From Vigo to Redondela

Yesterday's walking time was more than nine hours.  Today's was probably no more than five hours, a walk that took us from Vigo up into the hills that overlook the estuary, or the Ria de Vigo, which we followed all day but saw only intermittently.  We were rained on a little, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday.  

This is from my Fitbit from yesterday, showing how many steps I took and how far we walked.

 

In the estuary, out from Vigo, are many oyster leases.

We followed the trails that led through the hills above the Ria de Vigo.

Along the way, we found this waterfall...

...so we took photos and selfies.

We found a multitude of gum trees.

In some of the populated areas we passed through, we encountered interesting stone houses, granite fences and fancy gates.  This entrance looked a little old but intriguing.

This is a community tub for washing clothes.  We've seen them in a few different places.  Carolyn and Neil said they're in France as well.

Jean found it hard going down hill, so she borrowed Carolyn's walking poles.

We stopped for a late lunch at the Vilarosa Restaurant around 3 pm.  We had 'rooster fish', as well as beef with mushrooms, prawns, scrambled egg and vegetables.  The village appeared very sleepy, apart from this excellent restaurant.  We thought it was closed when we arrived, but moments later a dozen noisy locals arrived for a feed.

Down the road from the sleepy village was the city of Redondela, which has 5,000 people, according to the taxi driver who took us from the centre of town to our hotel.  We caught a taxi because the Camino instructions say to hail a cab.  Having reached Redondela, we now meet up with the Portuguese Way coastal route.  So, we now see more scallops....

Neil, me and Jean in Redondela's town centre.

At Hotel Anton, this is the view from our room.  Jean and I were reminded of Lake Garda in Italy.

Jean and Neil (who's next door).

A sunny morning and a wet afternoon

This is us - me, Jean, Carolyn and Neil outside the Baiona Bahia Hotel at 8.35 am when our walk was about to begin.  The day started off sunny and dry and full of energy and promise.  Note we are all wearing Camino shells (or 'scallops') which were served with our lunch in a nearby restaurant yesterday.  Neil chiselled holes in each and attached string for us.

In Baiona is this 12th century bridge.  

Before too long, we encountered the ubiquitous Camino arrows.

The arrows appear about every 100 metres or so.  

They're mostly arrows, but the scallop is also a sign..

Along the way, these little constructions appear.  Two English ladies who'd walked from Porto said they were used by locals to dry out corn on the kob.

Here, a heavy boulder has been used to put stress on wire used for a mini-vineyard.  Vineyards are maintained by ordinary folk with not very large properties.

Moss-covered rocks, stone walls and a variety of other things were to be seen....

....such as this curious looking thing..

The sunny morning gave way to a wet afternoon.  When it rained, I-pads went hurriedly into water-proof bags, rain-resistant jackets emerged quickly and on we continued.  This is Neil under the umbrella, looming over him like a satellite dish.

Neil and Carolyn enjoyed using - and needed for support - their poles.  On the Camino, many people use poles to aid their walking, while others see them as a hindrance.  Jean and I fit into the latter category.

This summed up our afternoon - wet.

Are we there yet?

Today, we walked 30.75 kilometres from Baiona to our hotel in Vigo.  The terrain was as varied as it was undulated.  We went up hill and down dale through urban and rural areas.  In the urban, we started near the water's edge at our hotel, ventured through the streets to Baiona's outskirts, found ourselves in other small towns, and finished up in the dense city streets of bustling Vigo.  In the rural, we wandered across fields with vegetable plots by the thousand, passed fences and high walls where dogs of all kinds protested loudly our approach, headed down remote tracks surrounded by tall trees with thin branches, struggled along muddy paths and steep-sloping rocky watercourses, followed trails bounded by hip-high ferns, and pursued country lanes that took us past many houses with vegetable plots and mini-vineyards.  Many people have grape vines, and arrange them in sophisticated rows, nurturing them and encouraging a quality yield.  

We started out at 8.35 am.  It took a while to rid ourselves of Baiona, and we were concerned about getting lost.  We eventually found the classic yellow Camino arrows that guide one's way, and we began climbing into the bush.  More than an hour later, we became very keen for coffee and a rest.  The elusive cafe eluded us until almost midday.  Before the cafe, we thought we saw a dead cow, but it turned out to be an alive donkey.  Before the cafe, we thought the cafe would never come, but finally it did.  Three euros 10 cents for four coffees and the bit of cake they give you as part of the deal.  I think it was around 2 when we stopped for lunch on a lonely bush trail way up in the hills.  A small pile of chopped logs lay nearby, which we used as seats.  Neil and Carolyn had bread, cheese and salami which we all tucked into.  In the afternoon, we stopped twice more for coffee and a break, and, in both those cafes, our Camino passports were stamped to endorse officially we were genuinely 'walking' the Camino.

We were lucky to avoid rain in the early part of the day.  But we got to wet periods of varying lengths.  One rushed to throw on water-resistant jackets or reach for umbrellas.  It must have been mid-afternoon when the rain decided to stay.

We finally reached the city of Vigo at around 4pm, and I thought we'd arrive at the hotel soon.  After spending ages roaming through the Castrelos Park, we realised we were lost.  We'd been following written instructions and Camino arrows all day with great success.  Now the trail appeared dead.  Over the next nearly three hours, we asked numerous people for help in finding the hotel.  We realised we were well away from it and continued walking in the rain.  At last, we reached the Hotel Compostela Vigo just before 7 pm.  Jean's right knee was swollen so much, it looked twice the size of the other.  After applying Nurofen Gel, it got a lot better.