MY CAMINO: The PORTUGUESE WAY (Part Two: Baiona to Santiago)

We began this segment of the Camino (Day Seven) Saturday with an 18.3 mile walk from Baiona to Vigo.  We got a fairly early start, and left the hotel shortly after sunrise.   

A religious monument near the start of our walk -there is even a cross in the sky.

We had to stop at the 16th Century fountain, the Fuente de Pombal, known for its refreshing spring waters.  We saw several locals drive up to this fountain and fill their gallon jugs.

I fill my bottle.   It is delicious!

 Later in the day we came across another beautiful fountain, that is not quite as ancient.

Refreshing!

The walk on Day Seven (Saturday) was more urban than most days, though we did have a few lovely and hilly stretches on trails.  We experienced our first rain on the Camino.  It was actually just a light drizzle for a few hours.  The cool, cloudy conditions were a welcome change from the warm and sunny previous days.

Crossing an old historic bridge.

Gerry walks under a bridge of eucalyptus branches.

This lush forest is filled with ferns.

Our granary photo of the day.

At about mile 10 we reached the town of Pereiro and stumbled upon a festival celebrating the Celtic origins of some of the townspeople.  A stage was set up with costumed (Celtic) dancers and musicians.  We joined the crowd to watch and listen to the live entertainment.

Soon we were once again in the woods, with views of the village below and the islands in the distance.  The three islands we saw out in the ocean are the Cies Islands, and they are a National Park.

We can barely make out the islands.

A view of the Cies Islands, on this cloudy afternoon

We arrived in Vigo, which is Spain's 14th largest city, and the most populous city in Galicia, with a population of 295,000.  We checked into our hotel, Hotel Compostela Vigo, and then took a walk along the waterfront.   We ate dinner at one of about a dozen tapas bars that were within five minutes of our hotel.

The busy harbor at Vigo.

"Man rests upon octopus" is my name for this waterfront sculpture. 

Day Eight of the Camino took us on a scenic 15.9 mile walk from Vigo to our hotel, three miles beyond the town of Redondela.  We faced mostly sunny conditions, with a few patches of dense fog.  Day Eight (Sunday) was the easiest walk thus far on the Camino with relatively flat trails and roads of asphalt pavement (not the brutal cobblestones.)

The first few miles were along the main thoroughfare of Vigo, where we passed by several monuments including the one below which was in celebration of liberation.  Then we were out of the metropolis and on a paved road through the woods, with incredible vistas.  The fog cleared and we could see near and far.

Note the hand and foot prints on the statue

No chance of getting lost on this part of the Camino.

Enjoying the views.

We just walked through this small village. 

When we were once again back in the woods, we passed an ancient long-abandoned stone house next to a lovely waterfall.

This house has been around awhile. 

Not too shabby of a "back yard" for the former residents of the house.

Of course I am opposed to graffiti, but the colorful art we found on the next rock when we rounded the next bend in the trail was pretty original and amazing.

This is one vibrant fish-rock!

Minutes later we became enveloped in a blanket of thick fog, but the sun broke out again in full force as we approached Redondela.  And, the grape vines were abundant. 

Limited visibility here.

We're in wine country for sure.

Grapes, galore!

We saw nearly two dozen pilgrims today for the first time when we reached Redondela.  It is Redondela where our Portuguese coastal route joined the Portuguese traditional route.  We had much more company on the trails for our final 8 days, after the merge in Redondela. 

A water fountain, shortly after we leave Redondela.

A gigantic billboard of pilgrims' "shells." 

We had to exit the Camino and walk 3 additional miles off the route to get to our beach side hotel, Hotel Santo Apostolo.  We checked in and were given a room with a view.  Then it was time to don our beach attire and walk the short steep trail down to the coast.

The view from the balcony of our second floor room.

Past the muddy shore and into the murky waters.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant at sunset.  Thus ended our eighth day on the Camino.

From the hotel dining room. 

Another view, a few minutes later. 

Day Nine of the Camino was a relatively low mileage day. We walked 13 miles to the town of Pontevedra.  Although it was a low mileage day, it was much hillier than the past few days.  We did our share of climbing, right from the get-go when we left the Hotel Apostolo with a steep ascent to rejoin the Camino.  After our initial climb, I took my "San Francisco shot" with "Alcatraz" in the foreground and a suspension bridge, "the Golden Gate" in the distance.

We passed by a few lovely granaries before we reached the Ponte Sampaio, a stone bridge that dates back to 1795, which is above the river Verdugo.

"San Francisco" of coastal Spain.

 

A well preserved granary.

Another lovely granary catches our eye. 

The Ponte Sampaio is impressive.

I love the mirror image in the river Verdugo. 

We saw several pilgrims today, as expected.  Most of the 20 or so people were Europeans, though we did meet a couple from Canada.  Today was supposed to be our last day of sun for awhile.  Rain was  in the forecast for the next few days.

Narrow village streets are a pleasure to walk.

A view from the trail, mid-hike. 

Grapes above, just begging to be picked. 

When we got close to Pontevedra we decided to take an alternate river route.  It was 1.5 miles which we had to ourselves, along a shaded path.

Along the 1.5 mile alternate river route.

Very marshy and green.

We arrived in Pontevedra, and first passed the pilgrim hostel on the outskirts of town.  It was one of the nicer hostels we have seen.  Minutes later we reached the famous 18th Century chapel in the center of town.  Our hotel, the Ruas, was less than 5 minutes away.

A lovely garden at the pilgrim hostel.

The chapel in the town square.

After we checked in to the hotel Ruas we soaked our feet and rested.  Why not?  It was siesta time, (which is usually between 1:30 and 4:00.)  In the late afternoon we took a walk through town.  Gerry got his hair trimmed and found a new pair of groovy reading glasses. 

She is fast & efficient.  Hair cut done in 15 minutes.

Gerry joins the other gentlemen for a musical performance.

Pontevedra is a clean, quaint town with many shops.

We ate dinner al fresco at the tables set up in front of the Ruas.  We especially enjoyed our first course, the salad with fried sardines.

Quite the sardine salad!

After dinner we returned to our room on the third floor.  We fell asleep to the pitter-patter sound of the rain....

Day Ten (Tuesday) began under ominous dark skies.  We walked 15.4 miles from Pontevedra to our lovely guest house located 1.4 miles past the town of Calas de Reis. 

We did manage to dodge the rain, except for a few very brief sprinkles.  We saw dozens of pilgrims the first few miles heading out of busy Pontevedra, but then we were on the peaceful Camino trails with hardly a soul.  It was a fairly easy walking day, with about a third of it along gentle river valleys.

Leaving Pontevedra under stormy skies.

Soon we are on trail.

It's a bit muddy from last night's rain.

The rain brought out the slugs... Huge slugs!

We began to see mile markers more frequently.  At least every kilometer or two there appeared a marker, usually upon a stone post.  They take their accounting seriously, and let you know how much further to Santiago - to the nearest 1/1000 of a km!

49.995 km to Santiago!

But will we make it to Calas de Reis before it rains?

Under a grape arbor. 

Grapes galore today (as well as our daily blackberries.)

Calas de Reis is a small town with a population of 7,000; it less than one-tenth the size of Pontevedra, with its population of 75,000.

The church in Calas de Reis. 

A very unique wall on this house - it is covered entirely in shells.

View from the bridge leading into the center of town.

After lunch in Calas de Reis (we timed it perfectly to be indoors while it poured for 15 minute), we walked the additional 1.4 miles to the elegant Torre do Rio guesthouse.  The Torre do Rio guesthouse was out of this world!  I could have stayed there a month.  It dates back to the 17th Century, with only 10 guest rooms.  The place was stunning, and there were acres upon acres of their grounds to explore and enjoy!  Gerry took pictures of me as I decided which of the dozen outside sitting areas  I preferred!

The view as you enter the property gate

One of the views as we explore the grounds. 

 

I could sit here and read my book...

Or, perhaps take a swing...

Enough room here for a half-dozen friends to join me.

Maybe I want some solitude on the stone staircase...

Another patio overlooking the pool. 

A table for 4 by the waterfall and near the pool.

But I think the lounge chair is the most comfortable.

I could go on and on about how much we enjoyed this place.  It was beautiful, and the service was top-notch.  Our dinner was gourmet fish for Mary and steak for Gerry, along with a bottle of Mencia wine (a medium-body wine found only in Spain and Portugal, along the Iberian peninsula.)

And so ends day #10 on the Camino.

Day Eleven (Wednesday) was the journey from Caldas de Reis to Padron, a 14.8 mile day for us.  It began with a delicious buffet breakfast at Torre do Rio, which included cook-to-order eggs.

Homemade pastries galore, meats and cheeses, plus a variety of fruits.

We finally tore ourselves away from the elaborate spread, and got a late 9:30 am start.  This was the chilliest day yet on the Camino.  It was cloudy and in the 50s; the sun never did make an appearance.  We passed by one garden after another, and walked along paths lined with meadows of vibrant flowers.

Mother Nature provides the best bouquets!

We see plenty of purple and yellow all day.

A garden with greens, and pumpkins.

It appears that collard greens is the "in" vegetable in Spain.

We see chickens, goats, horses and even a pet pig.

Yet another granary catches our attention. 

We took a scenic alternative (and longer) detour at about mile 10 where we veered off the main trail, and walked down a muddy path to a river.  We had the detour all to ourselves.  We passed by an ancient monastery and fields of Padron peppers, a regional specialty which we've enjoyed several times at lunch and dinner.   They saute them with olive oil and season them with salt, and are delicious.
 

A very lush forest as we make our way down to the river.

We follow an overgrown path along the river.

Another view along this alternative route.

The monastery Franciscani de Herbon.

The fountain beside the Franciscani monastery. 

A close-up of the Padron peppers.

We arrived in Padron late in the afternoon under stormy skies.  We checked into our hotel, the Hotel Rosalia, named after Rosalia de Castro, (born 1837, died 1885), a writer best known for her poetry, and an important figure in the Galician romantic movement.   The hotel was located across the street from the Padron train station.

The view of the train station from our 3rd  floor room at the Hotel Rosalia. 

Day Twelve we walked from Padron to Santiago and joined the thousands of pilgrims who convene in Santiago, the destination after weeks (and sometimes months of walking,) starting from points all over Europe.  We covered 16.75 miles on Thursday, our 12th day.  We did walk through some woodlands, but it was more on the main roads, especially as we approached Santiago.

Twin granaries in a lovely landscaped yard.

A brief side trip we take to this ancient Roman bridge. 

One of the lessons we learned on our Camino is that if there is a church within viewing distance, you will walk by it.  The Camino is designed so you have to go out of your way sometimes on a roundabout route and climb up a steep street just to get to the church.  It seems that the churches tend to be at the top of the villages more often than not.

Case in point:  a church that the Camino forces us to see.

One of the final forests, about 4 miles from Santiago.

We are still in the country, with Santiago only 3 miles away.

One of the last villas before the big city of Santiago.

When we arrived in Santiago it was a bit overwhelming for me.  It was very crowded with throngs of people, both tourists and pilgrims.

A lucky moment, with only one person in front of the monastery.

The fountain in the main Square of Santiago.

I loved where we stayed in Santiago. It was in the Hospederia San Martin Pinario, adjacent to the monastery in Immaculada Plaza, just opposite the cathedral.  In the photo below, you can see our doorway into our "hotel," to the left of the white banner.

Our room is on the second floor of the building. 

We celebrated our arrival in Santiago and shared a large pizza with anchovies, capers and olives.

This pizza hits the spot! 

And so we ended Part Two of our Camino - the six day journey from Baiona to Santiago.  It was a distance of 94.2 miles.

I was thrilled that this was NOT the end of our Camino, because we had four more days to go!  We decided this year to walk to Finisterre, also known as "the end of the earth" and  "the end of the western world."