Vigo – Redondela (15 km)

Today I set off for Redondela at 7:20 am with João, Anne and Christian from Austria.

Around 9:30 am I stopped in the town of Chapela, at the café Alecrim, for a coffee and a croissant (€2.30).

I got to Redondela at about noon and went to check in at the Albergue de Santiago Apóstol, which cost me €12 and was right next to the public hostel, which only opened at 1 pm.

Then we went for the set lunch next to the hostel, which cost €11 because of a few extras, but the original price was €8 with a main, a drink, bread and dessert or coffee.

While I was having lunch, guess who turned up: Sule, from Germany, with whom I had had dinner yesterday in Vigo. Soon afterwards Cláudia showed up, from whom I had parted in Caminha, since she was doing the inland route, which here in Redondela meets the coastal route again.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk around town. All except Natalie, who decided to have a 30-minute massage on her legs and feet and who, when she came back to us, told me: “Your massage was much better and cheaper, he practically just smeared me all over with oil, there was very little actual massage.”

On our walk around town we passed the Convento de VillaVella, an old and very beautiful building that has now been bought by a private owner and is used for parties and weddings and sometimes rents out a few rooms.

I was standing at the door of the convent when an Austrian couple arrived who were celebrating 25 years of marriage these days and asked me where the convent was, and I told them: it's right here.

Meanwhile a very friendly lady arrived to open the door for them, they were going to be the only guests in the convent that night.

I struck up a conversation with the lady to see if she'd let us in and all she said to me was: “Today is my fifth day working here, I'm going to get fired.” But I managed to convince her to let us in, along with the couple, to see the convent inside. Result: we got a guided tour of all areas of the convent.

When the tour of the convent was over I went to the supermarket to buy some fruit for breakfast and an ice cream, actually it ended up being 2, it was very hot today.

I then dropped the shopping off at the hostel and went to the tourist office, where at 6 pm a free 1h tour of the city of Redondela was starting.

Then, at 8 pm, I went for dinner with a group of pilgrims I knew at the Barraca do Freddy, with good quality for the price. It was €9 for a main and a drink.

To finish we went for a beer and went back to the hostel for a well-earned rest.