The Cruise Line is Holland America, and the ship is the MS Eurodam with 11 decks, holds 2100 passengers, is 935 feet long, and can do around 24 knots.








Our itinerary is: fly from LAX to Barcelona transferring directly to the ship; cruise to several Spanish ports along the Mediterranean (Valencia and Cartagena), sail through the Straights of Gibraltar (with a stop in Gibraltar), around the Iberian Peninsula stopping at several ports in Spain (Cadiz and Vigo) as well as Lisbon, Portugal; traveling through the Bay of Biscayne to Portland, England; across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France; up to Brugge, Belgium, and then through the North Sea to our final destination Copenhagen, Denmark. We'll stay in Copenhagen two nights before flying back home. The cruise itself is 12 days long - total trip 16 days.

Can we handle a 12-day cruise (our longest yet)? Can we survive the flight over in economy class? Will we win the battle against 2000+ passengers for access to the breakfast buffet?..and my first day on board the ship, I discovered that our "Drink Package" which included 15 free drinks per person per day (including alcohol) is not like roll-over minutes - if you only consume 5 drinks one day, you cannot have 25 the next day. *SIGH*....A true test of our survival skills.


Saturday, May 9, 2015

Day 8: May 2 - Vigo, Spain

Coming into Vigo Port


Vigo is in the part of Spain north of Portugal.  We opted for a tour around the countryside hitting a few historical sites.  We first stopped at a medieval Celtic Settlement on the Monte do Castro hill near the center of town.










We then toured the countryside of Galicia near the border with Portugal stopping at Castro Santa Tegra - a celtic settlement built over 2000 years ago - but surprisingly wasn’t discovered until 1913.


The tour continued northward to the port town of Baiona. It was once a major harbor - the launch and return point for most voyages back then...but it's claim to fame is the port  which the Pinto (of the Niño, Pinto, Santa Maria fame) was returned from its famous voyage and was first to announced that Christopher Columbus founded the Americas (ignoring the fact that the first humans in North America arrived over 15,000 years ago - and set up camp long before ole Chris arrived). A replica of the Pinto can be seen in the harbor...not a very large vessel for transoceanic routes!  I wonder if they also offered pub trivia in the crow's nest?


We had some small pastry snacks in the Hotel Parador de Baiona - a converted medieval fortress, now a 4-star hotel located on top of a hilly peninsula overlooking the harbor.  Quite a hefty hike…not sure the snacks were worth it.  


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