Vigo - Calle de Pescaderia

A very pleasant surprise was that temporary membership of the Real Club Nautico de Vigo’s sports facilities is included in our marina fees. There is a 25 metre indoor swimming pool (heated to 28 degrees Celsius), a weights bay, sauna and Turkish baths all in a building right next to the clubhouse and barely 100 metres from where BV is moored. As payment for our indulgence in drinks and tapas, our time in Vigo has started each morning with a mile swim in the pool. It’s certainly waking us up in the mornings!

Calle de Pescaderia

Whilst our dabbling in the tapas bars has not been to excess, according to our travel guide book if you do push the boat out in Vigo then the traditional hangover cure here is a dozen oysters and a bottle of Albariño wine served on Calle de Pescaderia, the street where the oyster shuckers sell their wares. There are a lot of other sorts of shellfish available in the restaurants too but the street is famous for the local oysters, which you collect from the stone stalls in the centre of the street before choosing a table at one of the restaurants. It’s a bit touristy but great fun to soak up the atmosphere.

Whilst we are enjoying looking around Vigo we are conscious that we have still received no news on our application for permission to visit the Islas Cíes. It’s a two stage process. Firstly you need a permit to navigate through national park islands. Then, once you have got your navigation permit, you apply online for permission to visit for specific days with, we think, the time limit set at 3 days in the summer months and 10 days during the rest of the year. Something has definitely gone wrong with our application so one of our priority tasks in Vigo is to try to track down the government office which deals with the approvals to see if we can get hold of a navigation permit.