Vigo

I enjoyed my time in Portugal,  but I love Spain and it was a great feeling to be back on its soil. The port of Vigo on the Atlantic Ocean is the largest city in the municipality of Galicia and the home of Europe's largest fishing fleet. In 1589 Sir Francis Drake, probably in a bad mood after losing at lawn bowls, razed the port to the ground. Several decades later a Turkish fleet attacked the city and, as a result, King Philip 1V in 1656 fortified Vigo with a protective wall, parts of which remain today. I am staying in a gorgeous old house in the centre of the historic quarter of the city and Vigo is a wonderful place to wander around as there are few tourists here. They tend to bypass this city and head to Santiago de Compostela. I took a stroll around its cobbled medieval streets and elegant plazas, which are full of sculptures and monuments. One striking monument, 60 feet high and weighing 40 tons, depicted five horses ascending into the sky on a spiral waterfall and is called Los Caballos.This monument by the celebrated Spanish sculptor, José Oliveira, is a tribute to the wild horses, which used to roam the nearby Monte de Castro in the fashion of Banjo Patterson's Timor ponies of Snowy River fame. I'll look forward to exploring more of Vigo tomorrow.