I’m running out of superlatives for this part of my walk along the coastline of the Cantabrian Sea. Anybody walking the Camino del Norte and wishing that they’d seen more of the coastline, should just continue straight on at Ribadeo instead of going inland. Another great day with view after view after view. Todays walk followed the west side of estuary of Viveiro ending in O Vicedo, a small town, with a single hostel and I hope somewhere to eat on a Sunday afternoon.
There was a bathtub at the hotel so I planned to take a soak, but couldn’t get the water to be hot enough, so ended up taking a lukewarm shower. Whilst the water was lukewarm, the breakfast was excellent – for 58€ this was a good value hotel.
I timed my departure with a rain shower that lasted 10 or so minutes and thankfully the only one of the day. It had rained 20mm overnight, so whilst the sun gradually broke through the cloud and it gradually became a very nice day, the paths were wet, sometimes streams, so I ended the day with wet feet.
I made my way along the estuary towards Viveiro, a far bigger town than I stayed in and with a walled historic centre. Everything, except for bakers and bars was closed down. How typical, now that I didn’t need them because I’d just had a good breakfast, there were 3 bakers and 7 bars open before I’d walked 5kms. Yesterday I walked almost 30kms before I reached somewhere to have a drink.
After crossing the estuary on the bridge to Covas, I was soon climbing. Just as I was thinking how lucky I was to be walking on roads, given that everything was so wet, the trail turned onto a wet and at times muddy path. Wet and muddy paths with streams running down them became a theme today.
Anyway I shouldn’t take anything away from another great day of views along the coast and pleasant forest when inland from the coast, which I hope the pictures reflect. Unfortunately, what could have been the high point, Punta Socastro or “O Fuciño do Porco” (which means pig’s snout in Spanish), is a cape with an impressive wooden walkway between cliffs where you get the feeling you are out at sea. Due to landslides it is currently closed, but would have been a great walk. The walkway is visible on the first picture.
I walked down through the forest and took a break at a cafe in San Roman. It was getting hot now as I continued along the coast, stopping at Toxoso for photos towards the beach and along the coast – there was a small crowd taking photos. I stuck to the coast around the peninsula and considered stopping at a restaurant built as a boat at A Corva. It was packed, so I moved on, being only a handful of kilometers from today’s destination.
On the climb out of A Corva, I turned over on my right ankle, but luckily with no impact and I could continue without any issues.
I arrived at the hostel at around 15.30 to learn that I couldn’t get breakfast tomorrow, as the cafe below the hostel is closed tomorrow morning. The landlady wasn’t sure if I wasn’t too late to get something to eat today as it is Sunday. She told me to try two places. The first restaurant told me that it was too late, but the second was still open. Octopus for starters and fish for the main course – both served with french fries. Spanish food gets high marks for freshness, but I really miss some vegetables instead of the constant supply of french fries. Of course not getting anything to eat would be even worse.
O Vicedo consists pretty much of two streets, one running along the port and beach and one a block inland. Apart from a small Charlie Chaplin figure sitting on a wall overlooking the port and a wall with the worlds flags painted on it, the town doesn’t seem to have a lot to offer – not least on a Sunday when everything is closed.
All in all, a really nice days walking in sunshine, a bit wet on the ground after yesterday’s rain, but not a major issue.