2025 - Day 1 - Lisbon to Santa Iria de Azóia

Scores on the Doors 24.5 Km - 15.22 miles

The alarm went off at 7:00 as we had to get our bags down for just after 8 to be moved on to the next hotel.  After a substantial breakfast we set off, at about 9:00 heading towards the subway, only to discover an exit yards from our hotel after our 20 minute hike with our bags yesterday! We went down onto the metro had a change from the Red line to the green line

and got off near the Center, where we walked through some back streets until emerging at the Cathedral where we went in and got our pilgrim’s credentials stamped, and then said a prayer.  We then had a chat with a fellow pilgrim who was amazed that we weren’t making the detour to Fatima.  Out of the cathedral we had a quick photo call.

We were ready to go and I spotted our first waymark, but also spotted a loo, so before setting of we decided to spend a Euro! And then off we went following a combination of our companies route guide and spotting blue signs for the Camino to Fatima, as well as the occasional yellow arrow, as we navigated the streets of Lisbon.

 

After a short while we passed a women with a rucksack so Lesley asked if she was on the Camino, she said yes and we got talking.  Her name was Anna and she came from Holland, and it is Anna’s first Camino.  We found her very easy to talk to, and with between us we navigated through the city and down to the water front of the River Tagus, where we stopped at a cafe for iced tea and iced coffee. The path took us through the site of the 1998 World Expo

and on past the iconic Vasco de Gama Tower and bridge,

before we took to a board walk created to mark Pope Francis visit to Lisbon in 2023.  This took us along the Targus for about four miles, until I spied our hotel and knew that we were near to the turn off to the the track I had discovered of Google earth to get us to the hotel, and fortunately it all worked out fine and we were at the hotel by 3:45, after saying goodbye to Anna, as she continued into the main town to find her accommodation.  After showers and a trip to the Lidl next door for G&T’s and beers we went back to our room to enjoy our aperitifs type up the blog and decide where to go to eat.