We awoke this morning as the ship was arriving into the Spanish town of Vigo. We had booked an excursion, so had to eat a quick, early breakfast before leaving our home from home for the first time.

Spain looks very different to England. Vigo appears to be a built up town, with lots of high rising flats. Surrounding Vigo, however, is beautiful landscape, which includes churches, tree dense hills and rustic Spanish villas.

Our excursion, a bus tour of Vigo, took us around the town, where we saw some of the major buildings and attractions. As Vigo is a fishing port, there was many dockyards and fish factories. We also drove past the football stadium of La Liga side, Celta Vigo.

The coach stopped at a church outside of the town, where we could take in the views, which included three surrounding islands. A foggy morning meant we couldn’t see quite as far as we would on a clear day.

A trip to a 19th century estate followed, and we were shown around the beautiful gardens.

We were then driven to a luxury five star hotel for drinks. Our tour guide reliably informed us that both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona stay in the hotel when playing Celts Vigo. Just think – I could have drank my coffee from the same cup as Lionel Messi.

We were about to leave the hotel and drive back to the ship, when we were told the coach was broken and would have to be changed. As we were leaving the old house, we had heard a huge bang, so knew something wasn’t right with the vehicle!

A replacement coach was sent, but while we waited, it gave us chance to look out across the beach and coastline. An excitable dog was running around. The dog then turned aggressive, attacking a cyclist and biting two sets of joggers. This resulted in a very angry, bitten man, who appeared to not let the dog or its female owner leave, until he had finished a telephone call – one would hope to the local police, as the woman clearly had no control over her dangerous animal.

The replacement coach arrived, and we boarded, safe and sound, away from the dog. We were then driven back to our ship, before we would enjoy a late lunch and chance to sunbathe from our private balcony.

[Photos from the day]