May 11 Ansiao to Condexia a Nova
This time I will post only today's adventures. I tried to catch up what with finally having good wifi connectio, but I think some things may have gotten out of order.
Breakfast at 7:00. I am at half-speed but ready to give it a go. A Portuguese couple (on their way to Fatima where story has it that three children saw the Virgin Mary on May 13, 1917) and I sat on the steps beside the closed restarants door. At 7:15 the bread truck arrived. The driver came in the door and left a bag of rolls at reception. He almost reached the car door when he turned around, opened the restaurant's door with a key, and proceeded to fix us coffee and a ham and cheese sandwich.
With that I was on my way in the early morning drizzle.
The path was at times a stream of water. I was enjoying my peaceful walk when out from behind Mario, who had spent the night elsewhere, suddenly appeared. It turned out to be another of those serendipitous  camino times. I had taken a quarter mile grassy bypass alongside the road when suddenly it came to an end at a 3 foot jump over rushing water. I knew that the klutz Hanna could not make the jump. Mario was able to straddle the breach and balance me as I leapt across, struggling to stay afoot on the far side. A herd of goats and rain were what I saw from then on.

There is nary a car or tractor in sight. The store comes to this group of three houses in the middle of nowhere.
At Conimgriba I digress from the camino to go to the Posada in Condeixa e Nova, a seemingly inappropriate accommodation for a backpacking hiker. Supposedly this town is known for handpainted tiles. The staff here says no. There are no tiles only plates, the same ones available in many villages en route. According to Mario, the tiler, no one makes handprint ed tiles any more. Photographs are put on the tiles and then covered with a heavy coat of glaze.

I sat alone in the elegant dining room, a testament to the terrible weather. I watched rain water coursing along the patio with a dramatic spot of sun illuminating the hills some ten miles away.
Nothing on the menu seemed appealing but I thought I should eat. I took nibbles of each course. A huge mistake. Oh shit, I am back on loperimide. With hopes that I will get some sleep before going on to much looked forward to Coimbra.