After our first day at sea, we arrive early the next morning at Vigo, Spain. It’s a delight to watch the bright orange fireboats greet our arrival, blast sprays of water, and turn alongside the ship to escort us to the dock. In Vigo we choose to walk around the old town as a small group. We eat a leisurely breakfast, are handed a complimentary town map as we disembark, and then proceeded to get more detailed walking information from the TI directly across from the port. To our surprise Vigo is hosting the final day of the World Cup P1 Powerboat races, so tents of sponsors line the deck making for a fine Sunday outing. The speedboats themselves are James Bond futuristic looking, lightening fast works of art, and deafening as they roar out to sea.
As the cathedral chimes announce 11:30am and the end of mass, from within the sanctuary emerge more of our group, who join us for a somewhat challenging hike up the hill to Castro Park (Parque do Castro) and a rewarding view of the town and seaport from the fort. Stopping to capture the view in photos is beneficial for catching my breath as well.
At the top we discover the city’s tour bus, 2 decks with open top, but it appears to only run 1 all-day circuit with 30 minutes or so at each stop. Not a hop-on/hop-off. Note to planners of future cruises, this might have provided a broader view of Vigo, but less of an excuse to have dessert again tonight after dinner.
We split up as we traverse down the hill, some stopping at the sidewalk cafes just off Carral Street: a narrow alley of pedestrians looking for paella and fresh-shucked oysters on the half shell. Others looking for the elusive bar and tapas open on a Sunday. I head back with DH and friends to the cruise ship for lunch onboard and to plop DH down for a nappy to rest his achy knee.
After lunch I went out to bask in the sunlight, hobble over cobblestone streets, and as I looked around it is obvious most of us wandering the streets are from the Splendor. After a while I go back to rouse DH, and head back to the wine store in the dockside mall “A Laxe” to pick up a Spanish red named Primi. Albarino is the famous white wine recommended, but one bottle of red is enough for us. One of the few shops open on Sunday, by the way, is this wine shop and a chocolate shop across from it. Outside, during a leisurely walk alongside the pier and marinas, we spot a SharPei walking her owners, and I snapped a photo wishing our Peiby could have joined us in Spain too.
The time in this northern seaport is about to end, and we enjoy another delicious dinner in the Gold Pearl as we sail away.
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