Day 20 - Thu - 10/16/2025 - Vigo, Spain
Overnight, our night was both long and short. It was long because our Seattle Mariners lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in an embarrassing fashion 13-4. It was short in that we were awake from 2am to 4am (we quit listening around the 7th inning. It was the 7:30am "Welcome to Vigo" PA port announcement that woke me up. I showered and got ready for the day while Miss Sleepy Eyes stayed prone under the covers. Eventually she succumbed to the pressure of getting up. I headed on up to the LIDO deck for breakfast and joined her in the aft section which I like for its compact selection of breakfast offerings. Today I departed from my typical fare of Congee and had scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, corned beef hash, and cottage cheese. I washed these down with copious amounts of water and green tea.
Yesterday I had scoped out some historical sites that I thought might be worth visiting. The anchor attraction was the Castelo do Castro (Fort on a high hill). We followed a Google Maps generated route which took us up the hill using sidewalks and stairs and bridges. It was hundreds of stairs. Along the way we encountered the Cruz dos Caidos (giant cross honoring the fallen), and Monumento aos Galeons de Rande (3 crusty anchors and two cannons from ancient ships honoring mariners). The views from the top were spectacular and this fort was easy to defend except for the inability to store enough water and supplies to withstand a siege. Originally there were two additional outer defensive rings, but those have been long since been destroyed and removed.
One the way down we checked out a cafe, but the proprietor was too busy to even acknowledge our presence, so we left and continued our walk down the hill using a networks of paths and roads. We encountered a lifesize statute of a bear before reaching the Castro de Vigo which an archeological dig of the original fort complex. It was closed but we could see clearly the foundation stones of a number of buildings.
We continued down and found another fort, Castelo de San Sabastian which had some more scenic views which we enjoyed. Our last stop on the historical portion of our day was the cathedral Concatedral Basilica de Santa Maria. It's a large stone structure with twin towers in front. It's got an arched stone ceiling at least 150 feet in the air. The interior is pretty plain with some statutes along each side of the large room. There's no stained glass, but simple panes of clear glass high above the floor.
Angela was hankering for a churro and chocolate, and I had found a specialty restaurant serving them. However, it was closed, but we walked over to it and the door was open so we walked in and the clerk was willing to sell them if we would do it take out style. We agreed to this and for 6.50E, we had two small cups of chocolate and 4 churros. We took them outside and sat on the curb enjoying them when the owner came out and saw us enjoying them. So he went back in and brought us 8 more. We profusely thanked him and gave him and the helpful clerk one of our custom Seattle stickers. This is how international relations are conducted. One person at a time being friendly to one another.
We strolled back to the port area and decided to check out the large black mall that is literally right next to the ship. Several food venues were open on the main floor, but they didn't appeal to us. We took the escalator up a floor and found a Burger King and decided to check it out. The ordering kiosk was awkward to use, but we eventually got our order in for a spicy burger, a spicy chicken sandwich, fries, and two large Coke Zeros. The food was excellent, but at 3:30pm, it totally spoiled our dinner appetites. We reboarded the ship around 4pm which was 1/2 hour before our required time. I downloaded pictures before going out on deck #7 to watch the sailaway. Around 4:45pm the ship moved away from its berth and sailed ahead towards the open sea. By now I was up on deck #8 forward and could see that we were heading into a low laying fog bank. It was really cool to see the fog approaching and soon we were in it and the required blowing of the ship's horn began and repeated itself every minute. Our pilot boarded his pilot boat and it soon was out of sight in the fog. The fog continued as long as we had daylight.
We were so stuffed that we both just ate watermelon for dinner. The watermelon on the ship is very good. It's crispy and full flavored. During dinner I exchanged messages about our itinerary and excursions with a friend who will be on our next cruise. We then went to the evening 7:30pm show, MOBO, which was a repeat of the show we saw earlier in the cruise. This black trio is VERY good and because they are getting off at our next port of Funchal, they'll have a second show with all different music tomorrow night.
I ended my evening attending the 2nd audition session for the Voice of the Ocean with Angela. She wasn't selected, but she still really enjoys singing karaoke which she did after the auditions were over. I returned to the stateroom to update my blog.
Tonight is going to be another short night at a minimum as our Mariners play at 2:30am. Here's hoping they can win this game. Tomorrow is a sea day so some relaxation may be possible with a light schedule.
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