Remember that scene in The Blair Witch Project when they lost the map and they tried to find their way out for hours before having the horrifying realization that they were back in the exact same spot where they started? That was a little bit of what was happening today trying to find our way from the train stop in Mafra to Ericeira, our destination.

We left Alcobaca around 9am and biked to the train station. No bike clothes, just bike shoes and helmets, a quick ride. Gabriel is doing much better today as it turns out. We should be back on track tomorrow. So we had about a half hour ride out of town to get to the Alcobaca train station. Its kind of one of one of those middle of nowhere train stops, at least I thought so, but this morning it was hopping with a whole class of kindergartners in little green hats, and a few old men. To pass the time, I took some pictures of the sunflowers there as the old men watched. I figured they were thinking “what is this crazy foreigner doing taking pictures of the sunflowers next to the bathroom at the train station?” But after a few minutes they got really into it and walked over and started pointing out shots I should take. When the train came, we had to get down to the last car. That’s where you’re supposed to be if you have bikes. And they give you like seconds to get your stuff and yourself on the train before they close the doors. So the doors opened and Gabriel ran down to the end with one of the bikes (cos of course we were on the wrong side) while I grabbed 2 of the panniers. Then I ran back and grabbed the other 2 panniers and one of the old men grabbed the other bike and ran it down to the end with me so we could get everything on the train in time. We just barely made it.

We went a few stops then had to change trains. The second train was late, the ride was long, blah blah blah. Mostly I stared out the window and daydreamed about finding a laundromat. When we finally got to our stop, Mafra, we were like hobos in some old movie where you have to throw your stuff off first then jump off. No steps, just jump it. We figured we had a 15km or so ride to Ericeira, and it would have probably been that if we could find the place, but we couldn’t. And everyone we stopped told us something different.

train station sunflowers

At this point you may be asking: Why not pull out the trusty old Garmin GPS? Cos she ain’t fuckin trusty, that’s why. Not in Portugal with their dozens of teeny tiny streets with 5-part names like Estra Da Fonte Boa Los Nabos or something like that. We were totally not prepared for a big deal ride. Hadn’t eaten, no water, no sunscreen on. There was not a soul at this train station, but we did see a cyclist riding around. We asked him how to get to Ericeira and he looked at us and kind of shook his head pityingly. The road goes “up up up” he said, and indicated it with his arm. So, preparing for that, we pulled over into the shade and each ate a banana that I had pilfered from the hotel breakfast spread that morning. We then began a 2 hour unplanned tour of Mafra and the surrounding towns as we asked for directions multiple times, lost each other once, almost got knocked on our asses by wind gusts, and circled the same roundabout like hamsters on a wheel. Eventually, following yet another person’s directions, we found ourselves at the bottom of a pretty good sized uphill climb. “I believe I’ll now have an energy goo”. I said. It was at least 3:00 by then and we had only eaten that banana since breakfast. We made it up the hill that eventually lead us into Ericeira. Its all blue and white and over the ocean, like Greece. Lots of American surfers here, and windy. Beautiful. Our room is not great for drying clothes but there is a little shared balcony on our floor and I figured–American surfers, they won’t care if I hang out my clothes. So I washed almost everything, finally. Cos we had to, trust me. I don’t care if anyone cared. I realized I sunburned my arms on our ride, but otherwise I’m unscathed and Gabriel is way better. Yeah! Tomorrow we go to Sintra.