Cruise – Day 5 (Vigo)

August 12th : Vigo & Santiago, Spain

[Updated 26/08/2012]

Today we cruised into the Spanish port of Vigo, on the western coast of Spain, above Portugal.

We started the day at 7:30am after a successful evening last night.  Breakfast at the AquaSpa Cafe provided us with a healthy start (fresh fruit, muesli and juice) as well as an opportunity to view Vigo from the port side of the ship (it was docked port side this time).

At 9:00am we met our private tour group and headed out north on the private charter bus to the city of Santiago de Compostela, home to a very well known church which is still the destination for Christian pilgrims even today.

We passed through rolling hills decorated with vineyards, small villages and eucalypts(!?) which were evidentially imported from abroad.

 
View of Vigo / En route to Santiago del Compostela

The main attraction in Santiago was the Portico de la Gloria, a large 12th century Catholic church which contains some of the finest craftsmanship of that era still preserved today.

On our way there, we stopped at a shop and bought a souvenir (pilgrimage) coin from a local shop owner.  He couldn’t speak English, and we Spanish – so Toni spoke with him in French.

The church is very impressive and stands out as out of the most ornate we’ve seen to date.  The exterior is crafted with fine detail, from the stain glassed windows to the precise stone work in the spires.

 
Portico de la Gloria

Inside, there was a really long queue to view the crypt containing the body of a saint buried within the church, and as we had limited time, we bypassed this opportunity.

   
The interior was impressive / long queues

We spent about 45 minutes at Santiago (it took about an hour’s drive to reach it) and we did some exploring around the church before we boarded the bus and headed to the beachfront town of Sanxenxo, to the west on the coast.

Lunch was at a small beachfront cafe where we had some fun “in translation” with our waiter who was up to the challenge of taking orders in a foreign language. 

 
Toni beachside at Sanxenxo / Statue on the rocks

For the record, Rob had the roasted ham (with chips) and Toni had a baguette filled with pork loin.

After lunch, we rejoined the bus and made our way to La Toja which is near O Grove.  It reminded me of a resort estate in a way, very exclusive and upmarket.  There were people fishing in the water as we crossed the bridge.

We did not stop at La Toja, but drove around for photos.  We were aiming to return to Vigo by 3:30pm as the ship was due to take guests no later than 4:45pm. 

We did indeed arrive back early, so we spent a little bit of time exploring the local area around the port including a shopping centre which had some kind of display of statues of pigs!

At 4:30pm we boarded the ship and headed to our stateroom for some r&r. 

Vigo: A fountain & pig statue at a shopping mall

In the afternoon, Toni went line dancing at the sky lounge before we returned to dress for the evening. 

We took in the feature performance at the Equinox Theatre – London’s West End leading actress Lindsay Hamilton – who performed some of her signature songs from Evita, Les Misrables and other excellent numbers including a stirring rendition of Amazing Grace.

Afterwards Toni hit single game bingo before we ate dinner at Blu restaurant. We both enjoyed an entree of frogs legs!