Day 1 Here We Go! Baiona to Vigo, Spain

It's go time! We were up early for breakfast. I really don't think this is true today...

It was pretty quiet in the restaurant...

Our trip was organized by Santiago Ways, and we were walking the coastal route.  They booked our hotels (which included breakfast and dinner), brought our luggage to our next hotel, and were generally available by phone if we needed anything.

This was a typical breakfast with lots of carbs and good coffee. My apple and I formed a relationship over the next six days, as it went in my backpack and travelled with me to Santiago de Compostela.

This is what Google maps says for the day. Of course, it doesn't  know we are following the Camino trail, but a rough idea.

The Camino is actually a network of routes through Europe leading to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. It originates from a 9th-century Catholic pilgrimage to pray at St. James's bones, allegedly buried in the cathedral there. In a normal year, some 300,000 people make the trek.

So pretty...almost light out.

The Fab 5 ready to take our first steps...

I love this picture...

There are many trails to Santiago de Compostela. We chose the Coastal route, because it is one of the shortest (you have to walk at least 100 km to get your Compostela accreditation), and it is supposedly one of the most forgiving for newbies.

A beautiful start to the day...it was hard not to keep stopping and taking pictures. I'd never get anywhere at this rate.

We had pretty specific directions from Santiago Ways, but that would have meant a lot of reading on the go, so we decided to put our faith in the Camino. We would be following the green dotted line on the coast.

Good morning, seahorse!

And a whale made out of...I'm not sure what. We stopped here as we spotted washrooms. Never pass up a washroom!

On the road again 🎵...we sang a lot. Anything that someone said that reminded you of song lyrics was fair game.

Coffee stop! Gina and Laura were ahead of us and we met them coming out as we were going in.

You were always served a little something to go with your coffee, which was really nice. 

Loved the giraffe's footwear...

One of many, many churches...

Galacia is a region of Spain, noted for its abundance of seafood and  long coastline.

Signs, signs...another breakout into song.

We hoofed across the beach past sunbathers, both clothed and nude. Eyes forward!

And a foot break...we decided around mid day we would change our socks and refresh our feet with a thin layer of Vaseline. It did feel good. Note the bottle of port that Lynne bought in Porto, and was still carrying in her backpack. You go, girl! My apple was light compared to that!

Duck path? Alrighty then...

We did see lots of surfers and people receiving lessons, including young kids.

A stamp station! Fun. You could stamp your passport, buy a shell...all on the honour system.

And a book to sign...

Not the foggiest idea what these two were, but they made us smile.

Heading back down to the beach...

And then back up to the street. There was a lot ups and downs.

I think we were a little lost here, but there was usually someone to point us in the right direction.

Special notes along the way...

And arrows...

Lime trees...

The scenery was really beautiful...

We passed by many gardens...these red peppers looked delicious!

A cat! The first of many cat pictures. Lynne and I both have two cats and Terri has two dogs, so we had lots of stops to get our fill of furbabies.

"Yeah, yeah...another pilgrim." 

Truly gorgeous...

Vigo...5 km?! That sounded promising.

We stopped for lunch...I think it was about 3:00 p.m. We really wanted to get to Vigo, but our feet were saying "stop now."

Seemed a bit fancy, but they welcomed us.

A cider would hit the spot!

There were several larger families out of view, who seemed to be celebrating an occasion. It was kind of "one of these things is not like the others." And we were that thing.

Salad was sooo good...

Fancy water bottles...God knows how much we paid for it. Didn't care! 

Rejuvenated...we hit the trail again.

The sign had an arrow, so we followed it...

This was looking a bit sketchy...

Beautiful berries...

A lot of mud...

A fallen tree...the dress code was apparently blue!

This spider had spun a web that went over part of the trail. Lots of ducking under him to let him sleep.

The purple flowers again...they are so pretty, but are everywhere.

You would think we had never seen animals before. Pretty much any animal sighting warranted a stop.

Yes, welcome! But are we there yet?

Nope, we are not. We were pretty much going by Google maps now. Surely it would take us the shortest route.

At last, Vigo! 

Yes, it was 7:35 pm. Gina and Laura were texting wondering where we were. Coming!

Lovely 23 degrees...

A Christmas store! Keep moving...

Yikes, it was getting dark now. This sculpture is 60 feet high and represents five horses ascending into the sky on a waterfall. Alrighty then...

And fishermen...Vigo is a very modern city.

At last we arrived at the hotel, but wait...dinner was not in the hotel,  but in a restaurant about a "5 minute walk." Noooo! No more walking! Laura and Gina were finishing their meal when we finally sat down.

I had mushroom risotto, which was delicious. They do love their oil! 

And flan, which was a standard offering for dessert.

This restaurant was also memorable for a very inebriated pilgrim and her friends. They were all a bit tipsy, but she took it to another level. They went to find a taxi and, surprisingly, no one would pick them up. They ended up back at the restaurant, but were turned away. They were still laughing when they left.

Lemons for everyone...

An epic day of steps...

Day 1 in the bag...tomorrow it's on to Arcade with a shorter walk of 22 km.