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| We shared the port with the Queen Victoria |
Judy and I had visited this city in the northwest corner of Spain back in 2012. This region is called Galicia and is known as “the Ireland of Spain.” Centuries ago, it was home to Celtic tribes and, like Ireland, it is cool, rainy and very green. The famous pilgrim destination of Santiago de Compostela is also in Galicia and not far from Vigo.
On our brief visit this time, we were looking forward to the popular local white wine called Albariño as well as some of the incredible shellfish that is found in abundance in the local fjords, which are known as rias.
The weather was typical - cycles of drizzle followed by sunshine and then a quick downpour.
The downtown is not big so it didn’t take long to walk the market and step inside a church or two.
One famous visitor, Jules Verne, is commemorated by a statue funded by a group of women entrepreneurs. The octopus is a reference to a chapter of his novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which is titled “The Bay of Vigo.”
We found a restaurant that had Albariño plus all of the dishes we craved and settle down to enjoy several local items; razor clams, Padron peppers, grilled prawns and a rare delicacy - goose necked barnacles. These tiny critters, known in Spanish as percebes, are lightly steamed with a bay leaf. They look like alien life forms but, once you figure out how to extract the meat, provide an incredible taste something like the ocean itself. If you watch any YouTube video on the challenges of harvesting them, you’ll see why they are the most expensive seafood in Europe.
It was a fun day enjoying something that can only be found along the rocky coast of Spain and Portugal.
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| Percebes - Ugly, pricey and yummy! |
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