Since we were enjoying Baiona and the campsite, we wanted to stay on a little longer. It really was “a little” because sadly the site’s last day was Saturday as it was closing for the season. Nonetheless, we extended our stay from two nights to three.
This morning we bade a fond farewell to three of our travelling companions, who were beginning their return journeys home. Two of us, plus tour leader Andy himself, were staying on for the last day at Camping Bayona Playa.
Keen on finding another seafood lunch, we got the bikes out and this time cycled into the town for midday-ish. There was bad weather on the way in the form of hurricane Gabrielle and we timed our ride poorly getting a tad wet in the advanced guard of some of Gabrielle’s rain. Given the weather and the fact that it was a Saturday, I suspected that the interiors of the restaurants would be busy and did not want to be late.
The rain abated and we studied some of the other restaurant menus but in the end felt that a repeat visit to Ladrón del Mar, our choice yesterday, could not be bettered. This time our original wine choice was cool enough so we had a bottle of that to wash down yet more pulpo con tetilla [octopus with tetilla cheese] together with mejillones en escabeche for a change, which sounded interesting [lightly pickled mussels]. The waiter was his usual charming self. He soon did have to turn away people because the restaurant was full. We’d been right not to dally.
Baiona has a mixed history with connections both to Columbus and to Sir Francis Drake. In the harbour is a replica of the Pinta, supposedly the fastest of Columbus’s three ships comprising his 1492 expedition, which looks impossibly small for crossing the Atlantic. The Pinta arrived back at Baiona in 1493 bringing news of the discovery of the New World. [The native Americans, of course, had known of its existence for thousands of years and would come to regret the arrival of Columbus. And that was even before they knew about Trump.]
Drake raided Baiona’s castle in 1585 or, at least, attempted to but his raid was successfully repelled by the inhabitants. Take that, you privateer!
In a repeat of poor timing, our ride back to camp after lunch coincided with the arrival of some more of Gabrielle’s rain, though it was nothing compared to what would hit us later.
Gabrielle was forecast to affect a vast swathe of the Iberian peninsular. At one point Valencia, which has had more than its fair share of bad weather recently, was under a red warning for rain.
Before the force of Gabrielle made itself felt at Baiona, there was something of a sunset which produced a rather weird effect across our lagoon. Look at the reflections in this picture; many windows are reflecting the sun but there are no equivalent bright windows on the buildings above the shore line. I can only assume that the rays of the westering sun were hitting the glass of the buildings but not bouncing off directly towards our eyes, rather the rays were bouncing down to the water, thence to our eyes. It makes it look a bit fake but I assure you it’s not,
As the evening progressed a strong wind began blowing across the lagoon directly into the rear of Frodo. Along with it came lashing rain which increased in ferocity. Happily, since the wind was not hitting us side on, Frodo remained stable, though the bike cover did make a bit of noise flapping. One of our companions decided to move to a more sheltered pitch for some respite from the elements.
The wind and rain continued into the small hours of the morning but eventually abated. Tomorrow was forecast to be relatively pleasant.
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