Wednesday, May 1, 2024, Baiona to Balaidos
It had rained hard during the night and it didn’t show any sign of letting up. Ken proposed waiting until the rain stopped but Patsy and I said we'd have to bite the bullet. We donned our rain gear and set off, umbrellas in hand. It rained constantly for hours.
After an hour and a half we came to the junction that led to a Decathlon. The traffic was surprisingly light leading to this large shopping complex so I checked the hours. They opened at 10 am on Thursday. But wait, today's only Wednesday. I discovered May 1 is Spanish Labour Day.
All the supermarkets and the cafe/restaurants were also closed.
We pressed on. I figured that the Repsol gas station would be open, so we stopped there for coffees. The woman there was ever so kind. Before we left, I said, "Gracias por su amabilidad" (thank you for your kindness). She wished us "Buen camino" and gave us each a lollipop.
Finally we came upon a cafe that was open, doing bustling business. We ordered three cafes. Their coffee was really good. All the pilgrims were stopping here.
When we left the sun had come out. Not far past the cafe was a bakery that was also doing brisk business. I bought a loaf of bread, a ham and cheese pastry, and, for dessert tonight, a large apple pastry.
Even though the sun had come out it still rained on us intermittently until we reached the location of the place I'd reserved for tonight, "Beautiful Balaidos". The host had told me the key would be in a nearby cafe. Getting the key and then actually finding the apartment was a small adventure. The apartment was large as our house.
We were directed to a deli serving delicious food, helped by a cheerful girl who spoke pretty good English. We bought a whole bunch of food so we won't go hungry tonight.
15 miles
Thursday, May 2, 2024, Balaidos to Redondela
Both Patsy and Ken were agitating to depart early because they were afraid it would start pouring rain but it wasn't raining when we set off at 7:45. In fact, it barely rained the whole way to Redondela.
Looking for a stamp, we walked past a large group that I thought were from the USA to enter "Parrochia de la Immaculada Concepción". They were a group of 29 from the USA with a Portuguese tour guide. This was the start of their 100 km walk to Santiago. 100 km is the minimum distance that qualifies for a Compostela certificate.
We walked for a while with a father and son from Chicago, then two girls living in Madrid but one was originally from Washinton D.C. and the other from Peru. Then we walked with four Irish women from County Antrim.
Sonia showed us into the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment I'd booked.
Walking around town I noticed a guy wearing Frogg Toggs. He and his wife live in LA but he'd graduated from SDSU.
We'll have to mix it up more but I don't much like the idea of not having pre-booked accommodation and these apartments have been anywhere from good to fabulous, but mostly fabulous and they're excellent value for the money.
13.5 miles