Day 7 –Vilasesuso to Baiona – April 18, 2024
Today’s miles – 10.6 Total Miles – 99.6
I slept with the door to the balcony open last night, so I heard the ocean all night. This mornings breakfast at the hotel was actually pretty good. The chocolate croissants were hot out of the oven. I guess that was about it. Everything else was fairly average, but were those little croissants good.
Today was the first day we really went inland from the road. There were some great stretches, including our first real climbs of the walk. We still haven’t been above 400 feet above sea level. We have always loved Galicia (the region of Spain we are in) when we have walked the Frances route. Fisterra is also in Galicia, up the coast from where I am now. The information signs on the path continue to be in two languages – Spanish and Galician. Same with menus, though today at lunch we got menus that had English as well.
Yesterday and today I saw a young family, I think they are from Portugal. They have their two year old daughter and 3 dogs with them. Not sure where they are staying at night with the 3 dogs.
Day 8 – Baiona to Vigo – April 19, 2024
Today’s miles – 17.2 Total Miles – 116.6
Happy Birthday Laurie!!
The toe is feeling much better. I have always said the first week of a distance hike is the most difficult on the body. After day 7, things seem to start to fall into place. After a few short days it was nice to get an early start and feel good walking again.
A few miles in we caught an American couple in their 50s who were very interesting to me. They have worked 7 seasons in Antarctica. Turns out they also lived two years north of the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska – where Elizabeth and I are headed in July. They currently buy a property, fix it up and sell it or rent it out, then travel somewhere. They met in Antarctica about 10 years ago. He grew up in New England and is a Boston sports fan, so we had fun talking sports. The wife has been investing in stocks since she was 20, so I obviously loved that. They are both a bit different from normal society, so we hit it off. The day passed very quickly having fun conversations. Along the way we also picked up a woman from Denmark. Her husband didn’t want to walk, so she came anyway. Their kids recently moved out of the house, so she was ready to do an adventure. Over lunch she was talking about life in Denmark. I always enjoy learning about others way of life. After the Ukraine invasion the energy supply dwindled in Denmark. Homes, schools and office buildings could not be heated to warmer than 65 degrees. They pay a 180% tax on a car purchase. They paid 50,000 euro in taxes on their car. She bikes 10 miles to work every day, rain, shine or snow. Takes a shower at work, then dresses in her company’s uniform (she has an office job). Her husband bikes 8 miles and their one car stays in the garage, ready to go shopping or on a trip.
The walk was another beautiful day along the coast. It is still difficult to find food or drink along the way. We filled our water bottles from the showers along the beaches. I used a pay toilet today, cost .30 euro. Put your money in, push the green button and a door slides open. Once inside you push another to close the door. It says you have a 20 minute time limit. I am not sure what happens and didn’t want to stay and find out.
Sun about to rise over Baiona. Picture taken at 7:30AM. 
My first Spain geocache this trip. 
Breakfast stop 4 miles in 
Small section on the beach 
Yes, this is a different location than 2 photos ago. 
Our last break before finishing the day with a walk into Vigo. 
Vigo waterfront 
Lunch in Vigo – salad, the ladies had calamari and my dish hadn’t arrived yet
Vigo is a large city, so a lot of noisy street walking to end the day. We did go by a ship yard, which was interesting. Denmark, New Zealand and I stopped for a nice lunch on a side street. The American couple moved on to find lodging. No English menus or staff that spoke English, so fun to order. I think I ended up with veal. It was then 1 more mile to the hotel for the night.
I was asked in the comments about the challenge of Portuguese vs Spanish and what was different. The funny thing is that most things in Galicia are written in Galician, so very close to Portuguese. Most of it you can pick up. In Portugal more people spoke English than here in Galicia, so I have had a harder time the past few days than when I was in Portugal. Overall it has not been a problem.
In Spanish, thank you is “gracias”. In Portugal it is “obrigardo” or “obrigarda” if you are speaking to a woman. That never came off my tongue quickly. Generally I would ask for something in Spanish and English and the person I was speaking with would understand. The story about the keys in a previous post– llave in Spanish, pronounced “yava” is chave in Portuguese, pronounced “shav”. The wife there spoke English, so she gave me a quick Portuguese lesson. Honestly the language has not been a problem at all. I just try to communicate in the local language to learn and out of courtesy. Last nights front desk person went to St Johns in NYC for 4 years, so he even spoke with an American accent. I could understand him better than my kiwi friend. I still ask her to repeat herself often, between the accent and the different slang words.
What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.
Robert Brault
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 