Vigo, Spain

For the past two port days we've had a plan, but today we simply did not.  We have absolutely no idea what we are going to do, where we are going, or even how we are going to get there. This photo is the best depiction of our fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stance we took when arriving.  We stood at many a street corner trying to figure out what we were going to do next.

This restaurant was at the end of the street, right outside of the port. I just loved the colors and the ship-like look.



Some street vendors setting up their wares to sell for the day:

As you can tell, the buildings are quite close together and everything is either very up, or very down, but there just isn't much level ground in Vigo.

I absolutely loved all the stone! The cobblestone streets were so neat, but not very convenient when pulling a backpack on wheels!



Have you ever seen landscaping like this?



And believe it or not, this is not a one-way street!

Ashley is just too cute:

Notice the cat on the roof top? They were everywhere!



Ashley had a blowout with her dressy shoes on our first formal night, so we were trying to find a replacement pair for her. We saw a lot of interesting shoes in the process. Isn't this a unique way to display shoes?





And again... I just loved the fresh produce!



My girls were so embarrassed when we walked into this little pastry shop and I pointed to something,(I cannot even remember what it was) and the lady behind the counter thought that I wanted it. I took my picture and walked out, but my children said I was being very rude. I wasn't intentionally rude, what I call it is a language barrier; we simply didn't understand each other. I was pointing and complimenting the food and she thought I wanted to buy.



Around the corner from the pastry shop was this lonely little flower box of flowers:



We walked up and up and up...everything all day long was up hill until we were done finished and then it was all downhill. As we were walking up Blair discovered this door knocker:

I promise, even though it appears that Brent is wearing a skirt, he clearly is not:

I'm not joking when I say everything is UP! I could eat anything I wanted if I lived in Spain and walked everywhere.

But, then again I wouldn't want to live in Spain and have a small flat with only this kind of balcony. I'd really miss my yard.



Blair being her beautiful self:




Almost at the top looking back down to our ship:



And again the wonderful thing about Europe; fresh food everywhere!



I'm not real sure what this is for, but I thought it was pretty neat. It was placed in the middle of a roundabout.

Walking down the street this was a creepy thing to see:




We heard all this racket and chanting going on and we just had to investigate. In very rudimentary English a gentleman standing next to us explained that it was a protest and it had something to do with welfare.





Still searching for that perfect pair of shoes, we went into this mall and right outside the entrance was this pooch. I couldn't believe it. I've seen huge dogs that can take care of themselves tied up in a public place, but never had I witnessed a poor defenseless puppy being left to itself.



Do you notice anything interesting in this picture? The girls and I could not believe this when we saw it! Since when do you decorate with or sell plungers right along with accessories?



We didn't have any luck in that mall, so we headed to the outdoor mall area:

This is where I, Mom, start getting really fussy! I mean really fussy. My teenage daughter isn't having any luck finding the right shoes, and I'm hungry...really hungry. Brent walks into at least a dozen little sandwich shops and walks back out. What a tease! We've been told that we need to have seafood, so I think the sandwiches just aren't what he was looking for. We finally stop at a restaurant and we are seated. It smells so bad that I've instantly lost my appetite. Then the lady at the next table over lights up her cigarette and it begins to get even smellier. I felt so bad, but I just couldn't do it; I simply couldn't eat with smoke wafting around my head and up my nostrils. Brent was so kind to tell the waiter that we'd changed our minds. We take off walking and Brent spots another place to eat. At street level you looked down into this restaurant. It had a sign above the bar area that said "No Smoking". Just kidding, we were in Spain and I think it said "No Fumar". I don't speak Spanish, but I knew that sign meant something good! We walk down into the restaurant and it's a little spooky. The girls have decided at this point that they are just going to wait until they get back to the ship to eat something. Brent and I look at the menu and don't understand a thing! You'd think living in Texas we could have deciphered some of it, but this isn't a enchilada, rice and beans type of place we frequent at home. So, we choose to use the point and smile method of communicating. When we walked in Brent saw these shells with something in them just sitting on the counter, so he points at them and tell the guy we want two. I try real heard to not allow the gag reflex kick, but really...the food is just sitting out in the open where any dirty handed urchin could touch them. It takes forever for them to put them on plates and bring them to us. The girls are enjoying the basket of bread that was brought to our table. I didn't want to hurt Brent's feeling so when "it" arrived, I dove right in. And you know what? It was absolutely delicious! In about three bites it was gone and I wanted another one. It was the most interesting thing and I still don't know what it was. There was a small piece of seafood in the middle of breading, but the flavors were so unique and so wonderful. All we ordered were those two shells and a single shot of espresso, and our bill was 22.00 Euros, which is approximately $34.00. Needless to say, I was very thankful that the girls decided they wanted to wait for the free food on the ship.




We left the restaurant all fairly exhausted and the girls are ready to eat, so we head back to the ship. Here are just a few more pictures of Vigo:

The Port in Vigo: