17 August - Day 22 - Vilalba to A Coruña - 0km rest day

Wake up to heavy rain and fog. Snooze a little longer. The weather is not looking great, the walk today is meant to be predominantly on road and next to the national highway. Not inspiring.

Kim can’t find accommodation in our next 

 destination of Baamonde. The municipal albergue can't be booked, so it's likely we will get a bed there when we arrive. It is big with 90 beds. Kim is not so keen on staying there.

Next problem, we want to be able to walk into Santiago de Compostela but there is too much distance to cover in our few remaining days. We can't find a bus or train to allow us to close the gap. 

It’s 9am and Kim comes up with a new plan. Bus at 9:49am to A Coruña, spend the day there being a tourist and then bus to a village which is walking distance from Santiago tomorrow. It's on a different Camino route... The Ingles way. We're OK with that. 

Arrive at the bus station at 9:30am and it’s deserted... literally no a soul. Bus is due in 19 minutes. 9:40am people start to arrive. Bus arrives at 9:55am. Buy ticket on the bus and settle into the front seats for our longest bus journey of 1 hour 15 minutes. By the time we arrive into A Coruña it’s no longer raining and sun is trying to come out. Find a pension near the station, check in and go wandering around the city. 

It feels strange being in a a big city after all the villages we have spent most of the trip in. We attempt to find the old town. End up on the beach promenade. Discover we are nowhere near the old town. Nice place to be lost. 

Walk the length of the promenade and stop half way at the beach club for a drink to soak up the views. 

There is an odd choice of shops along the beachfront. Very few cafes, bars or restaurants, instead we pass dog washes, laundrettes, dog daycare and stationary shops. Kim suggests they are drug fronts! 

Finally make it to the old town. Hungry! Lots of restaurants to choose from. Kim can't choose. I pick one. She says the menu is in Spanish and English so must be too touristy. Continue looking for another 45 mins, sit down at a place but the kitchen has closed for lunch. It's 3pm. In our dithering have we missed our window? Finally back to my original choice. It's still serving. We are staying here. 

It turns out to be a local seafood restaurant run by the daughter as front of house, the papa is the runner and mama in the kitchen. Just what Kim had been looking for. Grrr! We ask what the large flat pie is on the bench. It's a tuna empanada. We are given a sample. Its delicious. 

We order squid and potatos and hake and potatoes. We only needed one dish. Both melt in our mouth. Definitely no room for desert.

Roam the backstreets home enjoying the art work.