Out to the islands ... again ... and rather later than intended

You really can’t come to Vigo without going to the Islas Cíes. So, on Wednesday, that’s what I organised for visiting friends to do. We had sort of planned to catch the 11 o’clock boat with the 11.45 one as fall-back if we lingered too long over breakfast or if my en route visit to the library took too long.

I had a book to return and one to collect. I had finally managed to reserve a copy of El Juego de Angel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – writer of La Sombra del Viento, called Shadow of the Wind in its English translation. I half thought I might read some of it on the beach but in the event I was unable to collect it. The library here does not fine you if you have an item overdue, it “punishes” you, sometimes by refusing to let you take books out for a fortnight or, as in this case, not letting you have your reserved book because you have forgotten to return a DVD.

I don’t know about forgetting to return it; I had completely forgotten I had it! And I’d not even watched it! That’s what you get for gallivanting off to Santiago de Compostela! So I had to promise faithfully to return it the following day or I would not receive my book. Suddenly I felt about twelve, and a naughty twelve at that.

Anyway, when we got down to the harbour and tried to buy our tickets, for the 11.45 boat by now after all that fussing, we discovered that it was fully booked. The next one was at one o’clock. Thoughts about best laid plans came to mind. I should have realised that the boats would get booked up early. We could, of course, have booked the night before but then what if it had been raining? We might not have wanted to go in the rain! Oh, life is full of hard choices and their consequences!!!

So we bought our tickets for the later boat and went to have another coffee. Besides, this gave me time to go to the second-hand book fair in the Plaza de Compostela and choose a book to read in the absence of my chosen novel. I paid 3 euros, much better than the 23 I could have paid in a book shop. And the sun was coming out properly after a decidedly cloudy start. Being delayed is not all bad!

If you want a good seat on the boat you need to get on in the very first batch of people (rather like a budget airline flight) so eventually we joined a growing queue. After all, we had done three hours in a queue for Springsteen on Sunday evening so 50 minutes would be a piece of cake. Then we discovered that most of the people in this queue were for a 12.30 boat. How come? Why? No-one mentioned a 12.30 boat to us. We felt cheated until we realised that this was a different company selling tickets in a different place. So together with a small number of equally confused people we found ourselves at the start of the queue for our boat and when it came were able to sit up on the top deck where there are excellent views.

The last time I went to the islands at the end of May there were relatively few people visiting. This time there seemed to be hoards, not quite as many in the queue for the Boss but a good number were moving along the path to the campsite. So we followed and then overtook the crowd as we did not have to carry tents and other equipment, going past the lagoon with its many fish and watching the Atlantic crashing in on the rocks on the far side of the island.

On our way we passed very organised and civilised picnickers: table cloths on the wooden tables, proper glasses for their wine and everything! Most sophisticated! Some people really KNOW how to picnic. This reminded us that it was lunchtime and so we stopped for ensalada mixta at the restaurant of the very packed campsite.

At the entrance to the campsite there is a notice warning campers not to leave food outside their tents because of the sea gulls. In the restaurant we saw a young couple put their trays of food down on a table at the front of the terrace, open to the beach. As they turned to move their bags a gull flew under the awning and landed on the table. Fortunately another diner saw it and chased it off before it could tuck in to their lunch. Later as we and that same young couple left, a gull, possibly the same one on the lookout, flew in to finish off the leftovers only to be chased off again by a vigilant waitress.

Then it was down to the beach for some proper summer holiday stuff: some serious sunbathing that turned into snoring in one case and a bit of a swim. The water was still cold as you went in but once the initial shock wore off it was beautiful – clear and cool. Floating there, completely relaxed – surely one form of heaven! Blue sky, sunshine, clean sand stretching away, the greenery of the island behind: what more could you ask for?

Eventually it was time to go back to Vigo, rather grim and industrial looking by comparison. Even the sky was greyer. But, showered and free of beach sand, we walked down to La Porchaba on Rosalía de Castro for a glass of Rioja and some tapas. A friendly waitress, prepared to go the extra mile to provide good service, was all we needed to finish the day off perfectly.

Gambas gabardina, setas con jamón, croquetas, chipirrones a la plancha – yet another form of heaven!