On this day the ship docked in Vigo, Spain. Elvin and I took a one-hour drive to the north to Santiago de Compostela. I have been to Spain several times and have seen the shells marking the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, is a centuries-old network of pilgrimage routes that all end at the cathedral in Santiago.
The lingering story is that in the 9th century the remains of St James the apostle were discovered where the cathedral was built over the remains. In the 10th century Muslim force invaded and completely destroyed the city and cathedral. In the 11th century the Muslims were expelled, and the cathedral was completely rebuilt. Over the centuries since then the Cathedral has remained intact but large and visually imposing facades have been built around it. Pilgrimages to Santiago became popular in the middle ages and to this day thousands of people walk the various routes from around Spain to this city and this cathedral.
Our guide was a delightful and knowledgeable lady who shared with us the ins and outs of seeing the city. I thought I would like to go into the cathedral but again on this day the timing was difficult. At noon the cathedral held a mass for about an hour. The tourist doors were closed. The line to get in was not closed and was very long indeed. Elvin and I opted to see the city and find food.
It was about 11:15 or so and we walked around the streets. We found a restaurant that where Diego was arranging the patio furniture. We stopped to read his menu, and he gave us a paper copy. He spoke some English and asked if we would like to eat. Elvin asked if he had empanadas. Elvin had been trying to sample these for several days. He said yes. The deal was sealed for us when we hear the music coming over his PA system to be 1950s and 60s American classics. It was quite enjoyable.
As we wondered around, we saw a restaurant that had a large sign touting the fact that they had Churros and Chocolate. We had those last time we were in Spain. We wanted some more. We partook of dessert in this location. The Churros were very good and the chocolate (in a coffee cup) for dipping was pretty good, not as thick as the previous version but it was thicker than hot chocolate. It was still enjoyable.
We did get a little worried at one point about the time we were supposed to meet with our guide and leave the city. One of us could not find their phone. We rushed back to the churro place and as we walked in about to ask the waitress if the phone was there, she smiled and held up the phone. Whew! The problem was averted.
This was our last excursion day of our cruise. Sunday, September 28 was a cruising day which we enjoyed by trying to get stuff back in our suitcases. Monday. September 29 was a very long day of getting off the ship, catching our ride to Heathrow airport and catching our flights. A pleasant surprise was that we had the same driver that we had for our trip from London to South Hampton last week. It was a pleasure to visit with him as we drove to the airport. It turns out that we had 6 people and 3 different flights leaving from 3 different terminals. But our driver got us all where we needed to be.
The other twist was that our flight from London was about 40 minutes delayed leaving. Penny was checking our Delta app during our flight and found a notice that said we could book a later flight from Atlanta to Kansas City, if we want to. We talked about it and talked to a flight attended who know Atlanta airport very well. We figured we could make the flight we had originally booked.
When we landed, we had just a little over an hour to catch the flight. Our global entry got us through customs quickly. Our next step was to get our bags and take them through customs and recheck them. But we were waiting for the carousel to begin when the very nice Atlanta airport people announce over the PA that the folks arriving from Heathrow could skip customs and go directly to our next flight. Very cool we went to the terminal train that was waiting with doors opened stepped in and off we went to terminal B where we fast walked all the way to the far end and our flight was preboarding wheelchair folks so we made it in time and off we flew.
Conclusion! I have not shared several things about our trip. Suffice it to say there were illness and accidents that waylaid a few of our group for part of the time we were on this cruise. But we all made it home. It was a very good trip, but that is said by one who did not suffer and injury or illness.
Traveling with Ray Owens 
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