How my boring day on the camino got more interesting

An unexpected conversation to start my day

After freshening up I went down the square winding staircase of the hostel in Vila Franca de Xira. I’d had the 4-bed dorm to myself that night and had slept like a baby. They’d told me there was breakfast in the morning, so I went to check it out. I was completely surprised when I saw a table full of choice; juice, tea, fruits, breads and pastries. The man who brought me my tea soon noticed I wasn’t Portuguese. Then the story began.

The man began with a few innocent questions about what I was doing, but soon focused completely on his story. I felt a bit awkward because I was eating while he was standing beside my table talking to me. Hesitantly I took bites from my sandwich, while looking up at him. First came some suggestions of what I definitely had to see in Portugal, like the wells at Sintra. Then came the COVID story, of how they’d had refugees in the hostel during the first lockdown and someone had been infected. A few “space men” came to disinfect the whole building. He himself was totally over all the measures that were put in place because of COVID. He was tired of working with a mask all day. He didn’t think it was helping much. And then the story took a turn.

As a child my enthusiastic storyteller had lived with his grandma. His parents had had to move abroad for work and put their son in his grandma’s care. One day he’d gotten a very high fever and nearly died. However, his grandma had made a mixture of herbs and mud and had completely wrapped her grandchild in the mixture. After sleeping for hours, the boy woke up and felt much better. Still, he was amazed by how well this traditional method had worked and was convinced we shouldn’t always give up on these traditions. Later, a baby brother was born, who could stay with his parents and as a kid he just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t join them. The story got another twist.

“I was ready to jump off the tower” explained the man. He was then standing on the tower of some undefined castle. Then a very old man appeared, a red cross on his chest. The mysterious old man told him to come down, that he had a life to live. The young boy went back home and thought some local old man had talked him off the tower. It was years later, he said, that he realized who the man was. He must have told his story many time, for someone said it sounded like the mysterious old man was a Templar knight.

The man was very grateful to the knight and decided to look into the organization and join the modern Templar knights himself. The man said he didn’t believe in god, but in multiple gods and in a way he’d also found his religion at the Knights Templar. He specified they are not going on crusades these days, but rather they look at extraterrestrial life: UFOs. I got a bit confused by the story at this point and took a bite of my sandwich. “I haven’t yet seen any myself”, he added. Another employee of the hostel came into the breakfast room. It was 9AM. The man had finished his shift. He put on his coat and got ready to go home. “Have a great walk today” he said and left a quiet room behind.

From UFOs to clumsy crabs

This was pretty much the most interesting thing in my day and I hadn’t even walked yet. When I was ready I walked past the cute houses, through the narrow streets, towards the water. It was still a bit foggy, but that was ok. The scenery was average at best, so it didn’t matter that I couldn’t see it properly. The road to Azambuja was basically one straight line with the railroad mostly on my left. I passed factories and transportation companies. On the road I saw a lot of small piles of red something. It looked almost like fish.

Not much further a crab walks onto the road, stops right in front of me and freezes. No wonder there are so many piles of red on the street. On the final stretch to Azambuja I saw hundreds of crabs on the asphalt. Every time one of them saw me or my shadow, they froze and put their claws in the air. It’s was hilarious to see, but the problem was that most of them lost their balance and fell on their backs. From there they couldn’t get up anymore.

In Azambuja I quickly found my guesthouse. The rooms all had royal names. I enjoyed the sunshine that had by now pushed away the fog and thought about my day. Today wasn’t the only day the Templar knights would cross my path. A few days later I passed through Tomar, one of the main places to go for Portugal’s Templar history. I visited the amazing structure called Convent of Christ. Looking online I found some more information about the order of knights and their history. This video is about the well the man in Vila Franca de Xira was talking about. Next time I’m in Portugal, I can’t skip Sintra again. This structure and it’s history and legends and just fascinating.