We’d agreed with the shorex team that we would be happy to
escort on various days, and Peter got a call yesterday asking if we would
escort in Vigo. There were two excursions
planned. One was to “the stunning
medieval city of Santiago De Composteia” starting at 8 am and taking 5 ½ hours,
and the other was “Leisurely Vigo”, starting at 10am and lasting 3 hours. Feeling lazy, we chose the shorter one. Bus tours tend to be the least interesting
and the least preferred for escort duties as a rule, and normally nobody wants
them. Surprisingly, the Shorex team tried
to talk Peter into the longer excursion.
“Do you not want to go to Santiogo De Composteia? It’s beautiful there, the cathedral is
fantastic? It’s a wonderful tour”
He politely refused, slightly bemused. Surely someone else would want to do that
tour if it was so wonderful? It turns
out that none of the other crafters/lecturers had offered to escort and Shorex
themselves had to cover it. It was
obviously a lot of time out of their day.
So today, 10 o’clock this morning, I climbed on a bus and
set out with 40 something passengers on a tour around Vigo. At 10.25, I sat with 40 something passengers
in a bus on hill overlooking Vigo wondering what was going to happen next.
 |
| This lovely little church sat at the top of the hill. We didn't go inside because we thought we didn't have time. Hmmm. |
The guide had had problems with the microphone, and the
driver had spent a bit of time trying to fix it. Finally, they thought they had it sussed, but
as soon as the bus set off, it all went to pot again. The passengers were getting a little fed up
and wishing it would hurry up and get resolved, but no-one expected that a
replacement bus was the answer. But that
is exactly what happened. The driver
pulled over to the side of the road, and we waited there until another bus
arrived.
It seemed like a hammer to crack a nut, but the tour company
were obviously determined to provide the service they had promised. The passengers were still a bit tetchy once
we were on the new bus, thinking that their excursion would be shortened due to
the amount of time it had all taken, and they’d be short changed. But the guide told them that it wasn’t the
case, we’d just take a bit longer to get back to the ship.
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| A lovely copy of the mansion we were visiting, in the duck pond on it's grounds. We know about duck houses don't we? |
The tour went well after that, especially since the last
stop involved a five star hotel where we were provided with tapas and liberal
quantities of wine. By the time we left,
everyone was in a good mood and completely forgot their earlier
frustrations. We got back to the ship 50
minutes later than scheduled and ten
minutes before all aboard time. Phew!
Except that I needn’t have worried about all aboard
time. The ship wasn’t going
anywhere. There have been a few medical
cases that needed treatment ashore, and the ship was waiting for five people to
return from the hospital. Sadly, one of
them was one of the crafters. She had a really
bad fall during the rough weather and it turns out she has broken a couple of
bones in the shoulder and will need an operation which will happen in
Maderia. She must have been in a lot of
pain, poor lady. Fingers crossed for
her.
The ship left Vigo a couple of hours behind schedule, and we
are now on our way to Madeira. Tomorrow
is a sea day and Peter will run his classes in the morning. He’s been to the Entertainments office to
agree wording in the daily program that should help us control things. Are we going to have another couple of
stressful sessions, or will everybody have calmed down by now? Only the morning will tell.
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