Arcade to Pontevedra 12kms
Total distance 213kms
Climb 360m
Total climb 3030m

Rain was forecast for today and yes it came exactly on time at 8.00am. Yet still it was a beautiful day’s walk, how could that be? It was warm, no wind and the path was outstanding.

As you leave Arcade you cross the Verdugo River over the medieval bridge of Pontesampio. This bridge is built on a Roman foundation and was constructed in the 11th and 12th century. The stone bridge is 144 metres long and has 10 pointed arches. It is only 3 metres wide, so just wide enough for a car. All the pilgrims cross the bridge and it is still used by some cars. Not much room to step aside as a car comes by. The bridge is famous for the Battle of Puente Sampayo when Napolean’s French army was defeated by the Spanish in June 1809 during the Peninsular War. The battle marked the final evacuation of Galicia by the French army.

At the bridge we put on our ponchos. Prior to this we just had on our rain jackets but the ponchos are much better in steady rain and also go over our packs. We now really felt like pilgrims as we joined the throng of billowing sails gliding along the path. Immediately after the river we started climbing the Alto da Canicouva, a 145 metre high climb and the only one for the day. The path wound up and down through forest and vineyards and everything was very green. Despite the rain it was very pleasant and serene.

After an hour or so we came to what we thought was a little camp but turned out to be A Prarado Do Camilo Cacheiro, a pop up cafe with a large temporary shelter. Most people stopped just to get out of the rain for a while, but we got a stamp, had a coffee and chatted with an American couple from Virginia. The seating under the shelter was on hay bales, very rustic. Something else we came across for the first time today was large barns that housed high intensity cattle farming. These places absolutely stink and we can’t get past them fast enough.

There were no public toilets on the path today and about an hour after our coffee stop we were getting a bit desperate. Luckily we came to a little cafe/bar, Bar Church.2, and used their toilets. For the convenience of their conveniences we bought some snacks and carried on.

By noon we had reached Pontevedra and went into the railway station to get out of the rain and consult our guide book and the phone app. Our hotel was only 8 minutes away. We were at the hotel very early but they did have a room ready for us. No bags though, so we couldn’t get into dry clothes yet. We did dry off a bit then went back out to a huge Aldi Store to buy some things for lunch. We did have a shower but had to get back into our wet dirty clothes. Eventually at 4pm our bags showed up.

We seem to be obsessed with food but when you are walking most of the day, your evening meal becomes quite important. Hotel Avenida has a pilgrim menu and dining starts at 6.30pm. Yeah! We were there at 6.30 on the dot, first into the dining room and first to eat. Bread and three course meal with wine and we were out of there in an hour. As we were leaving the really noisy group from last night were drifting in. Thank God, or St James, we missed them.

We have a rest day here tomorrow so will explore the old quarter of Pontevedra and get all the washing dry. Unfortunately the forecast is for rain most of the day, 73mm. There is a rain warning out. May have to buy an umbrella if we go out sight seeing.

Redondela to Arcade 8kms
Total distance 201kms
Climb 120m
Total climb 2670m

We knew today was going to be a comfortable day. Only 8km to Arcade, so we had a pretty relaxed start. Breakfast was at a panadaria/pasteleria, Cafeteria O Cruceiro, the typical continental breakfast. We then had a look around Redondela. At 30,000, This town has only a tenth of the population of our last stop, Vigo, and so has a much friendlier, intimate feel.  Its main characteristic is its sky which is dominated by two large railway viaducts built in the nineteenth century. These span the valley that the town is built in, and have great masonry arches at each end and a steel lattice structure between. Redondela is sometimes known as the “Villa of the Viaducts”. I wasn’t aware of any trains on the viaducts when we were there, but it must be quite a thing to hear trains rumbling hundreds of feet above your head when you are in the narrow little lanes of the town.

Before leaving Redondela we bought some bread, chocolate, banana, apple, mandarin and nuts to have for lunch somewhere later in the day. We also bought some bottled water as the water in our hotel had tasted musty. There are quite a few drinking fountains along the way but these sometimes have signs “no beber” or “agua no potable.” We didn’t leave town till after 9.30 (the supermarkets don’t open until 9.00) and so we were behind most of the long procession of pilgrims. We stopped at the Chapel of Santa Marina to collect a stamp for our passports. Some of the churches and chapels are not open so we take the opportunity to get a stamp (sella) when we see one open. It is pretty easy to get the stamps at hotels, cafes, bars, shops, tourist offices etc, but the ones from churches seem more genuine somehow.

It was a nice walk out of town along the narrow streets and climbing a hill as we left suburbia. A coolish morning at 15° but much clearer than the last few days. At our morning coffee stop we got talking with a couple from Adelaide who had started walking a couple of days ago from Tui. They were a bit younger than us (everyone on the Camino seems a bit, or a lot, younger than us) and after getting to Santiago they were going to have some time in Malta, which sounded an interesting thing to do. We noticed the guy had some tattoos on his arm so asked him if he would get another one in Santiago and showed him ours. He didn’t know about the tradition of getting a scallop shell tattoo but was very keen and said he had an empty spot on his arm. His wife was not so keen.

From the cafe we climbed a steep hill and into forest. It was beautiful walking up there with occasional views down to the Rio Viga and the Puente de Rande suspension bridge we saw through the fog yesterday. Then a steep descent into Arcade where we stopped in a park to eat our lunch. It seems a scruffy little town but is popular because of one of the most popular dishes in the Galicia region – oysters. On the first weekend of April there is an “Oyster Festival” where you can try this seafood and enjoy the music and festive atmosphere of a typical Galician food festival. Oysters were appreciated here in Roman times and to this day are exported from Arcade. They are not born here, they grow here. The small offspring come from France and Greece and are cultivated in the waters of the Arcade estuary over the course of two or three years. This gives them a special, unmistakable and unique flavour that delights oyster lovers. Of which we are not one.

Opposite our hotel is the small Church of Santiago de Arcade dating from the end of the 12th Century. It was locked so we couldn’t enter but apparently a series of unsuccessful changes have destroyed practically all the original Romanesque elements. Even the front facade has been compromised by the addition in the 1960s of a church hall.

Today we saw the guy who transfers our bags each day. The bags have to be down in the hotel lobby by 8.00 am and we don’t see them until we arrive at our next hotel in the afternoon, and there they are, waiting for us in the lobby. Somehow the elves have done their magic. Today as we walked up to the Hotel Isape in Arcade we saw a white van with Tuitrans emblazoned on it and a young guy unloading bags and cases. I knew Tuitrans was the company doing our bag transfer and our bags were unloaded along with 24 others. He was also loading bags into the van from Isape and already had a load of bags in the van off to somewhere else. There are lots of tour companies, using lots of hotels and pensions in heaps of towns. Just how to make this happen in the most efficient way must be a logistical nightmare.

Just back from dinner. The noisiest dinner ever. A small dining room with about 50 people and terrible acoustics. One very, very noisy group of 17, 15 women and two men.  Of course the noise level in the room went up and up as everyone had to shout over each other to be heard. We and others were sitting there with fingers in ears. And it took an hour and three quarters.

Vigo to Redondela 15kms
Total distance 193kms

A huge difference on the Camino today. There are about ten times as many people walking. Vigo is a popular starting point for people with limited time who just want to do the last 100km to Santiago. They of course are fresh, keen, noisy and excited and walk much faster than we who have been on the trail for longer.  There is a difference in age make up as well. Previously the majority of pilgrims were of about our age. Now there is a much broader age spread with a lot of young ones in their twenties. We walked with a group of three couples from Galway Ireland. Yesterday, Saturday, they had flown from Galway to Santiago and then got a taxi to Vigo. Today they started their pilgrimage back to Santiago and will finish next Saturday and fly home Sunday. So a weeks annual leave and they can walk 100km of the Camino Portuguese. So easy when you live in Europe.

Yet another foggy morning as we left Vigo. The first five kilometres were slightly uphill through residential areas before we reached a ridge. From there it was flat, through woodland on a dirt trail, so it was very easy walking. There should have been nice views down to the coast but we couldn’t see much. There was a large, elegant suspension bridge carrying the motorway over the River Vigo but we couldn’t see it till later in the morning when it emerged from the fog. Walking through the forest was perhaps the most pleasant part of this trip so far.

This morning we met up again with one of our new friends, Kathy. We hadn’t seen her for a day or two because we had rest days in different locations. Her walking companion, Aussi Rosemary, left the Camino today and took the train to Madrid. Kathy is a straight talking lady from New York.  She is one of those people who can strike up a conversation with anyone, anytime and she lets you know exactly what is on her mind. She is walking on crutches as she does not have quads on one leg. We don’t know why. She hasn’t said and we haven’t asked. She gets along very well but sometimes if the path is too rough or steep she will take a bus or taxi. As they say, everyone walks their own Camino.

Our hotel in Redondela is right in the heart of town and right on the Camino path. It doesn’t have a lift and we are up in an attic room, but it does have a nice little roof terrace. The terrace has free tea, coffee and cake, a microwave, a clothes washer and dryer. After a day on the Camino and we are feeling a little tired and sore, it is lovely sitting up there in the warm evening looking out over the roof tops. We know exactly what Carol King was feeling when she wrote Up on the Roof.

When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below can’t bother me
Let me tell you now
When I come home feelin’ tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet (up on the roof)
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat-race noise down in the street (up on the roof)
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof (up on the roof)
At night the stars put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me
I keep a-tellin’ you
Right smack dab in the middle of town
I’ve found a paradise that’s trouble proof (up on the roof)
And if this world starts getting you down
There’s room enough for two
Up on the roof (up on the roof)
Up on the roo-oo-oof (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, baby (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, honey (up on the roof)
Everything is all right (up on the roof)

Nigran to Vigo 22kms
Total distance 178kms
Climb 520m
Total climb 2550m

Today we decided we would leave the Portuguese Camino de Costa, which continued inland through low hills, and make our way down to the Sende Litoral on the sea front. It was not a signposted path but it was pretty easy to find a route on Google Maps through Nigran suburbia. It was only about 2 kms. Once on the coast we joined the Sende Litoral which would take us all the way to Vigo, our destination today. We turned on our Canminoways map app which shows all the Camino routes and you can follow yourself, as the little blue dot inches along. Today we were on a green line (Sende Litoral) which coincided most of the day with a pink line – the cycle route. We did not get sim cards for our phones in Portugal or Spain, instead today I switched on overseas roaming on my Skinny NZ plan. This costs NZ$17 for 7 days with 1 GB of data. We didn’t really need the app as the signage was excellent, but it was a good test to see how well it worked. It was also good at the end of the day to monitor progress when we are, tired, hot and sore.

Most of today was a lovely walk along the coast. A mixture of wide beach promenades, walking on sandy beaches, going down into little coves, around rocky promontories, connecting the beaches via quiet suburban streets and one small section of woodland, It was another sea fog day. Not smoke because the sun was white, not red. From the moment we hit the coast it was thick, white out from about 200 metres into the distance. It was quite a strange sensation. To add to the atmosphere all morning we had the low, loud, mournful blast of a fog horn somewhere out to sea. Three short blasts, then a long one, then silence for thirty seconds, then repeat for three hours.

For the last hour of the day, as we approached Vigo, the beautiful fine white sandy beaches changed to a busy ship building and maintenance, commercial fishing and trading port. All the ugliness you can imagine from a huge industrial estate. And it just went on and on, dull and dreary, and we were walking along a busy, noisy road. Vigo is the largest city in Galicia (fourteenth largest in Spain) with a population of about 300,000. The down side of the Camino going to the large, historic cities, is that these cities are also busy thriving, modern cities and there are kilometres of commercial, industrial and residential areas to go through before you reach the old historic centre. I have thought that when you approach a major city you get the bus into the centre.

Overall it was a very good day. About 20 °, no wind and the fog kept the sun off us for most of the day. We saw many fellow pilgrims and it was a Saturday so there were lots of people out and about on the beaches, and in the cafes and bars. This seems to be quite a sporting area. Many football pitches with school boy games, basketball courts, surf schools, tennis courts, and dozens and dozens of cyclists and joggers.

The Hotel Junquera is an older hotel but perfectly comfortable. It has the smallest lift I have ever seen, 810mm x 810mm. That’s smaller than a shower cubicle. Our room is white and grey with vivid pink accents, of cushions, flowers and a wall hanging of London of all places.

Now we have only 100 kilometres to Santiago de Compostela. In order to get a Compostela, Certificate of Completion, you must walk at least the last 100km or cycle 200km. This means a lot of people start at Vigo as it just qualifies for the 100 kilometres. It will be interesting to see if there are a lot more people from here on. I remember the Camino Frances was much busier for the last 100km, including many groups of school students.

Baione to Nigran 7 km
Total distance 156kms
Climb 260m
Total climb 2030m

Yes that is correct, the total distance walked was just 7km today. Don’t quite know why, it was just how Caminoways planned it for us. So everything was done in slow motion. Slow packing our bags, slow breakfast, slow to check out and slow granny step walking – we are a granny and grandad after all.

It was a grey morning and shortly after we started out it started to  drizzle lightly. Just enough to be a nuisance as you had to have your rain jacket on, rain cover on your back-pack and the camera in a dry bag. But it was warm, no wind and humid, so we got a bit hot. It is what in Ireland they would call a `soft day`.

It was an interesting walk out of Baiona along the beach front, crossing the Rio Minor and then going inland along little lanes, through villages, then the suburbia of Nigran before reaching our accommodation. We stopped to look at everything remotely interesting, had a long coffee stop, and still arrived by 12.30pm. Fortunately our room was ready so we didn’t have to wait around.

On our way out this morning we crossed the River Minor which separates Baiona and Nigran. There is a thirteenth century (restored in early twentieth century) Romanesque Bridge of La Ramallosa. The bridge replaced a bridge destroyed in the 10th century and there was possibly a previous bridge along which the Roman Road Via XX ran. The bridge is 90 metres long and has 10 slightly pointed arches that look semi-circular. The bridge has a double system of cutwaters, on one side they protect the piers from the flow of the river, and on the other side to protect from the incoming tide. In the middle of the bridge is a transept, which has at its feet an image of St Telmo, patron saint of navigators and whom history seems to recognise as having ordered the rebuilding of the bridge, and according to legend, having protected it in a storm.

Fertility rites were performed on this bridge, known as “early baptism”. This tradition, linked to bridges of a certain antiquity and with crossings, consisted, although there are many variants, in that when a woman had problems getting pregnant or with a history of miscarriages, she would appear on the bridge shortly before midnight accompanied by at least two people who carried food and drink with them, as if they were going to celebrate a normal baptism. The woman waited, in the center of the bridge, until the first person arrived, and asked him or her to pour water from the river on her belly; After the early baptism, the passage was left free and the celebration of the festival began. At the end they returned to the bridge and threw all the excess into the water as payment for the magical powers of the river. When the child was born, the true baptism was performed in the church, with the person who had performed the early baptism on the bridge attending as godfather or godmother.

The Hotel 7 Uvas (7 grapes) is quite different to all our other accommodation so far. It is quite small, located in the country just outside Nigran, is mostly single story, has a terrace and lovely garden, is quiet and peaceful, has a 100 year old fig tree, a horreo, unusual modern decor and feels luxurious. Each room has a spa bath and waterfall taps. We don’t see these in the 2 and 3 star hotels we usually use.

A horreo is a long, narrow, little building, usually made of granite, up on stilts or columns, gable roofed and often topped with a cross. Their original purpose was to store feed for animals and house farm produce that needed to be stocked or further ripened. They are always elevated to protect the contents from rodents. Ventilation is allowed for by slits in the walls. They are only found in northwest Spain, which is where we are now. We saw dozens of them on the Camino Frances and we are starting to see a lot on this Camino as we move up through Galicia. They are not usually painted purple like the one here at Hotel 7 Uvas.

Dinner was a bit strange as we were the only ones in the dining room. It would have been better if there had been some music on. It was quite classy and a good quantity. Tomato and cheese, beef shank with potato, peas and carrots, caramel ice cream. I apologise for the out of focus photo.

A day in Baiona

A quiet day in Baiona, a town with a history of 2000 years. Our hotel, Pension El Mosquito, does not have a restaurant so for breakfast we were sent 50 metres along the road to the Hotel Anunciada, which does have a restaurant. When we arrived it was packed with pilgrims. For only the second time it was not a buffet breakfast. You found a seat and were brought your breakfast on a tray: juice, coffee, toast, butter, jam, a roll filled with ham and an apple. Toast is Spanish style, basically a halved roll put through a toaster. This was the least impressive breakfast so far.

The light was very strange this morning. A combination of smoke from the wild fires and a foggy morning. Sunrise here is not till 8.21 which to us is surprisingly late, but it is in a different time zone to what we became used to in Portugal. Portugal is in the Western Time Zone which is GMT+0, Spain on the other hand is GMT+1 in the Central European Time Zone. They become GMT+1 and GMT +2, respectively in summer time.

In the harbour there is a replica of the Pinta, one of the two caravels which Christopher Columbus used on his first voyage to the New World in 1492. The other ships were the Nina and the carrack Santa Maria. Pinta was captained by Capt. Martin Alonzo Pinzon. On the return journey from the Americas the Pinta became separated from the Nina and was the first of the expedition to reach Spain on February 28 1493, here at Baiona. The Santa Maria did not return from America, and Christopher Columbus was on the Nina. Feb 28 is now a public holiday and there is a fiesta recreating a medieval market and the arrival of the boat with the news of the discovery of the Americas.

There is also a more modern memorial to the arrival of the Scarlet Knight in the Port of Baiona in 2009. The Scarlet Knight was the first submersible, unmanned robot glider to cross the Atlantic, having travelled 7,300 miles in 221 days from New Jersey, USA.

At our hotel we picked up a brochure with three self-guided walks, the Old Quarter Route, the Monterreal Route and the Pinzon Route. All very close by, so we had a leisurely walk around these areas. The Old Quarter Route takes you round the narrow cobblestone streets and alleys, with small shrines, chapels, manor houses, and lots of small hotels, bars and cafes. The Monterreal Route takes you through the fortress located on the Mount Boi peninsular. It has been a walled enclosure for over 2000 years. There is also a luxury hotel, Parador, on the peninsular. The Pinzon Route takes in places associated with the return of the caravel Pinta from The Americas.

Most of the fellow walkers we have got to know did not have a rest day, so they have moved on. Unless they have a rest day somewhere we will probably not see them again. But the good news is we will meet a whole new lot of people tomorrow.

Oia to Baiona 15kms
Total distance 149kms
Climb 260m
Total climb 1770m

We had a very colourful sunset last night. This morning it seemed as though it was a bit foggy again. As we got walking we could see a blood red sun. I said it was just the fog, but Barbara reckoned she could smell smoke. She was right again of course.  There is a wildfire in Spain’s northern Catalonia region and the sunset last night and the sun this morning were red from the smoke.

It was a slightly cooler day today and a bit overcast so made for ideal walking conditions. We could have stayed on the yellow path and walked on the flat and followed the coast all the way to Baiona. There was another option. A bit longer, turning inland and climbing up over several hills through forest. The first hill was called Snowporky Hill, I don’t know why. Being suckers for punishment we took this option. It was the genuine Portuguese Camino de Costa after all. Up in the hills we reached a marker that said 149.950 kilometres to Santiago, so we have just passed the halfway point.

We stopped for coffee this morning at O-Muino Restaurant and Bungalow Park. This was very much like an English seaside camp with lots of little gable roofed bungalows. Almost every pilgrim stopped here because it is the last cafe until you reach Baiona. It was on the coast and had a restored windmill which were once common along the coast. We could chat with all the pilgrims we now know. A bit further on we could see the Cape Silleiro Lighthouse, though we turned off up into the hills before reaching it.

We have come across another couple of “lavadero” today. These are public clothes wash houses. Most are very old but we saw a new one coming into Baiona. Before houses had running water. communal wash houses were built in the villages. These usually had a roof, and a stream or spring running through them. There is a photo of one being used in a photo I took in A Guardia two days ago.

We reached Baiona by lunch time and bought an empanada carna (meat), pastal de nada, banana and apple each, and ate them by the harbour. We have a rest day in Baiona tomorrow so will go and explore it then. Our hotel, Pension El Mosquito, is tiny but the room and bathroom is quite large. It is in the old part of town among all the narrow alleys.

A Guardia to Oia 15kms
Total distance 134kms
Climb 210m
Total climb 1510m

This morning we managed to book online our bus trip from Santiago de Compostela back to Lisbon. I don’t know why but you can only book these busses two weeks ahead. In the UK we were able to book trains and busses two months ahead. It is 540km and takes about seven and a half hours. It cost us €49 each – seniors fare. There is a train but it takes longer than the bus, I think because of a two hour layover when you change from Spanish trains to Portuguese trains.  At great expense you can also fly, with flights going via Madrid and again some long layovers.

Today was a very easy day. A lovely sunny day, slight breeze behind us, easy to follow path, lots of fellow walkers we are getting to know well. For most of the day we were close to the coast but occasionally climbed inland and walked alongside a road. This was a busy road and the traffic was noisy. It also had a surprisingly high number of serious looking lycra clad cyclists. Alongside the road was a 3 metre wide concrete, very smooth footpath, painted bright yellow. Talk about “Follow the yellow brick road, we’re off to see the Wizard, The wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Is this a blasphemous way of saying we’re off to Santiago to see the relics of St James?

Our guide notes said today was 12 km from A Guardia to Oia, which is correct, but our Hotel Glasgow was a further 3km along the Way. This is okay as it just means we have 3km less to do tomorrow. Our notes also said there were no opportunities for food or drink between A Guardia and Oia although a temporary summer cafe might be open. This morning before leaving we went to a supermarket and bought a vegetable empanada (a type of baked turnover consisting of pastry and filling), mandarins and chocolate.  As it happened the summer cafe was open and doing a great trade. The chocolate became a bit of a mess in the heat so we had to put it in the fridge at our hotel to get it to resolidify.

We made it all the way to Oia before needing lunch and sat under some trees on a nice cool stone bench, looking across a small bay to the 12th century monastery and 18th church of St Mary of Oia. Idyllic. The monastery is pretty much a ruin but there are big plans to restore and rebuild it. The church looks in good condition but you can only look inside through some grilles in the entrance door. It was less than an hour’s walk from the monastery to Hotel Glasgow. This is a large hotel right on the coast and the Coastal Path and is full of our fellow walkers. It has a swimming pool which we made use of as it had been another hot day.

Dinner tonight was the opposite of last night. Dinner was 7pm and we were first there. Bread, soup, fish, cheese cake, wine, done and dusted and out of there in 45 minutes. That’s how pilgrims like it, and this hotel knows how pilgrims like it.

Vila Praia de Anzora to A Guarda 13km
Total distance 119kms
Climb 240m
Total climb 1300m

Today it was goodbye to Portugal and hello to Spain. We crossed the border at the River Minho. No border formalities here as they are both in the European Union. We did lose an hour as we had to put our watches forward.

It was a short easy day today. The Coastal and Litoral paths converge at Vila Praia de Anzora and both follow the shoreline to Caminha and the River Minho. It is dead flat but on hard surfaces. We met the Southern Californians, Ricky and Mike, again. Turns out they are a party of six and we met the “Details Guy” who basically tells the others what is happening each day.

At the River Minho we had to get a boat taxi, what we would call a water taxi, to cross over into Spain. There is a commercial car ferry that operates a little further up the river but it does not run on Mondays. At the narrowest part of the river there are little run-abouts that take passengers across. We were walking down the river wondering how it worked when a guy jumped out from trees, said: ‘Perigrino, boat taxi, 6 euros, stamp’. He already had four others waiting and so with us he had six which was the most his boat could carry. We were marched onto the boat, given life jackets and were off. He went full gas, weaving around other boats and a sand bar, and in about 90 seconds we were on the other side. He quickly unloaded us and was gone. Barbara says it was the most exhilarating thing on our journey so far.

It was to be a short day so on the Spanish side we stopped at a restaurant for a coffee to fill in time. Then there was a walk along the shore for about an hour to A Guardia our town for the night. Part of the walk was on boardwalk through some forest.  On the boards were white painted footprints where you could stand and look into the forest. Where trees lined up, white painted patterns had been painted, a half or a third of the pattern on each tree. Only in one spot did the pattern make sense, even though the trees were at different distances away from you. A bit hard to explain but you see it in the photos.

Most of this walk we did while talking with another Canadian couple from Vancouver. This was their first long distance walk and were doing this to see if they liked it. They were using Macs Adventures as their tour company. We had used Macs on two of our South West Coast Path walks. We had lots to talk about from our trips to Vancouver, Calgary, British Columbia and Alberta.

A Guardia is quite a substantial town and again our hotel is a very modernised older building. Dinner at a restaurant down on the waterfront is not until 8 pm and breakfast here in the hotel doesn’t start till 8 am. Not the best hours for us as we like to set out early knowing it is going to get hot, and don’t stay up late at night as we are tired. A Guardia is a fishing village and has a lovely sheltered harbour with a small sandy beach. The town surrounds the village and it lies such that it gets all the afternoon and evening sun

PS Dinner took from 8.00 until 10.00pm basically for a simple three course meal with wine. But that is how it is done in Spain so musn’t grumble.

Viana do Costelo to Vila Praia de Ancora 19km
Total distance 106kms
Climb 300m
Total climb 1060m

The music was not at all bad last night. It did start up at 10.00 again but the deafening rock band had been replaced by a much quieter female singer. So nice she sang us to sleep. I stirred a few times after midnight and it was still going but it did not disturb me.

The rooms in our hotel were very modern and each had a different quirky twist with the decor. Ours was the wiring to the TV. The signal cable came out of the ceiling and ran a random route to the TV in red/black cable with oversized clips at about 400mm centres. The power cable came from another wall and did its own random route in the same sort of cable. It started in a metal sort of cage above the door. This cage also had an exposed fluorescent tube light fitting and a hanging umbrella painted on the wall. You can see it all in the first photo. I liked it. Recently we had a hard wired smoke detector installed in our apartment and the fire services guy went to a lot of trouble with small white pvc ducting, drilling through beams, and trying to hide the cable as much as possible. We should have just run red cable any old how over the ceiling and walls.

Leaving Viana do Costelo we again took the high road of the Coastal route although a lot of pilgrims went for the seashore. It was a bit of a climb up into the foothills but was worth it. Like the day before yesterday it went through little villages, farms, forests, little lanes, and although a lot of it was on cobbled roads it was lovely walking. We walked with two guys from Southern California, Ricky and Mike, one of whom visited the South Island of NZ last year. He had also cycled the Race across America as part of an 8 person relay team. 3000 miles in one week, from the west coast to the east coast. There was at least one  person on the road cycling all the time. He reckons he did 500 miles of the ride. He also said he cycled through the Rockie Mountains in the middle of the night and it was somewhat cold. They did have a well organised support team.

We saw our first cows today. We could smell them a while before we could see them. This part of Portugal is definitely not for grazing animals. Lots more horticulture today, mostly small domestic lots, some vineyards and eucalyptus forests. In Portugal and Spain these forests are considered a pest as they suck up scarce ground water, wipe out competing native species and destroy habitat for native animal life. The bark and leaves are also highly flammable and are a huge risk in forest fires. Eucalyptus was introduced from Australia in the 19th century as an ornamental tree but thrived in Portugal’s climate and then were commercially grown for the pulp and paper industry.

There were very few opportunities for coffee or food today but about the right time we came across a cafe and had coffee with Ricky and Mike. Then about 1.30 (breakfast had been at 8.00) we were starting to wilt, needed food, and came upon a small caravan and a guy selling baguettes and cold drinks. He was pretty popular among the hot tired pilgrims.

We had another couple of firsts today. Near the middle of the day we came across a little stream and decided to take off our shoes and socks and soak our feet in the cool, clear, water. When we stop for coffee or lunch we try and remember to take off our socks and shoes to give our feet time to cool off and relax. This is the first time we have done it at a stream. It was very refreshing but after half an hour back on the trail our feet were back to being hot and swollen. The other first was at our hotel which has a swimming pool. It is not our first with a pool but the first time we have used the pool. It was a hot day but the water was very cold and took your breath away when you first jumped in. After a few seconds it was great.

Dinner was included tonight, not at the hotel restaurant but at a little restaurant about 200 metres away. The Fonte Nova. What a feast, bread, olives, two little tapas, soup, pork, potatoes, spinach, wine, water, dessert and coffee. The meal portions are large in Portugal and we couldn’t finish everything. We were served by the original energiser bunny. One little guy doing all the ordering and waiting, as well as the wine and coffee for about 20 people in the restaurant. He didn’t speak any English, French or German but got everything everyone wanted. We had only sat down when the bread, tapas and olives arrived and we were still looking at these when the soup arrived. He darted around keeping everyone happy. We were in and out for a four course meal in less than hour.