May 13th - O Castelo to Xove and Aguadoce

The owner of the Hotel O Castelo is very enthusiastic about the new pilgrim route along the coast. He says it is not yet 2 years old and so does need more work. 'His' section however had the best signing seen so far. The hotel was very good (huge tortilla in the bar for supper and a good breakfast) and reasonably priced. The online info implies that there is a fixed price for food but that is in the main restaurant. There is also alternative accomodation at the Bar Hostal Klein a few metres down the Avda Cantabrica so this junction is a good place for accomodation and food.

Walking from O Castelo to Xove was bliss - track through the woods and the best marking yet. Then a mix of road and track after the first wooded section. The signs were mostly very clear - stencilled yellow arrows. Some were the wooden nature trail posts but these also had short repeater marks so were easy to follow too. One arrow on the road was very faded, but we looked around for it as until this point all had been so good and our map showed a turn.

Reaching the church near the outskirts of Xove we followed the road sign direct route, straight on, at the cross roads, rather than the yellow markers pointing left, so went into town. The consello had a sello and after drinks in the cafe-bar we needed to head for Esteiro - our destination.

This was the end of today's walk as from Xove the route turned north and then up to the coast with no apparent facilities. We had considered walking the road to Esteiro but as the FEVE was due we decided to take that instead. Terry rescued a slow-worm sitting on the platform and put it back in the grass at the side. Arriving in Viveiro at lunchtime we had to walk downhill from the FEVE station and passed the hotel for the next night on our way (useful) then had menu del día in the bus station before taking a taxi up to Esteiro and the hotel.