Porrino – Redondela
17 April 2018
16.1km
We really had a great day on our Camino yesterday … it might be because we are getting closer to Santiago, or maybe we are now just getting used to be on our feet for most of the day 😄. And we can’t wait to get on the road today …
On last year’s Camino Frances, we tasted churros for the first time (that amazing fried-dough pastry sprinkled with sugar) and when we had our first coffee this morning, we could not resist the temptation of eating a few fresh churros that were packed out on the counter in the café!
Churros – yum! The food on the Camino is just the best!
Maybe all this sugar is needed for today’s walk – Brierley’s guide book warned us that although the stage is short, there will be a few challenges in the form of a few steep uphills and a very steep downhill towards the end of the day’s stage.
The walk out of Porrino took us through the small hamlet of Fonte do Chan, after which we crossed the main road and rail line a couple of times.
Walking through the hamlet of Fonte do Chan
The fields in Spain were beautifully green and will surely put a smile on your face if you just came from a drought stricken and hot South Africa! After weeks of walking in these green fields and woodlands, I still can’t get enough of this!
The green fields between Porrino and Veigadana
There were a couple of cafés in Veigadana and we saw, for the first time really, a group of pilgrims enjoying coffee under the umbrellas. We could still taste the sugary churros of earlier, so there was no reason for us to stop for coffee. We just greeted the other pilgrims with “Buen Camino” and walked on.
On our way through the small town of Veigadana
As we walked out of Veigadana, we came across the two French pilgrims that shared our dorm with us last night. We exchanged a few words (which mean we used all the French & English words between us 😁). The one French guy pointed at Berto and said “Springbok rugby player” … we just laughed … we did had a discussion last night about rugby and maybe, with the language barrier, they might be under the impression that Berto played rugby for South Africa 😅.
A glimpse of the French pilgrims in front of us – although we could not really communicate, we became pilgrim friends
And then, our first steep uphill for the day started as we continued in beautiful surroundings on our way to Mos. I took the chance of taking a few photo’s … actually more to rest every now and then and to catch my breath!
I had to stop and take a photo of this lovely dog – he/she had such a cute little face
The uphill started slowly and we had to stretch our legs to get to the top
There were now a couple of steep uphills and we took it easy (more me than Berto) … my husband had no difficulty walking these hills. But to my defence, my legs are much shorter than his!
It doesn’t really look like much, but this is another steep uphill passing Fonte Os Cabaleiros
We had to choose our steps carefully … this time is was not for loose rocks, but rather cow droppings
Only 87km to Santiago
Highest point of the day:
Soon, we reached the highest point of the day, Parque Alto (an extensive park). The uphills were quite steep, but when walking through a beautiful landscape, it takes your mind away from the energy you need to put in to get to the top.
Downhill all the way:
Now for the long descent towards the Ria Vigo – the Vigo airport is only about 2km to the west.
Now the pressure was on our knees … all the way downhill!
A vertical descent:
I’m not sure which one I prefer … up- or downhill? With this steep descent, I would definitely agree to an uphill any day 😳. Our Brierley guide book did not lie – at Saxamonde, the descent was almost vertically! And once you’re on the go, there’s just no stopping!
Berto taught me to descent zig-zag, which made it a little bit easier!
Once we reached the valley, I turned around to see from where we started … it did not look like much of a hill, but my legs were certainly feeling a bit tired!
We came over THAT hill …
Fortunately the road then levelled out and the rest of the walk gave me enough time to recover before we reached Redondela!
The last 3km was a nice (and more importantly) level walk – always something to be grateful for
And then, just 16.1km later, we arrived in Redondela
We became accustomed to first go to a café before checking into an albergue in order to get our “bearings” together and to find our way to the albergue or hostel.
Accommodation – Redondela:
How do we get to our accommodation?
So, while drinking coffee in a café in Redondela, we tried to figure out how to get to Hospedaje Bahia de San Simon. I walked over to the café owner and showed him the name of the hostel … he showed I must go and sit down again … a bit confused, I went back to our table. He then picked up the phone, talked to someone and came back to us and indicated we must wait …
Friendly Jose:
Ten minutes later, a very friendly gentleman arrived in his car and greeted us like old friends! Jose is the owner of Hospedaje Bahia de San Simon. He mentioned that there is a very steep hill to his hostel and that he realised we probably had enough of hills today … therefore, he came to take us to the hostel with his car! How kind of him! The people of Portugal and Spain keep on surprising us with their kindness!
The hostel is fairly new and everything is in perfect condition. We had a room with three beds, but Jose promised it will only be us in the room for the night 😉.
Our room in Hospedaje Bahia de San Simon in Redondela
The size of these pillows were just crazy!
On the wall at the reception of the hostel … so true!
A local bar in Redondela:
After we enjoyed a shower, we took a walk down to the centre of the town for lunch. We ended up in a bar where only the locals hanged out … it was funny to see how they almost (politely) avoided us – I think they must have heard us speaking in Afrikaans to each other! But the service was nonetheless great and the food even better 😄.
In Spain, you always get a “snack” with your beer – and how could you say “no thank you” to tortilla!
After lunch, we found a local supermercado where we bought a bottle of wine and snacks for the evening … and only then remembered that we have to take that steep hill to our hostel again …
Hopefully the last uphill for the day – on our way back to our hostel
A visit to Vigo Bay:
Jose came to our room later that afternoon and invited us to take a ride with him. He wanted to show us the beauty of Vigo Bay. There is a lot of history at this bay, of which one is the “Battle of Vigo Bay”, which was a naval engagement fought on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is believed by some people that there are still Spanish treasure at the bottom of Vigo Bay. He said that during the high Summer months, this beach is packed with people – which I could believe, because it was just a stunning beach.
Jose busy explaining the history of Vigo Bay to Berto
Vigo Bay at Redondela
The sunset was beautiful at Vigo Bay
It was such a kind gesture of Jose to show as around. He’s very passionate about his hometown and we enjoyed his company tremendously.
Another day on the Camino which we’ll always remember …
Click here for Day 23 …
Redondela is where my Camino ended this past October.
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So you will come back to continue from Redondela to Santiago …?
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Probably not. If I ever get the chance again, it will be on the Frances for as much time as I can get.
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In that case, I’ve got a solution … read our last 3 days’ (which will soon be uploaded), then you’ll know the rest of the route 😉. I agree, rather put your time into a longer visit on the Camino. Blessings
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So many memories of our Camino,thank you.J&M
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Yes, it is indeed wonderful memories – never to forget.
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Another great day to read about, churros for breakfast and tortilla tapas with your Mahou beer, it brought back memories of Madrid which I recently wrote up whilst under house arrest to give me something to do! Another great looking place to stay and Jose looks like a real star. As for hills, give me uphill any day, down puts so much strain on the knees and muscle groups you don’t often use. The zig-zagging is a good trick.
As for the French guys, I can understand their confusion as Berto looks like he could / should play rugby. He has the build of a loose head prop if you ask me!
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I will definitely have a look at your Madrid post!
To be honest, Berto did play rugby in his younger days – and was quite good and flanker to be reckon with (but these days, he could probably go through as a loose head prop … thanks to all those beers over the years 😅).
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I think that Berto and I must have bee separated at birth! We both love walking and cooking, were both in the Forces and my preferred position was open-side flanker / number 8. The only appreciable difference is that, even with all the beer (much of it Guinness) I drank over the years I am still as skinny as a rake. He can give me a few pounds any time he likes!
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😂
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