14 May 2007:

The technology Gods are not smiling on me. My 2 GigaByte camera card has died, my fancy electric toothbrush (whiter teeth and healthier gums in half the time) has died and now my laptop seems to be on its deathbed. At random intervals it powers down while I’m in the middle of something and then may not start back up for several hours. I assume that at some point it won’t start back up at all. But, I'll keep trying as long as I can.

Over night we encountered Gale Force winds and relatively high seas.....or so I’m told....I did notice the motion of the boat a few times, but I slept well and had no problems....thanks to a liberal dose of meclizine hydrochloride (and Portuguese wine) before bed.

The morning starts out cool and rainy as we entered Vigo harbor. But the sun was shining as we finally leave the ship to start our tour....more than 2 hours late. We are scheduled on a tour to Santiago de Comostela....one of the three main sites for pilgrims during the middle ages. With an efficiency that can only be rivaled in Italy or France, the Spanish tour company is late bringing the buses...then keeps all the buses in the parking lot until all are crammed with tourists whose bladders are as full as the buses. We continue to wait. It seems that the local Metal Workers union is not happy with some part of their lot in life and have chosen this day to make a statement.....they are on strike. Not that this should matter to us tourists, since we aren’t in town to buy the metalworkers products....but it seems that inconveniencing tourists is a way for them to have their grievances heard by higher powers and so they have threatened violence if our buses attempt to leave the dock area. So, we sit on idling buses waiting to see if some accommodation can be made with the strikers or perhaps they will go on siesta and leave an opening through which we can sneak out.

After another 30 minutes on the bus I decide to ditch the tour and do my own walking tour of Vigo....which is a pleasant little town (actually a pretty damn big town) with many plazas and cafes and wine bars. Not really much of major interest that I could see in town, but still a very nice place where I managed to find refreshment in a few glasses of Estrella Galicia beer after much walking and sustenance from a rice and seafood dish in a local seafood restaurant. It was all very “European”. I have nothing but respect for the people of Vigo (excepting the Metal Workers Union), they have a fine city....and I highly recommend the Estrella Galicia beer.

......but there are many things I have to do this evening before bed, so I’ll try to post this and get on with my life for a while.

I’ll try to post a few pictures, but I may have to cut back on some of the photos or I’ll go over my allowed storage space before the trip is over.