Vigo

Today we arrived in Vigo, in lieu of a visit to Oporto. After quite a difficult start to last night's sleep we discovered that to counter the effect of the swell, it was better to sleep across rather than down the bed (port to starboard rather than forward to aft). This did mean Andrews legs hung out of the bed. By 4am it was force 6/7 but we managed to sleep through the force 8 of the early morning before we entered Vigo bay.

Vigo was cold and grey compared with the warmth of the Canary Islands, and really is only a busy port town with nothing much else to see. However, the Galician countryside beyond looks quite lovely. We took a wander around town for a couple of hours, locating C&A and H&M, and then headed back to the ship for lunch.

Since then we've sat in the a)piano and b)spinnaker bars reading our iPad books whilst trying to keep warm. This is the first day where it's been cold on board, although this could be due to the gangways being very close to both of these bars. The hot chocolate - although welcome - hasn't really helped to warm us up!

Are due to leave Vigo any minute - an early departure to get ahead of the weather. The weather. Yes. The captain has just made a safety announcement about the weather. We should be OK for the 40 mins it takes to get out of Vigo's bay, but after that....sustained Force 6/7, pushing 8 but with a 4-5 m swell and rough seas. Last night was similar but with moderate seas. Captain says to take care, not to go outside on balconies and not to worry about the ship flexing (!!??). Other than that he says to have a lovely time.

Of course, we should hit these sea conditions just as Victoria goes for a relaxing head massage, and Andrew goes for a wet shave! Hahaha. Tonight we are booked into the Arcadian Rhodes restaurant (Gary Rhodes) at 8.30. We hope to go to the D.I.S.C.O. after that and drink enough cocktails that we don't notice the rough seas!

Tomorrow is our final day, and it's another full sea day where we're planning on doing the things on Arcadia we still haven't done, such as breakfast and afternoon tea in the posh restaurant.