Holy Week Part II: One Bad Thing

It is my belief that on every trip of any length, one bad, unplanned-for thing is going to happen. A snafu with the plane tickets, an injury, a broken car... Okay, maybe not every trip, but most trips, and if you hold in the back of your mind that your bad thing hasn't happened yet, you're gonna be less shocked and incapable than you would be otherwise. A sort of mental preparation. 

But I'll get to the Bad Thing later. (it really wasn't that bad)

So, like I said, Sunday in Vigo was eerily quiet. Judging from how things are Sundays in Lugo, I kind of assumed it would be that way, and had planned to spend the day at the Islas Cies. 

The Cies

The Cies are part of a national park off the coast of Galicia and according to some, has the "best beach in the world." You can only get there by boat, but there are ferries from Vigo and Pontevedra during the tourist season, which starts during semana santa.

Unfortunately, the weather was too rough to warrant a trip and the ferry wasn't running.

whitecaps

With the original plan not an option, we did what the guy at the hostel suggested and took a different ferry across the estuary to the town of Cangas, which made for a fun trip despite the bi-polar weather system moving through. The photo above is from the ferry ride. I don't know if you can see, but there's a tiny little white triangle off near the horizon, which is a sailboat! Probably part of the same classes I saw the day before.

Look! Sailors! Enjoy the breeze, kids.

Highlights of Cangas: 

• Boats
• Cats
• Winding little streets

View of Cangas from the breakwater

So many kitties!  Laura was not nearly as enamored with them as I was. So what if some of them were a little diseased and gross.

And then it rained.

This little guy was pretty upset about it.

Not much more to say about Vigo, but here's a couple interesting things we saw.

I know, this thing looks kinda boring and gross at first glance, but it's actually kind of neat. It's an old communal clothes-washing area, still in use today judging by that sock. It's easy to forget that modern conveniences like clothes washing machines are really a super recent thing.

And this sculpture in the middle of a roundabout. 

Oh yeah! the Bad Thing.

In all the time I've been in Spain I've never really had a problem with the busses. Maybe they're not as frequent or as fast as I would like, but they're still pretty good. Better than back home at least. Normally what works just fine is getting to the bus station 5-10 minutes before the bus leaves, buying a ticket at the window or just from the driver, and going on your merry way. 

But this time was not destined to be like all the other times when the lady at the ALSA window told us that the bus to Oporto was full. Dun Dun Dun. (go click that link again.)