Vigo, Spain

 Vigo, Spain                                                                                     Tuesday, May 10, 2022

            We’re on day three of five for getting antigen tests due to close contact with a couple who tested positive.  Today was day three in a row of negatives for us, we’re not feeling poorly at all, yet we aren’t going out of our way to be in groups on board.  We hadn’t pre-registered for a tour at this port anyway, so we decided to take a quieter day and go off the ship on our own when things opened up for the day.


            One of the more popular tours went 90 minutes away to Santiago de Compostela, a Spanish city well known to any who have taken the pilgrimage called St. James’ Way.  I believe Kay took that pilgrimage and spoke often about it.  The city is the destination for the pilgrimage and its cathedral, I’m told, is resplendent in gold and Mexican silver.


            But Jerry and I were content to walk in the port city of Vigo, traipsing through the Old Town that was near the port and climbing to the top of a fortress that overlooks the bay and the city.  It was a glorious mid-70s spring day and northwestern Spain is still blossoming.  We noted that we are still southern enough to be in the climate zone for palm trees.  Not sure that will continue as we go directly north from here across the Bay of Biscay to France, and then toward Scandinavia.





            Vigo dates back as a fishing village early in the Middle Ages, was attacked many times due to its prime port location, most notably attacked by Francis Drake, and thus built a solid fortress wall—some of which is still intact today.  A 17th Century fortress towers over the city.  It was built to repel the British navy during the Portuguese Restoration War.  It proved to have excellent 360-degree vistas.

            We found a set of escalators used by the locals to get us all the way back down to the blocks-long shopping street and harbor.  We didn’t see much to catch our interest, so we headed back to the ship and played bridge for the afternoon.





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