Traveling With Barney: Train to Vigo and Ferry to The Cíes Islands

Sunday 12 March 2023

We woke up this morning and took the train to Vigo, Spain.

We walked the mile downhill to the hotel when we arrived in Vigo. The hotel had a room ready, and we took it. We were advised it might not be okay for my height... it was on the top floor and had a slopped ceiling. It was a great room.

We bought our ferry tickets and picked up coffee, tea, and pastries at an outdoor cafe.

The Cíes Islands are a group of three islands located off the coast of Galicia, Spain, in the Atlantic Ocean. Access is via a 45-minute ferry from Vigo. The islands are part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park. The islands are characterized by their golden sandy beaches, clear turquoise waters, and rugged cliffs.

The weather changed for the better while we were on the island.

The islands separate the Ria de Vigo estuary from the Atlantic Ocean.

While on the islands, we had a picnic lunch of cheese and bread leftovers from last night's dinner.

After the ferry ride back to Vigo, we went to the Jamoneria MARCOS (ham shop) for a little more to eat, before heading back to the hotel to relax.

We walked along the harbor's wide promenade. in addition to the shops and restaurants, there is a statue of Jules Verne, who visited Vigo at least twice.

In Jules Verne's famous novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, he dedicates a chapter to "the Bay of Vigo." In this chapter, Captain Nemo's submarine, the Nautilus, enters the Vigo Estuary on a mission to rescue the treasures of Rande.

Nemo narrates the Battle of Rande, which took place in 1702. As the divers search for the chests filled with gold and silver, Verne vividly describes the underwater breathing apparatus and lamps used, which were the same as those used during the historical event of the rescue of Rande's treasures, which occurred around the time Verne wrote his novel.