Portugal 6 March: Loulé – La Rábida
Our morning started with a friendly meeting in Loulé. The mayor of Loulé greeted us at the city hall and presented the World Harmony Run with a very beautiful message.
We continued to Faro. On the last kilometers to the city hall, we were joined by excellent marathon runner Paulo Soares from Benfica Lisabon. His marathon time - 2:16 - has made a really big impression on our team. At the main square of Faro, we met the city mayor, many children and local citizens.
The city gave us the feelings of South Portugal and the neighbourhood of the Atlantic Ocean.
On the way to the Spanish border we experienced a momentary loss of our fastest runner Dimitrij from Ukraine. He took a little shortcut and moreover, he ran faster and further than we expected. Finally, we found him at the border, happily conversing with representatives of the Spanish border city Ayamonte.
At this time, we had another running experience. As the border is made by wide river Guadalquivir, we had to cross it over a long and high bridge. Really astonishing moments!
Spain welcomed us with warm greetings of local citizens around the road and safety of road police company throughout the whole route. We wish to express our deep gratitude to policemen Rasero and Esteban for their perfect work.
Running through the city of Huelva, we admired a big statue of Christopher Columbus who started his discovering voyages from this place. We also had an opportunity to see copies of his ships Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina. Some of us were amazed how small the ships were and we all realized, how heroic the Columbus’ journey was.
Our
Today’s pilgrimage ended among nice people at the International University of Andalucia in La Rábida.
Mirek Pospisek
Distance: 132km
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