Final landfall before Southampton

Statuary on the waterfront in Vigo

After our day in the sun yesterday, we decided that exercise was the order of the afternoon. Pretty much everyone had turned in for the day as the sun had grown weaker in its intensity. There were only a few folk doing the prom walk.  We started off at a fairly gentle pace as it was pretty hard going with the large swell still. As we got used to the roll, our pace improved and we did our 7 laps. 

Dinner was OK. I stupidly went for the fish with a crust. By now I should have realised that it simply gets blatted. The trouble is, when there’s turbot on the list, it’s hard to resist. Now that we’re coming to the end of our adventure, we sort of felt that we should go to last night’s entertainment, not that it particularly appealed to either of us. Two of the singers had not been able to get off the ship at Ponta Delgada, so offered their services for a joint performance. Reading the blurb I thought they were going to sing duets, but no, Nicola Jane did 20 minutes, then David Kidd (AKA Tom Jones tribute guy) did another 20 minutes. They both did some less traditionally well-known songs, which was good, but the theatre was pretty thin and there wasn’t the atmosphere there normally is.

Vigo is built on hills around the world's largest fishing port

My wake up this morning was 6am with the change of engine sound as we started our slow-down into port. An hour or so later it was evident we were close to land as the distant sound of the city and sirens could be heard. Vigo is a regular stop for most cruises as the port is pretty much within the town, making it an attractive stop. We’ve not been to Vigo before…well, I say we’ve not been here before, more to the point, we’ve not “visited” it before. Some years ago when we were on a cruise, we made a very top-speed dash (28 knots) to Vigo for a passenger who was seriously ill. It literally was a drop-and-go. At the time of their becoming ill we had been too far out at sea for a helicopter rescue, so had to do the unscheduled stop. So it was nice to finally see the place for real.

We had decided against a trip today and to just amble and do our own thing. It felt good to let the main rush get their day started before we emerged for the day. Breakfast was virtually empty and calm. Or should that be “breakfast was virtually empty, so I was calm”. It felt weird being back to wearing jeans and light jumpers again even though it was 17 degrees. It was pretty cloudy with a constant threat of a shower.

Looking up is always rewarding - the cafe where we lunched

The cathedral is beautiful inside but very plain outside

We found ourselves going up and down alleys and generally browsing the shops and looking up a lot at the stunning architecture. We visited the Cathedral which, from the outside was nothing out of the ordinary, but inside was quite simply exquisite. It’s only a small cathedral, but very different from our other experiences in Spain where the Cathedrals and churches have a special “gaudiness” rarely seen anywhere else. This one was tasteful. Alas, we were only able to grab a quick snap before mass started and we felt it right to exit stage left.

Interesting statuary in the main square

We found a lovely cafe for lunch. I did my “Spanish” at which the waitress asked me if I wanted an English menu. That’s cheating. It’s great fun working it all out and waiting for what you might receive. However, of course, I thanked her profusely. 

Our lunches were unexpectedly huge

I opted for a Caprese salad. They’re normally light, right? This was massive. Nick went for heart attack on a plate. A toasty eggs Benedict on a doorstop brioche slice of bread. Oh, and with our coffees, the waitress brought two slabs of cake. “Ooohhhhh no, we didn’t order those thank you, they must be someone else’s.” Nope, they come free with the coffee. Oh well, it would be rude to refuse. They were so light. Just plain, but actually went wonderfully with the coffee. After all of that, we waddled off in search of? Chocolate of course. El Molino provided everything one's little heart could desire on the chocolate front. We were the proverbial kids in a sweet shop as we hummed and hahhhhed over what to have. We’d happily return to Vigo and we recognise we only saw a small proportion of it. 

A massive Happy Birthday to one of our delightful nieces, Immy. Immy works unsocial hours and said when we set off on our trip, that she was going to save our daily blogs to read during her lunch breaks. Given that Immy starts work at 4m, her lunch break is when most of us are having our breakfast. Hope you have an awesome day Immy.

Tonight is posh-up night for the final time. We’re going to try to get into the Glass House. Sadly one can’t reserve, it’s a first come first served basis. It would appear that a lot of people have our mindset, that they too have had enough of the main restaurant. As there’s nothing to get up for tomorrow, we’ll probably aim for the Headliners for the last time tonight. I have been genuinely surprised at their professionalism and quality of entertainment. As I write this, we’re prepping for pushing off from Vigo. A day at sea tomorrow, plus the arduous task of packing. Next stop Southampton early-doors Sunday. Grumph.