Zenit Vigo

Feeling like a couple of drowned rats since having set ashore on the Continent, we felt it time to head south to Portugal with all haste. Having awoken to another damp morning, in Luarca, we quickly packed up and hit the road. Several hours later, and we found ourselves in Portugal, pitching our tent (the first time since leaving GB) on a pretty much deserted site (save for all ...

Vigo was our last port of call on our cruise and I had given this place little thought and done no research, so it came as quite a pleasant surprise. Its a big place and quite spectacular when viewed from the height of the ship.. We didn't get chance to look ...

Today I´m headed for Vigo on the Northwest coast. Madrid has been good although tiring. It rained yesterday so I spent the afternoon at the Prado Museum. After that I walked forever, took a few pictures and ate some ice cream. If you´re ever in Madrid I recomend the Museo del Jamon, ham and cheese sandwich + beer = 2euros.

... work shifts of between 12 and 16 hours per day. On our boat, since the responsibilities of each position vary considerably from one another, most of the crew are also trained in other areas. So, when guests are aboard and the Steward/ess’ are crazy busy, the deck hands can help in many of the areas to lighten their load, and when there are few guests aboard, but we just finished a crossing, then the Stewies will help out the deck crew ...

... We also had lunch at a very nice fishing village. It is not a surprise that seafood is popular… some of the local favorites are mussels and octopus. …and of course they make a lot of wine, and we sampled some that was delicious. The end of our day was spent exploring Vigo’s old gothic quarter.

... s! We were fortunate enough to see a river cruise boat coming through it. Further upstream the countryside gave way to more and more vines, as we approached the Port vineyards. Attractive Quintas dotted the hills, and the hills themselves have been shaped and terraced by man over the centuries. Sadly there was not enough time to reach the top of the Upper Douro, which lies at the Spanish Border, nor to visit the Solar ...

... to it very easily!  So finally this brings us to our current haven, I think we will spend another day here before we head south through Portugal. The drive from Astorga was long and varied with some stunning roads and scenery, very hilly as we passed along, 'green Spain' but when we finally spotted the sea we knew it was the right choice. As we got closer the clouds disappeared and the afternoon sun shone off the sea, it was the perfect setting we had been looking for.

Today we headed south.  When planning this trip I got Cadogan's guide to Northern Spain and it had 5 areas in it that shouldn't be missed in Galicia.  One of them was Tui (pronounced 2-ie) this town is on the river Mino which is the border between Spain and Portugal.  The bridge that connects the 2 countries was designed by Gustave Eiffel.  Valenca, the city in ...

Notre marche de Tuy par O Porino, Redondella et Ponte Vedra Top 5 de la vie de pelerin 1- payer 3 euros pour coucher 2- manger du spagat parce qu on peut se faire a souper 3- Avoir de cordes a linge deja installees (pas piege a con!) 4- Spirit du pellerin...ca chante, ca souffre...tout le monde ensemble 5- Se rendre compte que meme si on a passe 30 ans, on est encore les meilleurs (hi!hi!)

So I spent 6 hours in the bus stop waiting to get on the bus for Vigo, at 330 am we finally departed santander and started the bus trip from hell. The green lights on the bus stayed on the whole trip and although i did sleep i have a feeling that the money i saved travelling this route may be spent on a physio for my neck later in life. 12 hours later and busting to ...