days… but I may well drop by before the end of the week… I am still dreaming of maybe just one more day of walking before Saturday… you never know.

Happy Monday everyone 😀