Thursday 3 September 2026 – A very quick update, as not much happened. That’s not to say the day was not without event, but we didn’t do any walking. Had we done so, we would have needed to cover 16.6km, which would probably have taken us five hours. According to Accuweather, even if we’d started out at 7am, we’d have been pretty uncomfortable by the end.

So I investigated what Uber could do for us. Bearing in mind that we were a long way from anywhere of any pith or moment, I was a little surprised to find that a car could be with us within a quarter of an hour. After a very basic breakfast – toast and tea, basically – we lazed most of the morning away and added a pin to Helena’s map to show where we were from. Assuming that she hasn’t spent many nights stabbing random pins into her large map of the world, Helena has hosted a huge number of visitors from every corner of the globe (except, of course, Antarctica, since no-one actually lives there). We took our leave of the delightful Helena at 11am.

We waited outside her house

for a couple of minutes for our Uber ride to turn up, and then Campos took us swiftly, and with equal disdain for both speed limits and small talk, along the road to Vila Nova da Barquinha. When we got into his car at 11am, the temperature was 30°C and when we got out some twenty minutes later it had risen to 32°C. Some of the road he drove was also the Caminho route and it became clear how unrewarding a walk it would have been.

We actually passed some peregrinos;

my hat is off to them for their courage, if not their judgement.

Having arrived in Vila Nova da Barquinha, we had about 90 minutes to pass before we knew, courtesy of a message exchange with our next accommodation, that someone would be on reception to check us in. Fortunately, just by the hotel is a park

and in that park there is a café,

so we could rest in the shade and stay hydrated. Actually by 1pm, the temperature had become uncomfortable even for just sitting still in the shade and so we hied ourselves across the road to the River House Hotel. It was locked, but there appeared to be someone visible inside through the window, and after we peered in theatrically for a few minutes there was a click and the entrance was unlocked, allowing us through into a blissfully cool reception area, where a lady peregrino was checking in, having very clearly done a fair bit of walking in the heat. Then it was our turn ad we were efficiently checked in, stamped, and handed the keys to our room.

The hotel is small and modern, and, as is so often the case with this combination, the rooms are well-organised. And, importantly, air-conditioned. We knew about one restaurant in the village, Tasquinha Adélia, and Google told us it was open until 2.30, so we hightailed it over there in the hope that they could fit us in for lunch. At first, it wasn’t certain, as the place was very busy

and the staff seemed to have their hands more than full. But they methodically worked at placing some ladies who had arrived just before us (because we vacillated; our fault) and a family who arrived after us, presumably having booked, and then we had our table. Like Peitaças yesterday evening, the menu was basic and the food was good, honest and copious. The place itself though, as you can see from the photo, is very eclectically decorated, and it had a nice buzz of conversation going.

By about 3.30, we’d finished our food and so headed back to the hotel, stepping out into really stinging hot temperatures. We had hoped to buy some milk at somewhere Google described as a grocery, but that was another of Google’s fantasy moments – it was (a) a clothes shop and (b) closed. The route from it back to the hotel led past an intriguing building

and we wondered what kind of museum it was, apart from a sealed closed one, of course. Apparently it has a variety of unusual exhibits, but it’s labelled as “temporarily closed” so we’ll never find out. Given its name, one might expect it rather to be permanently sealed.

Vila Nova da Barquinha has a couple of things worth looking at – a sculpture park and some street art. We went for a stroll down by the river

and saw some of the sculptures, but it was dusk by that stage. We’ll potter around tomorrow before we depart for Tomar and take some photos in good light. One engaging item we found comprised a couple of rotating disks, and one of them carries a compelling illusion.

So: plans for tomorrow, then. The coming weather prospect is not encouraging for long distance walking.

The Caminho route to Tomar is 23km, and involves some uphill work; to walk six or seven hours in what are expected to be hot and humid conditions seems to us to be a poor choice; so we will take a ride again tomorrow. Tomar, though, has an interesting history and one or two particularly significant buildings to explore. A rest day is on our schedule, and so I hope there will be plenty to entertain you from our time there.