Baiona (La Real)

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Mon 14 Jul 2014 16:15
Baiona 42:07.3N 8:50.7W - this is the place! No need to go any further! Six (6) quality icecream parlours! all in the same street, a stagger away from the boat.

To be fair Baiona doesn't want to be famous for its icecream, it has applied to UNESCO to be listed as a World Heritage Site and there is a real sense of pride in its history and cultural inheritance. 

The Fort above Baiona and the Yacht Club Below it.

Baiona is on the southern side of the Ría de Vigo, in a bay protected from the Atlantic by a headland and small islands, the climate is warm and sunny and the beaches are stunning though  there is still enough rain to turn the hillsides green. The main industries are tourism (the population increases from 11,000 to 45,000 in July/August) and fishing.


Baiona Harbour

In 1493, the Pinta, one of the ships from Columbus' voyage to discover the New World made landfall in Baiona on its return. Then in 1585 the inhabitants repelled an attempt to take the town by the privateer Francis Drake. 

The replica of the Pinta’.


Baiona old town.

The old town is very pleasant with a lively bar and restaurant scene. We ate there Saturday night, but more about that later and then last night we went there for a glass of wine. Galicia is famous for the generosity of its 'pincho' a small snack served when you order a drink, this could be peanuts, popcorn, a small bowl of bean and mussel stew, pesto on toast, etc. or in the morning with coffee, a Spanish 'croissant' or a piece of ensaimada (spiral-shaped pastry). The bar I chose was one of the few that had no revellers, our glasses were poured, then out came the 'pincho' - four pieces of melba toast with garlicky pesto, then came two slices of bread with a mushroom topping and a plate of finely sliced pig's ear with bread. Yes, pig's ear, and it tasted just as you would imagine, not something we would order in a hurry. It did the trick though, within five minutes, twelve people had chosen to eat there.

Now, about dinner Saturday night, Franco had a bit of a potato craving, the menu said 'Pulpo 'A feira'' with patatas (plural) and pimentos. 'A feira' means the same as the italian 'al dente' - just tender. I think Franco imagined the dish would contain octopus, potatoes and green peppers in equal measures, not so, a huge dish of octopus sprinkled with paprika and half a potato. We conclude that the reason so many Spanish girls are so slim is because they are in effect on the 'Atkins diet' - 100% protein, no carbs.

Two out of three of our parcels have arrived, tomorrow we will anchor off.