Day 10: A Ramallosa - Vigo (24.5km)


May 31, 2019 
173km completed, 100km to go      Route map

Early morning - looking back across the bay to Baiona
We are becoming good at planning to leave at 7:00am and getting on the road at 7:10. That was the way today and, with Liz to accompany us, we set off to walk miles of promenade and boardwalk, convinced that finding a bar or cafe in which to have breakfast would not be a problem. Twice we left the seafront to avoid going round headlands.
The hoped for breakfast was a long time in coming. We passed many bars and restaurants scheduled to open at times between 11:00am and 1:30pm and had completed the major climb of day, away from the sea, before we finally found a bar serving coffee. By that stage we had walked 9km.
Shortly afterwards we had to make a steep descent and my feet didn't like it one bit. When we returned to the sea I just had to put my feet into the water. That provided great relief and set me up for the long walk into Vigo. For the next 10k or so we walked beside the beach or were separated from the promenade by a strip of parkland, often with huge pine trees and always with picnic seat and tables.
Isla de Toralla with bridge to mainland
Throughout the day we were keeping in contact with Pauline's niece, Ann Myerscough, who had arranged to walk from Vigo to meet us and then accompany us to Santiago. That did not go too well. Anne was following the "Coastal" south while we were on the "Litoral", going north. We sorted it out and finally caught up with Anne at a bar on the outskirts of Vigo.
Looking through the gates of one of Vigo's shipyards

 Vigo is a big city and a hilly city and after refreshments we set off to look for our hotel. Initially we walked past the docks and I discovered that Vigo is still big into shipbuilding. I am sure I saw around ten ships on stocks or tied up for fitting out. Eventually we had to start climbing towards the city centre to find our hotel. Steep hills at the end of long day seem to be a feature of many Camino stages. We weren't aware of any albergue in Vigo.
The final 4km from the outskirts of the city to our hotel made it a very tiring day. At 24km, it was the longest distance we had travelled on this Camino to date.

Looking west towards Illas Cies - yesterday we were looking at them from the south
Close up of Illa de San Martino (Leftmost island) - taken earlier in the day and further south than photo above



Murals in Vigo
Ship being fitted out in Vigo




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