My Camino: Vigo to Redondela Day 2

September 16, 2022:

Compared to the day before, today’s 16 km from Vigo to the next hotel, Alvear Suites in Redondela, seemed short. With over 25 km behind me and Santiago de Compostela 103 km away enticing me forward, I felt optimistic and ready. My neighbourhood walks and forest hikes leading up to the Camino often covered 16 km or more, so yes, my brain said, “Let’s go.”

At 9 am after our requisite selfie outside our hotel in Vigo, my five friends and I headed off towards the town centre and found our first yellow shell and arrow marking the direction towards our destination. As we walked through the city streets and narrow pavements, I noticed that most stores were closed except for the fruit and vegetable sellers’. Freshly rested from my first good night’s sleep since leaving home a few days ago, I couldn’t help my buoyant strides. I smiled and responded with a sunny, “Gracias,” each time someone wished me, “Buen camino.”

Once outside the city we came to a steep hill. I wondered how my other group of friends cycling this route in a few days would fare here. They would tell me later that they mostly opted to ride ebikes, so they coasted up these hills, but they weren’t as lucky going downhill, apparently. As for me, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, never looking at the peak. From my outdoor cycling experience I’ve learned to keep my eyes a few feet in front, especially when you’re at the bottom of the hill. Still, the climb winded me when I reached the top.

Ahead of us an arrow marked the way into a forest trail. Behind us to our left, I could still see a couple of cruise ships docked at the Vigo harbour while at the 10 o’clock position, the double peaks of the Rande Bridge rose with majestic grace. This cable-stayed bridge had emerged as we walked farther away from the city, and appeared over and over again between gaps in the trees.

It was a relief to walk inside the forest, shielded from the sun. The ground felt soft beneath my feet compared to hard asphalt and concrete. I started to notice more pilgrims here. When we passed, we wished each other, “Buen camino.” Some of the pilgrims carried small daypacks like the ones my friends and I carried, so I assumed they too had their luggage transferred from hotel to hotel like us. Many carried the full backpack, 40 litres or bigger. These hikers put me to shame. Not only did they carry their entire luggage on their backs but many had already walked over five or six hundred kilometres.

After some time inside the forest John, a mushroom aficionado, pointed out palm-sized porcinis. Carla, just as keen and quite the athlete, veered off the trail at one point to hike down ten to twenty feet over a sharp ledge to look. Mushroom sightings soon became a favourite pastime for John and Carla, while Giulia and I marvelled at their finds. Meanwhile Tom and Karen ploughed ahead, waiting for us to catch up every now and then.

As expected we arrived at our hotel, Alvear Suites early in the afternoon. The rooms were surprisingly spacious for a hotel with an unassuming and snug entrance. John and Giulia even had a washing machine in their room, which they promptly used. For me, it was a pleasure to stretch on my travel yoga mat without constantly hitting a wall or furniture. 

That evening after buying my water and fruits for the next day’s hike, I joined the others to check out the area and to find a restaurant for our dinner. Here again we ran into the same old problem. We were told that the earliest dinner seating started at 7:30 pm if we were lucky enough to find such a place. So we wandered around the sleepy town and crossed the river hoping for better luck on the other side of town. There, a restaurant employee said that their kitchen staff came in at 7:30 pm.

At this point Karen and Tom, having snacked earlier, decided to return to the hotel to shower while the rest of us went back to the town centre in search of food. La Baracca de Fredyy, a restaurant we’d seen earlier, looked like it might have something to assuage our hunger pangs. Indeed they did offer snacks and drinks. We found a table on Fredyy’s patio and waited for the one and only waiter. 

When the waiter finally came to our table, I looked up to see Jaws of the James Bond movies fame. Okay, it was his doppelgänger, and okay, I’m exaggerating somewhat and okay, he wasn’t exactly Jaws’ spitting image. Not quite as tall and probably of Eastern European descent, he didn’t look as menacing as Bond’s nemesis. In broken Spanish I ordered a drink and french fries, or at least I thought that’s what I was doing until Jaws rolled his eyes and threw up his arms in frustration. Did I just say he wasn’t as menacing as his look-alike? Sadly I had to admit that Spanish wasn’t rolling off my tongue even after two years of Duolingo… “Me gusta Duolingo!” Defeated, I resorted to pointing and gesturing. Somehow we managed to get Jaws to understand the rest of our orders.

At some point during our snacking, we decided to stay at Fredyy’s for dinner too. The town’s offerings seemed limited and this looked like the busiest restaurant. So Carla, the wise one, suggested we hold on to our menus until dinner time, but Jaws didn’t want to cooperate. He kept whisking the menus away and we kept retrieving them back. We gesticulated our intent, and explained in our best Spanish, but he seemed oblivious. Then Karen and Tom rejoined us and Jaws grudgingly allowed them to look at the menus and took their orders. The rest of us ordered our dinners too before the menus disappeared again.

I wasn’t expecting the pub fare at Fredyy’s to be the same calibre as the meals we were now used to, but surprisingly, my salad turned out to be delicious. We reduced our interaction with Jaws and the rest of our dinner went by without incident. He looked harried as he single-handedly served the entire patio guests. When we received our bills, we went inside to pay. By then, we all felt sorry for Jaws. He stood behind the counter as another staff member took our payments. When we tipped him, he broke into a huge smile for the first time. It was a lovely smile! It gave me a warm feeling too. Maybe I’d judged him too quickly and too harshly. It’s been my experience that people usually reciprocate when you treat them with kindness. 

Now that our bellies were full we strolled to an ice cream store which promised to fix my sweet cravings. Later, we meandered into the town square where a concert was about to start at an outdoor theatre. All six of us sat down on a huge wall at the back. Before long the actors came to the stage and entertained us with lively folk songs and dance. As I watched and listened to the unfamiliar but pleasant sounds, fatigue swept over me. While dinner had been somewhat lacklustre, the unexpected concert had ended my day on a pleasant note. When my eyes struggled to stay open, I suggested going back to the hotel. Giulia, John and Carla happily agreed while Tom and Karen stayed back. That night I fell into a heavy comatose sleep.