Free day in Baiona and today walked to Vigo.


























The . It was nice to have a free day yesterday to sleep in a bit and to go to a lavandaria (laundromat) and give our clothes a decent wash. Of course we headed to the old town to the tapas bars and enjoyed a few cold draft beers which were very nice. With each beer ordered you get a tapa with it. The more beers you have the better the tapa is. Old mate Matthias from Austria joined us and we probably stayed on the outdoor barstools a smidge longer than we should have . We wandered back to our hotel which is a magnificent old building within the fortress walls. Russell was smart enough to head to our room for a few zzzzs while Matthias and I went to the bar. We met a couple from Panama Nick and Debbie, who were starting their Camino from Baiona. He owned 100 supermarkets in Panama and recently sold them. He might have been a tad wealthy. Then another couple of Canadians joined us. We started outside overlooking the water and then moved inside when it started getting cooler. That’s right folks, it can get cooler in the early evenings in Spain. Especially up north. 

I started to get the wobbly boot on and had eaten enough during the day to feed a small elephant so I went nigh nighs and Russell took my place at the table. They then went to the restaurant in the Paradores (fancy name for a fancy hotel). 


Russell reckoned I snored again last night but I don’t believe him. The walk to Vigo today was pretty uninspiring mostly through built up areas. I thought Baiona was big but its population was only 12,000. Vigo’s is almost 300,000 so similar in size to Geelong, but with a bigger city centre . 

I’ve read from other walkers stories that you’re smart to take a taxi to the edge of the city of Vigo otherwise you spend hours walking past apartment blocks. So I reckon we will run with that option tomorrow. 

We arrived in Vigo right on lunchtime and of course our hotel room wasn’t ready so we left backpacks at reception and headed towards the Harbour area for some lunch. We walked past an Jamon shop so had to have a sticky beak inside. You could get a decent sized crunchy baguette with Jamon for 3.6 euro. You couldn’t buy a shit sandwich in Melbourne for that price. So we bought a couple and sat on a bench near the water , ate the baguettes washed down with a Coca Cola. That’s right folks, a can of coke. As I’m writing this it’s 3.15pm and we haven’t had a beer yet. Must be some sort of a record for this trip.

We wandered back through the city to our hotel where the guy behind the jump explained that the hotel was completely booked out and our room had a double bed but they put a single bed in the room alongside the double. A bit slack but what can you do. 

Maybe an early night tonight. Famous last words. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Well after 30 hours of flying and sitting in transit lounges at Singapore and Frankfurt we finally landed in Porto at midnight Friday night their time.  We were both knackered having not slept much on the plane and having our fair share of beer and champagne. Would have had some red but it was merlot! What are these airlines thinking.  We were booked into our room on the 5th floor and as it happens the 5th floor is the top and where the rooftop bar is located . When we dragged our luggage into the room the only bed in there was a double. Well I don’t know who rushed out of the room quicker, Russell or me? I wondered why the lady at reception with the long blue fingernails kept smiling at us. Anyway a quick visit back to reception sorted out a room with 2 singles. Then we hit the rooftop bar . A couple of pints and a glass of Venezuelan Diplomatico rum with ice later we were ready to hit the silk in our nice SEPARATE SINGLE BEDS.  Didn’t sleep late as Russell seemed...
Read more

And that’s a wrap.

Image
Well the flights back home never get any better. Late flight out of Barcelona meant we only had 20 minutes from getting off the flight in Zurich to getting on the flight to Singapore . The wonderful Swiss Air had a lady waiting for us holding a sign “Singapore” . She hussled us down some stairs and into a black van as if we were CIA operatives. Straight into passport office where the “Sheila without a smile” reluctantly stamped our passports as we were leaving Europe. Then our nice lady raced us to the gate and hurried us through. Jumped into our very comfortable premium economy seats and settled in for the long leg to Singapore . Great service Swiss Air and a great plane too. Food and wine was best we’d had this trip also.  If anyone intends flying into Zurich, I’d suggest you plan to arrive at night. The mountains , the  lights, the smaller villages dotting the countryside was truly a magnificent spectacle.  Singapore airport for 6 hours was boring as batshit . Too long...
Read more

Back to Quimet and Quimet.

Image
Well last night me old mate pulled a muscle so I ended up walking to Quimet and Quimet alone and arrived there at 5.45, 15 minutes before opening. Front of the queue . You f…..n beauty.  I had sea bream with oil, sweet capsicum and piquillos, then cumquats with Spanish sheep cheese, anchovies, a bit of a chutney and oil and grape juice. After that fois gras, caramelized onion, mushroom and truffle oil on a small piece of dry toast. Still not enough so then cold poached egg, mushrooms sweet potato chips and pate. 4 glasses of a very nice cold white wine. and I was complete. I stood at the bar being first in and could watch the 2      guys making everything to order. It was amazing and they go like cut cats. Before I ordered the sea bream, I asked if it was cooked and the waiter said “everything they do comes in tins or packets” (except the poached egg.) consequently all the containers of Spanish products adorning the shelves. Incredible genius . It’s given me th...
Read more