“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. And one is that everything is a miracle.”- Einstein  

Day 13

We leave the earliest we have since we started our Camino. The weather is still cool, but the sky is clear and brilliantly blue, it will definitely be warm today… heading for a top of 30° and that is hot to walk in… so the more we can get done in the cooler hours the better. We move at a good pace, like good old pilgrims… although Anne tells me later that she had to run to keep up with my longer legs. Half the time I feel like I’m running to keep up with hers… even though they’re little. 

It seems incredible that we are, in theory, now within the last 100 km. Santiago de Compostela is within easy reach, although we will be taking the Spiritual Variant which will add extra kilometres on. I feel now that the wandering has become really enjoyable… we are strong… fearless… we feel that we could be on the road for weeks. At least we feel like that when we set off… not always when we finish at the end of the day. But we are definitely stronger now than when we started. 

We pass Bouzas where we were going to have dinner last night, but didn’t. It was once a village in its own right, but is now a neighbourhood absorbed into Vigo.

We then start passing through a busy industrial port area… brutal in terms of traffic, noise and local industry ugliness… and views of this port continue much of the morning. It is huge!

So different to the quiet beautiful beach areas we have spent our last few days wandering through. There were some very large good pieces of street art along the way though…

Vigo, the largest city in Galicia, has a rich and varied history. Its roots trace back to ancient times, with early settlements by the Celts and later development as a Roman port. Today, Vigo has grown into one of Europe’s largest and most important ports, particularly renowned for its fishing industry. 

We arrive at Vigo’s Old Town… so we are now where we thought we’d be yesterday… and we’ve already walked 6km. We wander briefly  through the cobbled streets where we find the Basílica de Santa María…

… and the Plaza de la Constitución, lined with historic buildings and lively cafés… and sit down to have some breakfast before setting off again.

There seems to be hoards of pilgrims in this city this morning… many just beginning the hundred kilometres necessary to get their Compostela certificate. I dread the trail being crowded with people. 

We are headed to Redondela today where all routes on the Portuguese Camino merge. I have read about an alternative route (actually a cycle path) that avoids much of the busy city area… is green and traffic free… with far fewer people and great views of the spectacular Vigo Bay. So we ignore the “Camino police” who are sticklers for the “rules” and take this route, including the Halo Ascensor which saves us from some of the notorious Vigo hills.

But not all of them. When we leave this path to join the main route we are immediately confronted with a hill. And we climb.  And climb… and climb some more. A never ending and very steep hill… and at times we feel we are almost horizontal to the ground and could put our hands down and crawl.

Anne struggles with the hills but does really well today. There was nowhere to stop and no facilities so we literally just sat on the side of the road on very uncomfortable bumpy concrete, and catch our breath and drink some water. A little further up this hill we find a seat and sit for quite a while- this is our 10km stop which is usually an important one for me if my body is going to have a good day. Because we’d climber so high, the panoramic view of Vigo and the Cies Islands is amazing. 

One of the negatives of being the self proclaimed official photographer of our travels is that I rarely get my walking rhythm. I constantly stop to take pictures and then sort of half run/waddle to catch up with Anne and then I do it all again. Constantly. The walking rhythm is important when doing a long trek and I rarely get there. But I love taking the photos so it’s just the way it is 🤷🏼‍♀️

There was a fair bit of road walking (or should I say climbing) for the first part of the day but the path did eventually head into a wooded area where we soon passed a small waterfall. I find it so beautiful… the sound of the water… the ferns and moss covered trees and rocks. The beauty of Gods creation!

My husband had at times said to me that he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about waterfalls. “It’s just water falling over rocks”. But Einstein apparently once said, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. And one is that everything is a miracle.” I prefer the everything choice… and even a little waterfall is a miracle that makes my heart happy. I climb some stairs through the forest to have a better look before continuing on our way. Pity about the toilet paper once again… it’s really disgusting.

Much of the way to Redondela we were in and out of lovely woodlands with beautiful dappled light and shade that kept the heat at bay, combined with a gentle breeze.

Though for most of the day we had the stunning views over Vigo Bay, it almost felt like we were back on the central route, away from the sea.

There were even vineyards and cornfield which we hadn’t seen since heading to the coast… but still no churches or shrines… or not until near the end of the day. 

We eventually come across a lovely pilgrim cafe set high off the road with a stunning view of the bay… and we enjoy some kind of meat pie and a wine Spritz (Anne has a beer) for lunch. Here we have our 15km break ( we aim to have a break every 5km) and enjoy conversation with Aisha… our hero from a few days ago who is carrying her 16kg child on her back while she does the Camino. She travels with her parents who carry the packs. Amazing. 

Not far down the track we meet a wonderful family of 4 doing the trek with not only a baby on the back but one in a pram as well. And that had to win our heroes of the day. Amazing Sam and Eddie with 2 year old Issy and 1 year old Olivia.

As they say, what goes up must come down so, not surprisingly, there was a steep descent into Redondela where my stick comes in very handy. It was then a pretty easy walk into town and our apartment for the night. We pass an old church with a beautiful old cemetary…

… a couple of little shrines which we hadn’t seen for a while.

And a couple of water sources… with wonderful quality water. 

We continue into town and find our apartment. It is nearly 5pm… the latest arrival time so far… and it was our earliest departure. A big day and sadly, with the heat, my hikers rash has flared again. And there’s another big day tomorrow. 

We explore the town a little although it is pretty unimpressive…

… and eventually bump into the Canadian brother and sister we met yesterday on the trail… and end up joining them for a couple of drinks. And dinner. Before heading home for the night. 

Steps today- 36,285

Kilometres today- 23.5km

Flights climbed- 40 floors

Temperature- 30°