When we leave our garden we see olive trees and nature immediately. One beautiful path leads to Conimbriga. It is around 15 km about 4 hours walk from Casa da Lima. Tourists have normally much greater UNESCO sites on their wish list like Coimbra, Alcobaca or Tomar, and pilgrims are just passing by and sometimes too tired to really visit this ancient village. Just do it, this is the start of the Roman paths you are walking on as a pilgrim!
Fountains!
Alfons, a good friend from Nijmegen, the town where I grew up spontaneously visited us right after Christmas. He came by train (Interrail). He wanted a taste of the caminho, so he walked with his heavy backpack from Entrocamento to Tomar. I guess he will return one day to start the caminho.
I met him outside the castle in Tomar, where he was resting and I was visiting the Templars castle. Alfons was not too tired to walk all the way up to the castle! But too tired to visit the castle. I really think he should return to visit this castle and then start his caminho from Tomar to Casa da Lima and Coimbra.
Alfons told me he is really a cultural barbarian, so what could we do…?
I just took him to Conimbriga…. We skipped the museum and just walked though the village. Luckily he liked it. Especially when Cinta threw a coin of 50 cents in a machine near the first photo below. Surprise, there are fountains too!