Baiona

Hi everyone,

We've been in Baiona for a nearly a week and it's a lovely place.  It's obviously a popular tourist destination given the number of hotels and apartments, but there are few visitors due to Covid.  So we're enjoying the town with the locals.

View of the MRCYB club from Monte Real castle

Zen Again is berthed at Monte Real Club de Yates Baiona (MRCYB).  Like all marinas we've visited in Spain this one suffers from surge.  Other than that it's a great marina/club and the office accepted a parcel on our behalf.  MRCYB offers a 25% discount to OCC members.

Baiona was first to hear of Columbus's discovery of the New World

View from the town toward Monte Real

One of many seafaring statues and memorials

View from the footpath around Monte Real

Spectacular coast

Well-tended memorial to lost mariners

View towards town showing the sea wall

Meeting of Two Worlds monument

Baiona has its main road running along the waterfront.  There are many pedestrian crossings and a broad promenade along the front.  There are hotels and cafes along the road with nice views over the bay.  There are two chandlers here and a laundromat.  One street behind the front there is the old town.  No traffic at all here - the streets aren't wide enough!  These streets are packed with small hotels, bars, cafes and shops.

Tapas!

We stayed in Baiona to await the parcel and also to let some bad weather pass through.  When it rains in Spain it often pours down!  Most of the rain was overnight or in the morning, so we could continue exploring each afternoon.  There are nice views over the bay from an area occupied by hotel apartments - sadly all shuttered at present.

View of the town and harbour

There are some old churches, chapels and convents in Baiona, some dating back to the 13th century.  One of the churches holds the 'Golden Christ', reputed to have arrived from America full of gold coins hidden in its hollow interior.

Altar in St Liberata Chapel

Baroque-style altar in St Maria Church

We walked around the Monte Real castle.  Its centre is now a posh hotel but there's a nice walk around the castle walls.

Sea wall from Monte Real castle

Just a cannon!

We tried several eateries during our stay.  They ranged from modern Tapas places to football bars.  The food was great (and cheap) at all of them.

Spanish Omelette!

The parcel we received here contained our new SailnSea SailingGen hydro-generator.  We'll be installing that when we have a chance.  With it aboard and the weather improving we expect to depart Baiona tomorrow for Portugal.

We've called ahead to Porto Atlantico in Port Leixoes (near Porto) and consulted the OCC Port Officer in Cascais.  Both indicated we'll be welcome in Portugal.  Looking forward to moving on!