Distance: 18.3 miles
Time: 9 hours
Today was difficult but pleasant, and a weird mix of forest, country hamlets, and urban centers. Funny how in just 18 miles you can cover such diverse territory. The eras of civilization are piled on top of one another here, in all of those settings, a countryside full of ancient ruins, modern buildings, and all the years in between. A surprisingly decent companion to this was the plague apocalypse novel I listened to via audiobook today. There's nothing like a little magical realism, romance and survivalist adventure to get you all jacked up on walking through a country, blisters and all. Add to that that up until Coimbra I was still encountering mostly angry dogs, it wasn't a stretch to pretend I WAS the red headed witch running from raiders through an abandoned country to fulfill her destiny. I am officially taking suggestions on epic adventure novels I might listen to. Mixture of magical especially Celtic overtones appreciated. At night I'm reading the fabulous book by Graham Robb, The Discovery of Middle Earth, which examines ancient geography and travel routes of early Europeans, namely the Celts. I'm starting to find my niche in this adventure, letting a combination of history books and fantasy novels shape the lens through which I see the day, helping me find some perspective.
Here is a modern bypass cutting through a Roman aqueduct, illustrating that mix of eras. And an albergue cafe in Coimbra, nestled in a functioning church/dormitory/ruins of something.
Flooding continues to slow me down in the valleys, and while the hills are drier they don't offer much chance for speed. I also took an almost 2 hour break to visit the ruins of the Roman city of Conimbriga, dating from the 1st century BC to the 3rd or 4th century AD, and it was well worth the probably extra mile of waking I added on to the day's 18. I saw beautifully preserved mosaic floors, a 13-foot thick Imperial Wall at the city's edge, and the intricate pattern of aqueducts that brought water throughout the city and into the massive bathhouse.
Walking through the excavated halls of homes, shops and spas, I try to imagine the people that walked these halls when they were grand, when they were full of noise and fabric and food. The daily trappings of people. I want to see how women wore their hair, I want to understand what their humor was like and how they interacted with the landscape outside the thick city walls. A walk over the platform spanning the old entrance to the bathhouse, perched on the cliff side overlooking a deep river ravine and lush forested hillside, makes it clear why the Romans chose this precipice on which to establish their city.
When I get home I will try to recreate this by taking a shower, and watching historical epics while eating olives in a bathrobe. It'll be the same, yeah?
The new structure partially preserves and partially recreates the spectacular promenade and steps leading up to the community bathhouse, and even in the open air, nearly 2,000 years later, it still feels like a luxurious place. I've read snippets of history here that refer to the belligerence, the grandiosity and rolling consumption that was Rome and its conquests over Europe. All that and more being true, it's incredible to see even the remnants of what they built so many ages ago. Here is a drawing of what the bathhouse would have looked like, with the open air entry built just over the cliffs.
Pleasant though it was, the last few miles were fairly difficult, and I covered the final bit at a terribly slow pace, stopping often to sit for a minute or two, then keep going. In my head I thought, yup, 18 miles was too far. But really, it's not. Not at all. I made it didn't I? What really is too far then, too much. I tell people all the time that we can do much more physically than we usually realize. It seems I had forgotten that for a bit. And just as it's good to realize I need people, and I need breaks, it's good to remember I can do challenging things too. And at the end of the day, I'm just tired, and eventually the destination is just ahead.
It was after 5 when I finally found the hostel in Coimbra, halfway up the steep cobblestone streets and stairs that lead to the centuries-old University of Coimbra. I was so tired that I managed to scare myself in a mirror in the hostel. It stretched floor to ceiling on the landing of an impressive staircase, so effectively placed that I thought it was the entrance to another set of stairs. As I rounded the corner and nearly bumped into someone, I had gotten out half a "Pardon me," before I realized it WAS me.
I did it again later that night coming back up the stairs. See above.
Tomorrow is a rest day, so on my list is the university, churches, and maybe a museum. Also, food. I need to get better at food. I discovered today that I am shopping wrong. Which is sad because that was my main route to avoid the pain of ordering food in restaurants. Apparently in many places it is frowned upon to touch the produce. I was wondering why shop keepers kept snatching apples out of my hands. Well, that's why.
Sigh, I will keep trying. I remember how hard this was in Spain, and how it got so much easier as I went. In the mean time, I have found a cozy place behind the Cathedral Se to spend the next two nights. Tomorrow, old libraries.
No comments:
Post a Comment