When in Rome…or Vigo…

Well, there’s a storm comin’ in.  Dammit. 

Hurricane Helene, unmentioned in any of the news we’ve been getting on our cruise ship TV, is heading for Ireland.  In addition, there’s a low pressure system gathering over the North Sea.

Well, I took astronomy at university so that means jack all to me.

Until the captain came on the intercom last night and said well, bugger Northern Europe, we’re off to Spain.

Um…what?!

Okay, he didn’t quite use those words, but it was something similar.   He used pleasantries and things about seasickness and storms and safety, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

So instead of Norway, Ireland and Newfoundland, we’re off to Vigo and the Azores before a rollicking five days crossing the Atlantic into NYC, hooray!

2,500 people instantly got a case of the sulks. 

Vigo?  Where the hell is Vigo?  

We weren’t the only ones asking. So was the crew, especially the poor woman who gives the presentations on the places we visit.  She was all prepped to give an hour’s talk on Bergen, Norway, this morning, with a PowerPoint presentation, handouts and maps. I believe she made several contributions to the cuss pot after El Capitan dropped his little bomb. 

As it happens, Vigo, Spain is the port to access the Compostela de Santiago.  If you know Rev. Kelly and Christina, that might sound familiar.  500 miles, blisters and booze?  Yep.  That’s the one.  They hiked the historic pilgrimage across Spain last year, using walking sticks, moleskin and Advil. 

We’re gonna visit it too, but via a bigass air conditioned motor coach.  

However, as Sheri points out, there is a 15 minute walk from the coach to the church.  Ooooh, little pilgrims we.  Not.   However, Sheri DOES have a big ole blister on her pinkie toe, does that count?

The Azores, on the other hand, had really unappealing offerings of tours.  In Princess’ defense, they did an incredible job of throwing together tours completely on the fly in a remarkably short period of time.  They must’ve worked through the night to pull this off.   But none really appealed to us.

So I was able to find a very highly rated kayaking company in the port in which we’re stopping. For €50 each, we’re having a 3-4 hour kayaking trip, just the two of us and a guide. Wow.  All transportation, gear, everything included.

Would we like lunch and a private van tour of the island for an extra €50?  Nope, because I’m paranoid about getting back to the ship on time. If we miss it, we get to find our own way home, and our stuff enjoys six nights of free food and partying without us. 

Feeling kinda badly for all the people who only brought attire for Northern Europe.  Thankfully we both brought swimsuits and shorts, so we’re okay…a lot of people have sweaters and slacks and not much else.