3 Feb 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - Vigo: Another Unplanned Spanish Destination

We departed from Madeira, knowing we were having to divert to Vigo, Spain, rather than the planned destination of Lisbon. We spent the first day at sea in six to seven metre swells. The Captain explained the complications that stopped us getting to Lisbon. The port has a depth of not much over six metres at the shallowest point and the Spirit of Discovery had a similar draught. With the full six metre swell continuing close to the port, there was a risk that the ship could ground as we entered port. The only safe way to arrive was to enter overnight on the highest point of the high tide. While he thought we could arrive early for the overnight high tide, our departure would also be delayed to the following overnight high tide. This would have meant we would arrive several hours late in Pompey. The decision was taken we would head to Vigo instead.

Not surprising the seas were rough in the six to seven metre swell

The first day at sea was best forgot. In addition to the six to seven metre seas, the sea state was seven, which meant that we couldn't do any Cetacean surveying. However, we still stayed on deck looking, in the hope, we would at least see something. Twelve Kittiwakes were meagre pickings for my efforts from the back of deck 10. We continued to support the couple of one hour drop-in sessions each day, when passengers were able to meet one of the team on one of the lower decks for a chat about Cetaceans or Birds we had been seeing. Additionally, we were still producing the daily ORCA slides for the ship's TV system, so the passengers still would be aware of what we were seeing, even if we met few on deck.

Two of our regular passengers, Dorset-based Denise and Ian checking in with Fiona at the back of deck 10

The six to seven metre swell hadn't dropped at the start of the second day at sea, but at least the sea state had dropped to a six, which allowed us to resume surveying. We were twenty to thirty miles off the Portuguese coast. As we sailed North and came closer to the coast, the swell and sea state slowly moderated during the morning, but both still made surveying difficult. Additionally, there was still a thirty knot wind and the top decks remained closed, so we were again restricted to surveying from the back of deck 10. The highlight of the morning was I saw only the second Whale blow of the trip. There were only a couple of blows and like the first Whale, frustratingly I didn't see the body. Now we were closer to the coast, we were seeing more Kittiwakes, along with a few Gannets, Yellow-legged Gulls and distant unidentified Auks.

Gannet: One of two seen during the second morning at sea

We finished the morning's surveying with this lovely rainbow: A few minutes later it was chucking it down, but fortunately, that coincided with our lunch break

The seas calmed down a bit as we crossed into Spanish waters as we started to get closer to Vigo. But due to strong winds, we were still restricted to the back of deck 10. The highlight was when I saw a couple of Short-beaked Common Dolphins breach on the starboard side of the ship. Unfortunately, after a couple of breaches, they were too close to the side of the ship and I lost sight of them. I hoped they would come down the side of the ship, but if they did, we didn't see them. The numbers of Gannets, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Yellow-legged Gulls picked up as we made our final approach into the Vigo estuary.

The Cies Islands lie at the entrance to the Vigo estuary: They have been a nature reserve since 1980

This large bridge spanned the estuary beyond Vigo

There were large Oyster farms in the estuary

Vigo has a large industrial port

We were finally tied up and able to go ashore

Vigo didn't look like it was going to be as attractive a city as Santander or La Coruna to walk around

The ship had laid on a couple of coach tours around Vigo and the neighbouring town of Baiona. I decided to skip these options and walk up to the Fortress of El Castro which dominated the high ground over the port. The Fortress had a park around it, so I was hoping to see a few Birds as well. Vigo is built on three surrounding hills and everywhere you go from the port seems to be a steep uphill walk. It was a good excuse to stretch the legs.

Yellow-legged Gull: This Yellow-legged Gull was hanging around tables outside a cafe hoping for some food. It is the nominate michahellis subspecies which breeds in breeds Portugal, Spain, Morocco and the coastal & inland Mediterranean from Belgium East to Poland & Turkey. The other subspecies breeds on the Azores, Canaries & Madeira

Looking back down one of the old streets

Vigo has a novel idea to help people get around the city on foot: There are currently twelve escalators in the city and more are planned. The plan is this will help encourage people to walk, rather than drive, in the city. The escalators only go uphill, so you still have to walk downhill. Some were very well designed and a lot more colourful than this one

I ran into a bird flock as I reached the woods in the park around the Fortress of El Castro. A quick bit of pishing produced a good response.

Coal Tit: This is the nominate ater subspecies which occurs from Europe to Siberia, Mongolia, Sakhalin & North East China

Firecrest: This is the nominate ignicapilla subspecies which occurs in West, central & South Europe to Asia Minor

Wren: This is the nominate troglodytes subspecies that breeds in Europe and Turkey

Robin: This is the nominate rubecula subspecies which breeds from Europe & West Turkey East to the Ural Mountains, South to North Morocco, the Azores, Western Canaries & Madeira

Chaffinch: This is most likely the nominate coelebs subspecies which breeds from Europe East to central Asia, South to West & North Turkey & North West Iran. However, it's possible it's a wintering gengleri subspecies that breeds in the UK & Ireland

The Fortress of El Castro was built in 1665 to defend the region from potential attacks by English forces. It is actually a combination of the Fortresses of El Castro and San Sebastian along with the city wall. It saw action in the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702, when a combined English and Dutch fleet defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet. The Fortress, along with the city of Vigo itself, were captured by British forces as part of the capture of Vigo in 1719. In 1809, the Fortress was occupied by the French Imperial Army during Peninsular War, before being recaptured by Spanish forces.

The outer ramparts of the Fortress of El Castro

These three anchors commemorates the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702: The battle was fought by the Anglo-Dutch navy and Spanish-French fleets and dozens of ships were sunk in the Vigo estuary

Old cannons within the Fortress

Black Redstart: This Black Redstart was feeding around the walls of the Fortress

Black Redstart: It is the same gibraltariensis subspecies that we see in the UK, which occurs throughout Europe, Turkey and Northern Africa

Chiffchaff: This Chiffchaff was feeding around the walls of the Fortress

Magpie: This is the melanotos subspecies which is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula

More of the outer walls

Looking at the inside of the Southern gate to the outer walls

Inside the walls

The gate on the inner Southern walls

The gate on the inner Southern walls

Inside the inner Fortress

Inside the Fortress' Northern gate

The Fortress has a good view over the port

We spent the night moored in Vigo port and I booked on the coach tour to Baiona for the following morning. I will cover that in the next Blog Post.

25 Jan 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - The El Capricho Villa: An Early Gaudi Project

This was our fourth day of being stuck in Santander, due to the continuing very rough seas off the Portuguese coast. To keep the passengers occupied, the ship had laid on a number of coach trips to Santander and surrounding places of interest. On the third day, the options had been coach trips to Santillana del Mar or to the Guggenheim Art Gallery in Bilboa: which I had visited or had no interest in visiting, respectively. I took the opportunity to do some planning for the runs ashore in the Canaries and Madeira, as by now the Captain was saying we would be departing in the early hours of 26 Jan and these islands were back on the plan. On our final day in Santander, there was a coach trip to explore the nearby coastal town of Comillas which sounded tempting.

The was another lovely sunrise over the hills to the East of Santander

Meanwhile, it was still dark in the direction of the port

Thirty minutes later, there was a rainbow over Santander: The weather was still very changeable. However, the forecast was for a sunny, but breezy, morning and a wet afternoon

It was time to head to the lower deck and see if we could get onto the Comillas coach trip. The ORCA team are part of the entertainment team. We are only allowed on coach trips, if there is space when the coaches are about to depart, as quite rightly the passengers get priority for the trips.

Black Redstart: This Black Redstart was sitting on a coppery-coloured roof by the dock entrance and it was a quickly snatched photo through the coach window

It was about a forty minute drive to Comillas. We were dropped a few minutes walk from the centre of the town. On the journey, our guide told us that Comillas used to be a small fishing village, until in the second half of the 1800s, the first Marquess Antonio Lopez y Lopez invited King Alfonso XII to his mansion. The King liked the climate and the Spanish royal family started spending their summers there, followed very soon, by the Spanish nobility and other court followers. This resulted in a large number of opulent houses being built in and around the town.

The main university building is perched above the town: It was originally built in 1890 to train new priests, but now it teaches a wider range of courses

Some more of the great-looking Spanish cantilevered windows

The town square

We passed this historic cafe

A close-up of part of the cafe

Within a few minutes, we reached our main destination, the El Capricho villa. This was one of the first buildings that Antoni Gaudi designed and built. Gaudi went on to become the architect of the famous Sagrada Família church in Barcelona. The El Capricho villa was built between 1883 and 1885 for the summer use of Maximo Diaz de Quijano, although he died a year before its completion. It turned out to be a stunning building. Surprisingly, the building eventually fell into disrepair, before it was turned into a restaurant and finally it become a museum in 2009.

The El Capricho villa: It doesn't give away too much at this point

The El Capricho villa: It's a modest-sized house for a wealthy owner at the time

Looking back down the main path

The main entrance is even more impressive with this stunning tower

There was a large stone grotto in the back of the garden

This statue to Gaudi was added in 1989

Another impressive garden feature

The building is covered in these bright individual-looking tiles: Our guide said these tiles were mass produced by moulds, but were then hand-painted to give them their unique look

It was time to have a look inside the El Capricho villa, which was as stunning as the outside.

There was a large conservatory on South facing side: It was filled with plants

Another view of the conservatory

Not surprisingly, the formal rooms were stunning

Another room

The attention to unique detail continued on the ceilings

The original contents of the large bathroom had been removed when it was converted into the restaurant's kitchen: However, the windows remained

The ceiling in the music room

After walking around the rooms, I thought we had seen most of the villa. However, there were two narrow winding stone staircases that led to the upper floor. This was a real surprise to discover.

There was a lot of space in the upper rooms and the most impressive rafters I've seen

The Casa Calvet bench: Designed by Gaudi around 1900

The Casa Calvet chair: Designed by Gaudi around 1900

The upper rooms were narrower than the house, to allow for the conservatory roof.

An upper door lead to a walkway on the roof

The roof provided better views of the tower

A close-up of the tower: Maybe it was added to give those all important sea views, as we are some distance from the sea

A portable garden music kiosk designed by Gaudi: This was designed and built in Comillas for a nearby villa. Our guide said at some point, it was taken to Madrid and sadly, all traces of it have now been lost

Next to the El Capricho villa is the chapel-mausoleum of the Marquises: This houses the mausoleums of first Marquess Antonio Lopez y Lopez, his wife and brother

There was still time to have a quick look around the town. We decided to leave the rest of the passengers and have a quick walk down to the beach.

One of the streets that led to the beach

The last street led to this square

Looking back on the square

Another good-looking balcony

We are still heading to the beach

We ended up walking past a park where there was a large cage in one corner containing several Macaws. What I wasn't expecting to see was one of these Macaws had escaped and was flying around the area. The owner was out calling to it and trying to encourage it to return.

A Red-and-green Macaw was not on the Bird bingo card when I left the ship

Red-and-green Macaw

finally, we reached the beach, where the sea conditions were still looking grim.

Looking left along the beach

Looking right along the beach

Note, just about all of the flats are shut up: Many of these flats are just holiday accommodation or second homes, which is taking the life out of these North Spanish towns at this time of year

It was time to head back to where we would meet the coach.

The Palace of Sobrellano: A palace which started being built for Antonio Lopez y Lopez, but only completed after his death

A distant photo of the status to the first Marquis of Comillas Antonio Lopez y Lopez: He was the guy who put Comillas on the map

The Winged Angel statue on the town's cemetery

Churches in Cobreces: A quick photo from the coach as we passed this church complex

The coach trip got us back to the ship in time for a late lunch. My plan was to have a look around Santander and head to the nearby Prehistory and Archaeology Museum. However, the wind really started to whip up and it started raining, at which point I cancelled my plan in favour of a lazy afternoon. The captain told us that evening that suddenly the wind was gusting at seventy knots for a short period and the bridge crew were forced to engage the engines to keep station alongside the quayside. This allowed the ship to not break its moorings. However, the port's gangplank was damaged during the gale force winds. It was only after the wind had abated, that a ship's gangplank could be deployed to allow a number of passengers who had gone ashore to reboard the Spirit of Discovery. The most eventful event of the sudden gale was one of the moored bulk cargo ships broke her moorings and ran aground. Two tugs were attempting to rescue her as the winds subsided. In the circumstances, damaging the gangplank didn't sound too bad.

We were pleased to see the ORCA team's presence on the ship being advertised on the communal TV screens

On a positive note, this was the last big storm to hit the Spanish coast and the Captain was planning to leave Santander at one the following morning. We were still going to have a four to five metre swell almost as soon as we left the harbour. However, it was good to be back on the move again.