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Day Nine on the Camino Portugués 
~ Condeixa-a-Velha to Coimbra ~ 16.6 Km (10.32 Miles)

Our day nine on the Camino Portugués was the shortest yet, a lovely saunter into the historic university town of Coimbra. Arriving early meant we had an entire half a day to explore the wonders of this college town, home of the first university in Portugal. 

"Religion points to that area of human experience where in one way or another man comes upon mystery as a summons to pilgrimage."  ~ Frederick Buechner, Author and Theologian

To determine the reasons behind your call to pilgrimage is a mystery indeed. It is something that I continue to reflect upon. I think of myself more in spiritual terms, rather than religious terms, yet I still feel the call.

Our human experience, in and of itself is sufficient to question our purpose, the reason for life, and a pilgrimage gives us the opportunity to explore this at a deeper level. 

Map and Stats of Day Nine on the Camino Portugués

In my totally interactive Google map, that I uploaded from my own personal Camino steps, I placed albergues/hotels/cafés on the map for your convenience.

**It is important to note that municipal albergue in Cernache, 5.3 kilometers into the stage is currently closed, with no information as to its reopening. Please do not count on staying here unless you have verified that it is open! (Four possible numbers to try: Tel. 968 034 708 / 917 619 080 / 963 085 335 / 963 408 666.)

Below is the elevation profile starting just past the Bar Triplo Jota, (see above map), where the Camino continues from the turnoff to the Albergue de Conímbriga. 

There are some upsy downsies on this day with a nice downhill jaunt into Coimbra at the end, to join the Mondego River.

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Photo-Rich Travelogue of Day Nine on the Camino Portugués

We woke up on day nine to a dark and quiet Condeixa-a-Velha. Nothing was stirring, nothing was open. Despite it being a Monday after a holiday, everything was as quiet as death at 7:00 a.m. when we left. 

I looked at my left ankle and sure enough, once again the swelling had gone down entirely overnight. The amazing mystery of my pilgrimage! I was thrilled. It was going to be a good day. I could feel it in my bones. 

Our day nine's goal on the Camino Portugués was to reach Coimbra, less than 17 km away. I knew I could do it without a problem. I was eager to explore this historic town of which I had read so much!

My first photo is just beyond the intersection where if you stayed in Condeixa-a-Nova, you will join the actual Camino route along the Rua da Rossa. The albergue is steps from here. The red arrows, along with the yellow Camino arrows denotes yet another walk, that shares the Camino de Santiago called the "King's Road." 

600 meters after joining the Camino, we turned left at this inviting olive grove and walked into the next town of Atadoa. 

150 meters later, you take a right turn onto the Rua Principal and walk through town as the street bends north-eastward. After passing through town, at a crossroads, stay straight and join the Rua Pregeira, below. These are quiet, paved roads, peaceful and perfect for a pilgrimage. 

Leave the Rua Pregeira about ½ kilometer later, turning to the right. Not quite another ½ kilometer later, after about 2.2 kilometers total, take a hard left onto another quiet paved road on the way to the next town of Orelhudo. 

Arrive at the crossing of the busy A13-1 highway, ½ kilometer later, where there was little traffic to be found, below.

After about 3.2 kilometers, we reached the hamlet of Orelhudo. Not much here in this town, but quaint homes. There is a minimarket near the center of town.

In town, we turn right here onto the Rua Ribeira. The blue X is a unique phenomenon, as far as I know, to the Portuguese Way. It means don't enter here! If you go towards a blue X, you are going the wrong way!

The delicious and unkempt orange trees continued to grace our walk with blessings from its branches! 

Just outside of Orelhudo, the sign below announces that we were entering the town of Ribeira de Casconha. Not much to this town either!

From this point forward, there is a steady climb uphill over the next 4.8 kilometers!

Walk straight onward through town, until this Casconha waymark informs you to turn left.

In less than 200 meters, stay to the right at the next roundabout, welcoming you to Cernache with this lovely placard, below. Turn right at the roundabout.

After the roundabout, join the Rua Cruz, below, briefly paralleling the N1 highway.

Walk into the center of town, after about two kilometers from Casconha, a total of 5.4 kilometers from the albergue in Conimbriga. 

Along the way into the center of town is the municipal Albergue de Peregrinos de Cernache, which is currently closed, however their Facebook page is still up. You will pass by the albergue right along the Camino after 5.3 kilometers from the private albergue in Condeixa-a-Velha. I can find no information if or when it may be reopening, so please verify its status before you attempt to stay here! (Four possible numbers to try: Tel. 968 034 708 / 917 619 080 / 963 085 335 / 963 408 666.)

Having not had a substantial breakfast, we were very impatiently looking for an open café in Cernache, and had to walk through almost the entire town before spotting the café umbrellas below! It was about 5.6 kilometers into our walk and time to eat!

The pastry shop, below, was the typical Portuguese fabuloso, and we quickly ordered up a nice spread! We actually tried the meat/cheese-stuffed pastries and didn't even have our usual custard tarts (Pastel de Nata)! 

You will walk by at least one more café and a minimarket in the center of town. 

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Right after our break, we slung on our packs, walked a few steps to a roundabout and turned right, then a quick left, here, onto the Rua Tirado.

A  short but steep one kilometer walk on the pavement brings you to Pousada, after about 6.6 kilometers total. 

After about 700 meters, and after meandering through town, a left turn takes you to a gravel lane...

...through a forest where you will begin in earnest, the continuing climb since Orelhudo!

You will continuing steadily climbing.

The top of the long climb is at a convergence of roads after about 8.3 kilometers into day eight on the Camino Portugués. 

At the top, pass by a nice local waymark with the municipality of Oteiro Negro logo.

Then it's down the hill into the next town of Palheira.

After passing the industrial building above, on the outskirts of town, the Camino turns left onto the Estrada Principal, after approximately 9.5 kilometers, to walk through town. There is now significant climbing on this pavement through town, beginning the second big climb of the day. 

Almost 10 kilometers down. Six or so left to go. My ankle was holding up great. It was a day that, I must say, gave me reason to believe that I was indeed a pilgrim and my pilgrimage was special just as it was. I liked the shorter days, despite my husband's desire to go farther. I was with him, my best friend and confidant and I was asserting my needs. 

In the town of Palheira, we turned right up a hill onto a side street to climb to the town chapel, below. There are no services in this town. 

On the north side of town, less than one kilometer from where we entered, the side road turns to a gravel lane, called the Rua do Vale, to walk onward on day nine of our Camino Portugués.

The country lane turns right onto yet another lovely, unpaved lane, below. We continued with the steady climb.

After about 1/2 kilometer on the gravel lanes, we rejoined the pavement, and turned left onto the Rua Salvação, below. We were nearing the alto for the day, or the highest elevation point.

After about 150 meters, you will take a left turn onto the Rua Limoeiro, go around a big bend and down the hill, below, and toward the footbridge. 

The Camino crosses the footbridge, over the N1/IC2 highway, turns to the right to parallel the highway, continuing along the Rua Limoeiro as it climbs up to a tall radio tower. 

You are beginning the final push of the second climb of the day after the footbridge over the next one-half kilometer.  

Follow the Rua Limoeiro another 150 meters, or so after the tower, dropping steeply on a cobblestone lane, to cross a 2-lane street.

After the crossing, you are now climbing steeply on a street called the Ladeira da Boucha to the next town of Cruz dos Morouços, which you will reach after approximately 12 kilometers into the day. 

After reaching the town of Cruz dos Morouços, we turned right here onto the Rua Além. The town of Cruz dos Morouços is indeed the highest point of the day. 

It is here in Cruz dos Morouços that we strolled by this café, below. This is the only café we saw between Cernache and Coimbra. 

Since we had less than five kilometers to Coimbra, and were still full from our breakfast, we saved ourselves for later and walked on by. 

Just before the bright orange of the café, there is a possible accommodation, the Casa da Tia Lena, which gets good reviews. 

After the café, the Camino strolls by the town church, turns left onto the Calçada Cruz dos Morouços and begins a long downhill walk. Coimbra is visible ahead!

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The Camino winds through more of the town, then turns left onto the Estrada Mina, to walk again downhill by the path of the highway, the IC2. We could smell the city nearing. 

In the above photo, you can see how the IC2 cuts through this historic aqueduct, below. The Estrada Mina crosses the highway, after approximately 13.0 kilometers and bends to follow it parallel, but now on the other side and towards the aqueduct. 

Following the Estrada Mina down the hill and into town, it still feels quite rural, until the bottom of the hill. Then we turn left onto the Rua 10 de Junho at a T-intersection to begin the walk through the suburbs of Coimbra.

There are now many places to eat, for many kilometers before the center of Coimbra, and they are too numerous to describe!

After a traffic circle and a right turn onto the Rua Central da Mesura, and after about 14 kilometers, we began the long, almost one kilometer climb back up a hill on the other side! We are not yet in Coimbra. 

Below is the climb up the hill on the pavement, along the Rua Central de Mesura. You will pass a large Intermarche grocery store on the way to the top, if you need to stock up.

In the photo below, we are just about at the top. You can see a water tower-like building ahead on the promontory. That is essentially the top after about 15 kilometers into the day.

If you are doing this climb as a long day from Rabaçal, I imagine that the climb would hurt at the end of the day! Even for our short day the long hill climb on the cobblestone seemed to take forever!

Then suddenly, several hundred meters onward from the altitude top and after walking through a large traffic circle, this amazing first view of Coimbra comes into focus.

The view opens up farther on and the pilgrimage traveler just MUST stop and take it all in for awhile. The view from this Observatório is fantastic!

It is a moment of pure enjoyment, stopping at the Observatório! Here is the view, unimpeded. 

You have only a bit more than one kilometer from this observatory to the river crossing and into the center of Coimbra. Staying to the left at the observatory, it is an easy downhill walk from here. 

Heading farther down the hill, the Monastery of Santa Clara a Nova, is a huge complex overlooking the river, and contains the Albergue de Peregrinos Rainha Santa Isabel. We wanted to stay in town, so we kept on going. Unfortunately, the albergue is almost a full kilometer from the center of town and all the sights. 

The narrow cobblestone street walks by the monastery, stays to the right and downhill of it and turns sharply to go very steeply down the hill on the Calçada de Santa Isabel, below. 

It would be a real chore to climb back up this steep hill after a nice evening in town, to get back to the albergue, at least for us! However, the monastery experience may be well be worth the effort for you. 

At almost river level, after several sharp bends, the Convento São Francisco welcomes the pilgrim. Here is Rich walking on its upper level. 

Here is the convent as seen from the street level farther down the hill, below, where the Camino joins the N1 highway at the convent.

And then, the river and the bridge are the final obstacles before town. After the Convento, you will begin to see shells on the right side, embedded into the cobblestone.

Continue on the N1 to cross straight through two roundabouts before reaching the bridge, below. The University of Coimbra buildings loom above you as you walk across the bridge. 

Immediately after the bridge you come to the main square, the Largo da Portagem, with its famous statue of Joaquim António de Aguiar, the Portuguese prime minister in the 1800's. This is the place to be for outdoor restaurants and just people gazing. 

It is at this square that I ended the GPS tracks for the day.

We went directly to our hostel that I had pre-booked, just mere steps from the Portagem square on the Rua da Couraça Estrela.

The Coimbra Portagem Hostel is a fascinating place, a former governor's palace, right along the river. It is adorned with painted murals, like the one below, going up the stairs to the sleeping rooms. 

The hostel is very reasonably priced and has a choice of accommodation, from dormitory rooms to private rooms, all with large shared bathrooms and shower rooms, one for men and one for women. 

The proprietor was also willing to store our packs, until check-in time, so we could explore the town that afternoon without them. 

The hostel has kitchen facilities and a living area downstairs as well. With its fantastic location, friendly staff, brand-new and clean facilities, patio views over the river and a reasonable price, I would highly recommend it! Just click here to see more photos of this gorgeous place. 

We have also stayed in the highly unique Zero Box Lodge Coimbra, also right along the river. While the price is right, and the views from the top floor are superb, the jury is still out whether or not I would choose to stay here again. The box-like rooms, maximizing the number of rooms, encourage you to leave the rooms for the common spaces. Interesting concept, for sure, inspired by Japanese-style capsule hotels. I guess you have to experience something like this at least once! Click on the link to see this unusual place. 

Of course, there are many, many more places to stay in Coimbra. Click here to see the current deals. I have put on the interactive map, places with "hostel" in the name and very economical guest houses most convenient to the center of town and the onward Camino: the Serenata Hostel (+351 239 853 130) and the Hostel Sé Velha (+351 239 151 647), both right by the old cathedral, Change the World Hostels - Coimbra, NN Guest House, Olive Street House and the BE Coimbra Hostel to the north, and the WW Hostel & Suites near the university and finally the Quarto and Pasta Guesthouse, west of the river as you walk into town.

Reflections on Day Nine, Camino Portugués

My ankle was doing well, with only a slight swelling on day nine of our Camino Portugués. It hurt way less than on day eight. In fact, a mystery of mysteries, it never swelled up again after day nine! I didn't know this, when in Coimbra, I purchased a thin ankle compression brace. If it was sprained, I felt the added support would help and reduce the swelling as well. 

For many days after the swelling no longer occurred in my ankle, I continued to wear the brace, just in case! 

Did I create my injury because I was not fit enough initially, or because I wanted to walk less kilometers?? I'll never know. It just was. In fact, the rest of our Camino was filled with long 30+ kilometer days, without any trouble with my ankle whatsoever. It was and would be a mystery to me forever.

However, I knew my day here was not over, that we were to explore the old and hoary university town of Coimbra that afternoon. 

At noon we filled our bellies with nourishment at a lovely southside, riverside café, for our bodies, and our hearts and minds, before setting off to see the town of Coimbra in the afternoon. The university buildings on the hill were calling loudly to us, and the weather was near perfect on this glorious spring day nine on our Camino Portugués. 

The adventure portion of our pilgrimage was at its highest on this day, and we wanted to experience as much as we could! The food and the city revitalized us and we were eager to get started. 

The rest of our day was spent touring the glorious old town of Coimbra, then meeting up once again with our Aussie mates, who had arrived here the night before. They were taking a full rest day, and we had caught up to them, running into them at the Sé Velha on our city tour.

Later we joined our Aussie mates for a fantastic bottle of wine and dinner, outside in the Largo da Portagem square. We were fast forming a significant connection with these two pilgrims, the only consistent ones we met thus far on the Portuguese Way. We sat and reflected on what this whole pilgrimage thing meant to each of us! It was a fantastic conclusion to a fantastic pilgrimage day!

I am not sure what my lesson was to be learned for this day. Indeed, it did not matter. I was enjoying the fantastic day and felt lucky to be here at all! I enjoyed solidifying our relationship with the Australian couple we met again and again.

Salutation

May your own day nine on the Camino Portugués help you remember the joys of the pilgrimage and what called you to do it in the first place. May your summons, "religious" or not be the fullest experience possible! Ultreia!

Camino Portugués Stages

Lisbon to Porto

Senda Litoral or the Coastal Routes: Porto to Santiago

Central Route: Porto to Santiago

Variante Espiritual

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Carbon Trekking Poles

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