In Baiona

September 24, 2019

I don’t know about you, but when I have a cold it dampens my enthusiasm for just about everything. I’ve unfortunately picked up a real doozy that hit in force sometime yesterday (meaning two days in the future, blogwise - I’m pretty well behind). Between three days of poor WiFi and this damn cold, I’m several days delinquent on the journal and not feeling much inspiration or drive to catch up on it.

So don’t expect any great narrative or stories for a bit. I’m just going through the motions here until this scourge moves on.

Baiona is a great little place. We were delighted with our decision to stay over a second day, and spent it walking. It was grey and foggy in the morning so we took our time getting out the door. Once we did though, we spent the rest of the morning on a leisurely walk around the small peninsula that juts out into the bay. The peninsula is crowned by impressive fortifications, inside which stands the town’s parador. The trail follows the rocky shoreline beneath the fortified walls.

Image not found :( — The odd, globular cone of the Norfolk Island Pine.

Looking back from the peninsula toward the hotels south of town. The farthest on the right is ours. Note also the statue crowning the hill behind it. Note also the small beach below, which looks sandy but isn’t.

The surface of the beach looks like it consists almost entirely of pulverized shell fragments.

After skirting the peninsula we walked over to the center of town and enjoyed our main meal of the day at a pleasing restaurant. Afterwards we walked back to our room to digest for a bit before setting off again. Rachael started first, on a long walk into the hills behind town that she had mapped out for herself. I intended to pull out the bike and cruise along the coast for a few miles, but decided against it for a pretty silly reason - I didn’t want to bother the hotel manager to unlock the garage so I could get to the bike, and then again when I would have returned just two hours later.

Instead I just took a walk myself, climbing up the hill behind the hotel for a better look at the mammoth statue at its top, the Lady of the Rock. After that I followed the ridge south until it was time to turn back, enjoying the spectacle of huge waves breaking against the rocks below. On my way back, I was startled to hear m6 name being called, faintly in the distance. Rachael!

A full sized replica of the Pinta, one of the ships in Columbus’s voyage in 1492. She returned to Baiona in 1493, as her first port of call. Baiona was the first to see what Columbus brought back from the new world.

I don’t know why I’m drawn to these old stone distance markers.

Our Lady of the Rock: built from granite and white marble, 15 meters high, and erected in 1930. I’d like to know the story behind the chicken on a pedestal though.

The wave action here is really explosive.

Shadow selfie. Also note the Lady on the Rocks rising above the trees ahead.

Nice to have some unexpected company on the walk home.

And, here are a couple additional photos pulled from Rachael’s phone:

A scene further along the ridgeback trail I was walking along.

I think this must be looking across the village of Pontes and Vigo Bay to the Cies Islands.

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Jen RahnHope you're feeling better by the time you see this comment.

Colds are miserable!
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnThanks, and I am! I’m not normal today, but much better. The best thing is the relief that this looks like it’s going to pass quickly. I’ve had ones that turn into a URI that last for a month.
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4 years ago