Camino de Santiago - Part II - walking it!
After deciding the basics - what to pack, which route to take, etc. - we had to walk it! Here’s the basic itinerary of the places we stayed and the distance it was between each city;
Oia - 18km -> Baiona - 27km -> Vigo - 15km -> Redondela - 19km -> Pontevedra - 21km -> Caldas de Reis - 19km -> Padron - 24km -> Santiago de Compostela
On our first day from Oia to Baiona!
The whole Camino was a blast, and it was fantastic to wake up, walk, talk, and walk more. It was such a fun experience and every day was incredible, but here are a couple highlights;
Rande Bridge is in the background :)
The Spanish Coast was beautiful!!
The beautiful Spanish coast - most of the Camino route we took snaked its way along the coast ~ hence the name Portuguese Coastal Route. Oh gosh, it was beautiful. The sea was insanely pretty with its beautifully clear waters and the waves coming in. It was amazing to wake up and see the ocean less than 100 meters away, roaring and crashing its waves endlessly. It was gorgeous!
Talking - a week of walking for more than 4 hours a day (normally more) meant a lot of time to talk. So many great conversations; it was really awesome!
Rande Bridge - this was a really cool bridge we saw on our walk from Vigo to Redondela. It looked very close to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and it offered some excellent pictures of the bay!
Meeting people - during the Camino, we saw many people who would stay at the same hotel, walk the same distance, etc. and we got to know many of them! So many people have such cool backgrounds and it was interesting to hear how some people have done more than one Camino route and others wouldn’t do it again.
Puente Sampaio Bridge - this bridge was between Vigo and Redondela. The bridge spanned a river and it was supported with arches. It was in a beautiful location as well, with amazing views of the river and bay. However, the coolest thing about it was that the bridge was where Napoleon Bonaparte suffered one of his greatest defeats! The history and beauty was incredible at this bridge!
Puente Sapaio Bridge!
This was my favorite Camino de Santiago sign!
Spotting the many Camino de Santiago signs - though we did have Google Maps to help us know where to go, the Camino was well indicated with many signs. These signs were fun! Some are just a faint yellow arrow, others almost buried with painted stones. It was fun to look out for these. :)
Counting down the kilometers to Santiago - on many of these signs, there was the number of kilometers until Santiago (or more specifically the church in Santiago). It was exciting to see them, especially on the last days when it went from 25km to 7km and we were just almost there.
I am so glad we did this! As much as it was tiring, I loved every moment of it and all the fun memories we shared and created won’t be forgotten! It felt like such an accomplishment when we finished it and it was incredible to have walked it! And walking it with my grandma and mom was what made it even more awesome!
