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The weather the entire time I’ve been along the western coast of Spain has been extremely moderate. Sunny and temperatures in the 70’s. Similar to San Diego except a bit more humidity. 

This guy is putting up hay the old fashioned way. Raking by hand and then pitching it up onto bed. 

Nice pastureland. 

It’s easy to see why this was referred to as the Coast of Death. It is so rocky that if your boat came close to the coast at the wrong place, you were probably going to be swimming (best case). 

The “Hola” smile of the day. Caught her a little by surprise but I don’t think she minded!

After many years I’ve come to accept and even appreciate traffic circles. Now traffic semicircles?  I don’t get this. 

A Guarda is the southern most Galician port city in Spain. We’re about 4 miles from Portugal here. 

There are lots of really old boats tied up in the harbor and being used. Saw a couple sailboats that looked like they were at least 100 years old… and lots of work to sail!

Tough leaving Baiona this morning. Probably favorite town of those I’ve stopped in. 

That hill in center of the picture is the end of the peninsula which I was walking around yesterday. 

The walk today was primarily along the coast. Usually up on a ridge but parts right along the shoreline. 

The coast through here is extremely rocky so very limited stretches of sand and beach. 

Sometimes I get so mesmerized looking at the coast that I forget to look to my left. That view is sometimes pretty nice as well. 

I guess with such a rocky coastline one should also expect a rocky trail. 

Not sure what the name of this town is but I can tell it’s pretty upscale, even from up here. 

Lots of big houses. Several with pools. Pools aren’t as common at houses here as some places in US. 

A couple commercial fishing boats out today. Haven’t seen lots of them down here. 

The “Hola” smile of the day. This stylish dude was more than willing to pose!

Hadn’t planned on stopping here but saw this small place with a lodging sign. Beach view room for $35. Can’t pass that up!

Happy trails and buen Camino!

The harbor is filled with boats. Lots of nice, big boats. 

Not sure what town is on the peninsula across the bay. Possibly Nigrán. 

I walked around the peninsula in the afternoon. It was only a couple miles. Stunning views from the paved pathway. 

This picture is from inside the remnant of an old building. 

This is a religious memorial out near the point of the peninsula looking up to an old fort on top of hill. 

Not a bad place to stand guard duty. 

And now on to the other side of peninsula looking back to Baiona. 

If you’re ever out walking across NW Spain, I would definitely recommend a stop in Baiona. 

The “Hola” smile of the day. She’s actually trying to tell me that I should be taking pictures of the islands instead of her!

Today was a very enjoyable walk. Everything about it was great…weather, scenery, hike, people. 

This “Hola” smile was incredible. I saw her coming from a block away. Huge smile on her face the whole way. 

There are several large islands just off the coast. 

We were up on a ridge most of the day. A mixture of forest and wide open ocean vistas. 

That high rise building just doesn’t seem to fit in on that tiny little island. 

Met a young couple from Oakland along the way. We’ll just call them Amy and Warren since I can’t recall actual names. Chatted for about 5 minutes. They told me that Baiona and Caminha are both really nice beach towns and that the wines from northern Portugal are really sweet. Good info!

This stone bridge is ancient. I’m guessing the Romans built it on their way to Poo. 

Baiona is awesome. It is a well preserved old town with some nice beaches. 

On March 1, 1493, Baiona became the first Old World city to learn of the success of Columbus’ journey. The Pinta was separated from the Nina and the Santa Maria by a storm and made land here. She was captained by Martin Pinzon who some say was the true brains behind the operation. Columbus landed in Lisbon 3 days later. 

I’ve been very fortunate with the weather recently. Apparently Europe had a major heat wave last week. Not here. Don’t think it’s hit 80 once. Also can’t remember last time it rained more than a few sprinkles.

Today we climbed out of Redondela and walked along a ridge line virtually entire way to Vigo.

As we were getting up to ridge line I passed a local couple who were out for a walk. Shortly after that I heard some yelling behind me. Guy I had passed was yelling “Beego. Beego.” and waving his stick…at me.

I wondered what I had done and then remembered that a Spanish V is pronounced like a B. He was telling me I was missing the turn to Vigo!!

The ridge followed a large river to Vigo. Hundreds of those flat squares along the length of the river. Some type of docking station I’m guessing.

The traffic of pilgrims heading to Santiago has decreased significantly. Did not run into any large groups today. Crowds were small enough that I actually meant buen Camino when I said it to people.

If you have a good imagination you can see some things here.

The “Hola” smile of the day will be quite a collection by the time I’m finished. There will be about 50 of them. I’ll have to figure out something to do with them. Maybe I’ll make a calendar.

Her dog was supposed to be in picture as well but he hid at the last moment.

I’m still not exactly sure what these things in the river are. Don’t get quite close enough to get a really good look. I’ve seen only a couple boats tied up to them. One looked like a small tug boat. Whatever they are, there are lots of them. Must have gone on for 5 or 6 miles.

Vigo is a port town built into the hillside. Some pretty steep streets and an upper and lower city center.

I stayed in the lower city. Pretty modern with very upscale shopping area. Surprised I had never heard of Vigo before. It’s a pretty nice city.

Tomorrow I will start hitting beach towns…I think. Planning to make Baiona and, if it’s a nice town, take a 0 day there.

I’d rather walk 18 or 20 miles one day and take a 0 day the next than walk 9 or 10 miles for 2 days to get to the same point. That’s my strategy for tomorrow anyway.

Happy trails and buen Camino!

Today was quite hazy and humid. Still not that hit though. Mid-70’s. Fine by me.

Very nice mural on wall of bar just outside Pontevedra.

Another day of walking primarily through the valley. Couple small ups and downs.

This lady is the “Hola” smile of the day. Out getting some exercise with a morning walk down a country lane.

Tried to do a selfie at one of those stick your face in the scene set-ups. Don’t really know what they’re called and didn’t work anyway!

Things are getting a bit more coastal.

Tomorrow the Central and Coastal Portuguese routes split. Glad for that. Will be about 1/3 the pilgrims that there are now when I get on Coastal route.

While meeting people along the Camino (remember I’m going against flow) some think I’m lost and try to point me to Santiago. Others think they’re lost. Some ask me where I’m going. If I tell people where I’ve been their eyes get very wide!

I think the ocean is just over that hill.

Wanted to get to Redondela in time to find a place to watch Women’s World Cup final. Not as big deal as I thought it may be here. Watched it at a bar with 2 ladies from the Netherlands. They call their country Holland so I don’t see why everyone else wants to call it Netherlands??

Congratulations to the USWNT!

Got to catch a bit of a community concert. Accordion, bagpipes, drums, and lots of singers. Pretty entertaining.

Tomorrow I will stop in Vigo, the biggest city in Galicia.

Happy trails and buen Camino!

Getting close to reaching a big goal/milestone. We’re at $40.50/ mile in pledges to the charities I’m hiking for. That means that over my 2 hikes, we will have raised $99,600 for these worthy charities. Don’t you think $100,000 sounds much better?  Thanks once again to all who have pledged. You’re my heroes. 

100% of the seafood stalls are “manned” by women. Each individual stall is about 5-6” wide. Guessing they are family businesses. He catches. She sells. 

This is the “Hola” smile of the day even though she is actually laughing…at me!!

Remainder of pics are just random buildings and streets through the Old City.