Day 3: We lost our compass

Dear traveler,

After a good night's sleep and some caressed cats I feel much better. I help my folks to pack the tent, rolling the mats and starting to ...aaah, cats! My folks can handle this on their own. I'm coming back after a while and they're still struggling, in a very funny way, to pack up the tent, which is clearly beating them this morning.

It takes us a while to hit the road, but, when we finally do it, we start with a break. I love this day already. We leave our clothes at the laundromat and we go to grab something to eat. Of course, it's pastel de nata, it cannot be something else. 

Close to the town's outskirts, break again. I'm not sure what's happening today but it seems weird even for me.

Finally, we can leave this little town, that bids us farewell in a way you simply cannot miss.

 The trail continues, well... with another town, a bigger one this time, and takes us on a very beautiful stroll area, that follows the direction of the ocean. But until we reach it, we pass through some swamp like areas, with plenty of vegetation and wild birds.

This town is very beautiful and colorful and it's so good for... a break? Again? I don't know what happened today with Mamarmot but something's fishy. 

-"We're going to get something to eat, Marmot. We can't function well only with pastel de nata."

I could argue on that...

- "And, while we eat, I want to write those postcards and mail them."

We find a small place from where my folks buy the best falafel wraps ever tasted. The wrap is pink from the beetroot it's made with and the vegetables are super fresh. I simply love it. Mamarmot writes the postcards and puts them away until we'll find the first postbox. 

We continue walking and not after long. a share of rain cools us down. I'm amused how Mamarmot's insisting on gearing up while the other people around us don't make any effort in protecting from it. They walk unhindered through the rain, enjoying every drop.

-"Yes, Marmot, but they don't have 20 plus kilometers to go today. It's not fun to walk that much with wet clothes."

It's not fun to walk that much ...period. Of course I won't let this thought leave my mouth. And yes, she is right. But I must admit that it's hard for me to take her seriously, especially now when she looks like Spongebob Squarepants. Today I won't follow the path of shells anymore, I'll follow Spongebob.

I like this trail that takes us either next to the water, wither through forests, with bridges or without, with all sorts of flowers and interesting plants around us. It's kind of hard to get bored around here, but for me, nothing is impossible. We've been already walking for some time and I invite Mamarmot to a match of "I spy with my little eye... ". I spy with my little eye something green. Really? Everything is green around us. But to be honest, a humongous cactus, as huge as us three, stands out from a yard. Perfect for a hug.

The sun already starts to stress us out with its heat and as we walk and play at the same time, we end up in front of a sand dune that we can't get past. Come on. Spongebob, we've been counting on you and you're leading us where ...? I'm kind of annoyed that we have to turn back to where we came from ...

Mamarmot suggests we leave the ocean behind today and that is better to follow the path of shells. She tells us that in her little maps book it says that on some segments you can follow the ocean line even though it's not markes, but it's clearly stated where it's ok to do that and where not. It's good that she checked that before we started walking ...

At some point, we finding the shell that goes through a small village and then continues through a forest that I haven't seen before. It's very dark and the tress are peeling like bananas and the vegetation is just hanging all over the place. It resembles a jungle and it seems like it's taking us towards the heart of the mountain. Of course, here there are no mountains, only some hills. But it's still a climb. Ohhh. It was supposed to be lighter today.

If it weren't for all these waymarks through the forest, I would say that we are lost again given how random all these paths are winding.

It takes us some time to get out of this jungle. But, to my disappointment, the next village is still not the one we'll be spending the night in. Moreover, this village is made of curvy roads, which, naturally, are climbing and take us in a different part of the jungle. At least we find a postbox where we drop the postcards for our friends. I only hope that they will reach their destination and won't get lost as we did today. 

Mamarmot suggests we play something and this usually means that we still have plenty of walking to do and she doesn't want me to realize that. I do appreciate the effort but I'll show Spongebob. So, from the modest and boring little game where we look around and we chose something for the other to guess, I'll take it to the next level. 

-"Yeah, let's play Tic Tac Toe!"

The desperate look on her face amuses me and I feel like it's going to be an interesting walk. But so time passes and we finally manage to reach our accommodation for tonight. I bet Spongebob never wished more to reach the albergue than she did today. 

We enter a beautiful courtyard, filled with flowers and a small pool in the middle where pilgrims are soaking their tired feet in. Our host greets us with a cold lemonade but I am already chasing the cats from this place, three of them. At least so far. 

A baked veggie cream soup and homemade bread made by the host's grandma washes away all the sins of Spongebob and of this day that was not that easy as I was promised this morning. In the back garden filled with veggies and flowers you can relax your feet in the chilly grass. The wind blows softly and it's quiet and I must admit, I enjoy being here. 

I'm thinking about the postcards that we mailed and I wish I could send through them this feeling I have right now. Okay, I wish at least they'll find their way to our friends. One of them will go far away, towards west and the others towards our homeland, so ...aah I think it's towards east as I am looking from here. I do hope that the mailman will not lose his compass as we did today. If the wind would take them, I'd be sure of the result. The wind always knows what it has to do...