Our days now have a regular rhythm; suitcases and bags have to be at the hotel reception by 8:00am, so that’s the time for breakfast. Today is a shorter walk but it is good to leave at 8:40am before the day gets too hot.

We make a last minute change to our route by taking the Via Verde (‘Greenway’) out of Vigo. Past experience has shown that disused railway paths have a particularly useful feature; namely, the incline is barely perceptible so that walking is almost flat. According to the web, ‘the Via Verde runs entirely parallel to the southern bank of the Vigo Estuary. It is part of the section that, from Redondela, connects with the rest of the Galician network, towards Pontevedra and Santiago de Compostela. And in Vigo, the line arrived at a railway terminal that disappeared many years ago. Located on the outskirts of 19th-century Vigo, Urzáiz station was U-shaped, but in 1981 it was decommissioned due to a new terminal, which was built over it.’

Using the Via Verde works for us because it goes north east towards our destination, gives us a good fast start to the day and it is easy to connect to the Way later on after Chapela. Well, in truth, our plan was that it would be easy, but in fact our chosen route using the Camino Das Laxes had to be abandoned due to construction, so instead we had to walk further on and go under the piers of the suspension bridge, then turn right straight up a very steep hill through the hamlet of Cabanas to get to the Way at the top of the hill. However, the amazing view of the estuary after that steep ascent was a worthy trade off. We noticed strange floating barge-like objects in the estuary; a web inquiry confirmed what we suspected; these are ‘bateas’ for mussel farming.

We almost immediately entered a long forest section of gravel track busy with local weekend warriors as well as Camino walkers and cyclists. We got into our stride and chatted with Jennifer from Dallas who was on a five month sabbatical. She has great things planned! This part of Spain manages water and water run off very well. We’ve seen many a stream diverted under our path and today we found a wonderful fountain complete with stone seats and a great spot to immerse your feet in the cold, cold water. And eat a picnic, so we did. Of course all that uphill work means downhill too and it was plenty steep. One pilgrim noted that the uphill is hard on your heart but the downhill is hard on your knees. We agreed. The descent dropped us into the churchyard of San Andrés de Cedeira where the church doors were locked, as seems usual here, even on Sunday, but the vestibule had a stamp to add to our passports. A little further on and we were in the outskirts of Redondela. Unprepossessing at first, we found ourselves in a section of small old streets where a friendly Senora served us beer, Sangria, and Aquarius while we sat out of the sun and enjoyed a short rest before catching a taxi to Casa Rural As Chivas where we will stay tonight.

We’ve noticed some interesting small stone buildings in the gardens here; structures about four feet high and ten feet wide perched on stone stilts, often with a cross at one end. A pigeon or chicken coop? A mausoleum? It turns out these are called hórreos and are used for granary storage. So grains, not granny.

Lunch today was tuna chicken ham and cheese sandwiches.

Here is the map for June 1, 2025;