A Rural Run to Vilalba

Tuesday 26th June

Woke to grey skies & a certain dampness in the air. We set about breaking camp in quiet contemplation, mixed with a little wind 😬

Today we were heading northeast on the first leg of our return journey & anticipated some tough climbing, with the profile for the day looking quite punchy. 

A quick breakfast in the campsite bar, then we were on our way & soon into the first climb of the day out of Santiago, past it’s airport. Initially sticking to the main N-634 & N-547 on a rolling route, we had a stop for second breakfast (A necessity for Alex in particular):

We headed off into the countryside & navigated across predominantly single lane, very rural roads to Corredoiras, then Presaras & Guitiriz. We stopped in a fantastic little village restaurant near here & had the fixed menu del dia. What a experience: cured ham & salad starter, chicken & fried potatoes, desert, digestive, coffee & as much drink as we wanted - €9 each. Memorable & not just for the homemade cheeses served for Neil & Kev to sample:

After lunch, it was more of the same, rural roads through rolling scenery towards A Grana . Hard work, but lovely!

Nearly 70 miles & 8 hours after leaving Santiago, we laboured up the final climb of the day to our hotel; the Vilo do Alba in Vilalba.  Decent hotel in a nondescript town. Time for beer/tinto & tapas.