Vigo
We had read on Cruise Critic that Vigo is such an "uninteresting place"... which cinched it for us. We knew without a doubt that this was going to be a great place to visit. We actually had three caches loaded into the GPS unit, but the map I printed for us had a somewhat larger scale than I realized, so we settled for just one of them, once we had climbed to the top of the hill (3/4 of a mile as the crow flies), scored the cache, and seen the beautiful historic castle with its lovely landscaping. I can see now why so few people from the cruise ships come up here, especially since they're mostly geriatrics, unlike GA and me. We're still young and spry.
Every once in a while you can get a really neat photo that just has that nice composition and subject matter. After logging the cache, we kept going up the hill and discovered this castle in Castro Park, which nobody had mentioned in the literature, but which made the climb worthwhile. As we got our first view, we saw this:
Man with dog overlooking the bay from the castle in Vigo. Photo by Wm
I don't care who you are or if you like the photo. Well, to be honest, I do care if you like the photo, because I like it. It's a nice photo. So if you don't like it, leave this blog right now and go watch your TV set, loser.
Now this one isn't quite as nice, because of the nasty graffiti, but I like the door, anyway. GA likes doors, and I think sometimes they make good pictures. We can pretend that the graffiti is historic, probably put there by the Spanish Inquisition.
Wm posing at a door in a Spanish castle in Vigo. Photo by GA.
You know, I'm reminded of one session of a seminar that I attended on the cruise. Some British guy was teaching us about digital photography, and he was trying to explain to us about the difference between photographs and art. Now, I will say that this guy took some very nice photos, and that I would consider them to be good art as well, but he was trying to tell us that a photograph is just a record of something you saw, while with art, you have to do something extra to it to make it art. But then he showed us a photo of a lake, which was beautiful, and he tried to claim that since he composed it with the reflection, that made it art - not realizing that he had just trashed his own definition. So I'm back with my original assumption about the subject: art is whatever the artist says it is, and it's entirely subjective, and entirely dependent on what the photographer intended.
This, for instance:
Bench overlooking pool, photo by Wm
That's a beautiful photograph. I didn't really intend it to be art, but I did intend to make it as pleasing as possible to the eye while capturing the reality of it all. But I could just as easily tell you that the empty bench is symbolic of the emptiness of the human condition, and it would be art. But who cares? It's both art and a nice photograph - unless I decide to enter it into a contest, in which case that bench holds the very meaning of life. Which, ahem, it does.
Now this, on the other hand, is indisputably art, because the stairs are a statement on man's climb toward greatness, safety, beauty, and spiritual renewal:
Stairs, photo (I mean art) by Wm
Part of the way back down to sea level, we stopped at Jackie's Cafetería. Here was yet another reason to strike out on our own, rather than follow the footsteps of other tourists from the ship. We were the only non-locals eating there, and with yours truly speaking only a little español, and our waiter speaking only a little inglés, we somehow managed to strike a deal as to lunch. GA had cabbage soup, as it turned out, and I had the hake platter. Both were delicious. For dessert, how could we not have flan con nata, washed down with espresso? Take my word for it that this was the best flan I have ever tasted in my short but eventful life.
After a lovely day of touring castles and practicing arty stuff, we eventually had to go back down to the lowlands, where we found this lovely sculpture, which is art, so that the photo is merely a record of existing art, and not art itself - except that I added something, so maybe it's art after all:
harB sitting in the lap of Jules Verne. Photo by Wm
Now why would Jules Verne be depicted here sitting on a giant squid? Because, dear readers, he favorably mentioned Vigo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and is therefore beloved of all Vigans. The lesson is that if you ever write a book, mention some obscure little town somewhere, and they will make a statue of you, and hippos will climb on it some day.
Now this next one was absolutely intended to be art, as the sun set behind our cruise ship, and the sea life teemed:
The sun sets in Vigo. Photo by Wm
Funchal
In Funchal, we had three more possible geocaches, but really only intended to get two of them, the third requiring a cable car journey at some expense, and therefore to be used as backup in the event that we failed to find either of the first two. One of these was the Funchal Walkabout, which was very inefficient, strictly in terms of effort to get one little cache - but which was to serve as our tour guide, as it is a multi-cache, taking us to several interesting sites in Funchal, with puzzles to solve at each stage. And the other cache happened to be close to stage three of the multi-cache, so off we went.
Now most of these sites won't be listed on Wikipedia, but that's the point. When caching, you get to see things that are interesting, but which are not on an official tourist guide. Take this interesting little statue on a hidden street:
Statue hidden among buildings in Funchal, photo by Wm
All I can tell you is that each stage had something nice enough to visit. How about this door? I like doors, and they can make interesting photographs, or dare I say it... art? Yes, art. Why not?
Spanish door, behind which the Spanish Inquisition may have tortured a heretic centuries ago. Photo by Wm.
Or try this:
Wm on the Vagrant. Photo by GA.
Know what that is? That, my friends, is stage eight, with the final clue to the real cache. It is also the Vagrant, a yacht once owned by the Beatles. In this photo, I am standing on a spot on the yacht where it is virtually certain that all four of the Fab Four stepped at one time or another. I am therefore blessed among men, for I have trod where Ringo hath trod. (Cue choir music here).
Would I have found this historic vessel had I not been pursuing this cache? Possibly. Just possibly. But nobody else from the Independence knew about it. Pity them.
Still not convinced? OK, remember that second geocache I mentioned, that we picked up after the third stage of the multi-cache? It was placed near a restaurant. This restaurant, the Muralha (which means "the wall") had outdoor seating, and seemed to be as charming as anything you could want. So we ate there after completing the cache:
Wm holding his wine while gazing at his lady in admiration. Photo by GA
We enjoyed battered scabbard, with fried bananas, and it was the best nom noms you can imagine. It was such a sweet, exquisite fish, and it went so well with a local wine that I can't even describe the sheer gastronomic pleasure. I still feel a little faint, just trying to describe it.
Here is what the fish actually looks like:
Photo stolen from Wikipedia
OK, not so appetizing before cooking, but it sure tastes good on a plate.
And finally, here is a photo of the view from the final goal of that multi-cache, a lovely garden area overlooking our cruise ship, as it awaited our return:
The Independence of the Seas, docked in Funchal. Photo by Wm.
Next: the Days at Sea
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