Sept 20 Friday Biaona To Vigo

We left about 9 this  morning.....all of us were tired as the noise of the locals partying went on till 3am, our rooms were above the party street. I guess we did get to sleep till someone rolled their suitcase over the cobbles at 6am.  Breakfast  was at a bar down the road from our hotel, we expected the usual bar breakfast of toast and jam but were pleasantly surprised to get toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, fresh oj  and very good coffees. 

We started walking through the old town. There are several different routes you can take....the seaside route, the coastal route or what is called the original route.  It can be confusing as there are bits of all the routes you want and bits you don’t. We hate walking on the road beside the traffic, prefer the beach and also like the forest trails.  So today we were doing a bit of everything, which adds kilometres and other things.  Sometimes we would be walking inland up a hill only to level out for 100 meters and then Go down to seaside again. 

Down at the water we cross a Roman bridge built in the first half of the 13th century. (Picture on Instagram and fb, or I’ve emailed you) the design is a mix of semicircular arch’s some pointed. It has 10 spans, double system of cutwaters to resist better action of water and tide. In middle of bridge there is a cross with the image of St Telmo, patron saint of sailors. NOW the interesting part....Fertility rites were celebrated upon this bridge:  after midnight , woman who could not get pregnant had to persuade the first man crossing the bridge to pour water onto their wombs and to be godfathers of their babies. So much for the olden days! 

We walk to the town of Nigran (some signs say Nigrain) and stop at what looks to be the last stop before the path leads up into trees. Very friendly cafe people, lovely coffees and we were each given a small seashell with a hole to thread a string, to put on our packs. Only Sandy had brought her she’ll from one of our previous caminos.  We bought some cheese, chocolate and peanuts and were off. 

We seemed to be zig zagging all day, uphill then down then up again.  Going through yet another village at siesta time we sat upon a wall to eat our food. We hadn’t seen any other pilgrims for awhile but as we sat looking out st a great view of the village below and the sea beyond several groups came by, two girls from Maine took our photo, which we loved! It’s nice when we can get all 4 of us in a picture together .  As we were getting closer to Vigo we were again on the beach, the breeze was so welcome as we were getting hot and sweaty ......tide had packed the sand so it was easy walking....till we had to cross a small part by going in the water! 

Our lovely day was about to turn not so nice as we entered the outskirts of Vigo. We walked for a long while on concrete right beside the shipyards .....huge boats , one looked like a cruise ship being built. We contemplated taking a taxi to our hotel which was only just less than 4km.....but as we stopped for a beer we decided we could make it.....it seemed impossible to get a taxi at that point anyway! Finally walking through what looked like a fairly upscale shopping street we arrived at our hotel. Collapsed on the beds for a rest. It was 7 o’clock! Dinner in Spain starts at 8.  We chose an Italian restaurant not far from the hotel and got there just before 9. Dinner was delicious and likewise the wine. We shared salads and pastas. Back at our hotel Junquera. ......on Uruguay Street! We had a glass of wine in the hotel bar....no one there but us! It was a long day.....fit bits registered over 50 kms.