Day 9 - Vilalba to Sada [photos now!] - Land of the Rabbits

July 28, 2023

Day 9 - Vilalba to Sada [photos now!]

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After my ridiculous midnight blowout (four beers and a pizza so enormous I couldn't finish it even though I was starving served to me at eleven thirty at night - I was game) I pretty much went back to the Parador and passed out. I was slightly worried I'd overdone it and I did oversleep by a fair amount, but other than the continuation of a slight cold I've been running for a while I woke up feeling excellently well rested.

When checking in the previous night the solicitous concierge was almost apologetic there were no early breakfast spots left. Sadly this is where I might have blown my pilgrim bone fides by being a little too willing to accept the quarter to ten slot. I needed some time to appreciate the Parador. "Oh yes, it is different on the bici" he said, diplomatically. Different too for the shiftless and slightly hungover pseudo-pilgrims amongst us.

It was pretty comical contrast hauling my bedraggled arse up to this room

Breakfast was great, even though I'm not a big breakfast person it did indeed set me up for the day (or in this case the afternoon). It was still raining pretty hard so I spent about as much time as I could justify writing this journal and gathering my stuff. Slightly worried I'd be charged for another night if I stayed any longer, I eventually checked out at 11, dithered some more pumping up my tyres at the bike maintenance station in the basement, then wheeled out into the rain - which was drizzle really.

Multiple plates were definitely required. I'm afraid I ate most of it before getting a photo

The tower that's the fanciest bit of the Parador

The Parador entrance - I missing this and accidentally walked through the restaurant in my biking gear when I first arrived

Ah, you can take the boy out the UK but etc. I actually really quite enjoy riding an empty, quiet road in the light rain and grey weather. Practically, there was a clear advantage to it being so much cooler than yesterday and not having to continually pump myself full of water. But I also, in a strange way, just like the melancholy of little provincial villages, empty under a drizzle.

This happened a couple of times on this tour. A bunch of cows seemed to escape onto the road, followed by a furiously shouting family chasing them with sticks. I'm sorry to say I LOLed

Well rested, well fed and much cooler than yesterday

My ride today would be a bunch simpler - there was a minor road that ran due west 50km from Vilalba. This I took and didn't worry about too much. It rolled and climbed a bit to 650m as I went over the border with A Coruna province without ceremony. It'd been a hell of a 24 hours in Lugo - the province had not always been kind to me but Vilalba, and its Parador, are excellent places.

I can deal with the grey weather - not a bad road at all

I wasn't running very fast, and it took me a while to reach Irixoa - very Portuguese-sounding place names in Galicia (there is a Galician language, which the Portuguese consider to be merely a dialect of their own) - where I had lunch. Then a very rapid descent, burning all the 500m height I'd acquired from the coast yesterday, to the run-down town of Belanzos.

From here there was a sting-in-the-tail - a sharp climb of over 100m in heavy rush-hour traffic. It was ok though, and a guy with a bike loaded with plastic bags gave me the full "Yes! ANIMAL!" treatment which was a laugh.

I picked the first camping sign, Camping Aguiar which is really charming, a little 30-plot place run by a conscientious German woman. She was puzzled by my passport (as am I, frankly) - and then explained I was the first UK citizen to stay there all year. Lots of Irish, Dutch, Germans, French and Spanish of course - but no Brits. Bizarre, I would have thought at least some on the Camino.

I'm really torn about how to spend the next day. I'm in striking distance of Santiago now - I can make it in a day. So it's possible I'll just stay in this campsite a couple of days, and explore A Coruna itself tomorrow. Or I might head off round the Costa Del Morte as planned. Might not bother getting to Finisterre as I originally intended.

Writing this for a bar next to the campsite, with great views looking over the enormous natural harbour (so big, in fact, I can see neither A Coruna itself nor Ferrol). Idyllic except for the cheesy music the bar is playing - I do hope they turn it off at a reasonable time, given the campsite is meters away.

For dinner, I strolled into the town of Sada on the other side of the beach. It's a pleasant (if hilly) 2km walk - the town is substantial, and as well as some very dodgy architecture has lots of good restaurants and bars.

Spotting a tapas bar called La Potata Brava I couldn't resist. It didn't look like much from outside, but inside was really excellent, crammed with locals and cheap as chips. I may have made a small faux-pas by sitting on a table which had four seats - but it was the only one available, and I ordered lots of food so I don't think it went over too badly.

The beach just downhill from the campsite

Looking out into the sound between A Coruna and Ferrol

I like this wrought-iron sign, outside what is apparently an emormous YHA youth hostel

Every settlement above a certain size must have an Irish bar

Peppers de Padron, mushrooms with salsa, and (of course) Potatas Bravas. Delicious!

After my satisfying meal I strolled (through the rain) to the park, where a performance was in progress on the stage set up there. Seeing lots of parents holding up their phones, it turned out to be a sort of local school production. Parts of it were what you would expect - but my "eyebrows now traveled all the way to the back of my not-so-bald head" at what appeared to be a full on burlesque show put on by the older girls, complete with very short costumes, gyrations, skirt-flipping and cheered on by proud parents. Very disconcerting.

Aw that's sweet, it's a school song-and-dance production

Feeling slightly out of place at the nymphette review I sloped off back to the campsite. To my delight the bar was good as gold, and shut off their music - and I slept very well.

Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 752 km (467 miles)

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