The marina tower
Thursday 12th July. Galicia is famous for its
beautiful river inlets known as ‘rias’. The city of La Coruna is set on a
peninsular at the mouth of a ria with its harbour on one side and long sandy
beaches on the other. Although La Coruna is a big city with a commercial port,
the view from our mooring is of blue sea, wooded hillsides and sandy bays.
We’ve been exploring the local area - a gentle ten minute stroll
from the Marina along the seafront took us to the old town with its narrow
paved streets and medieval buildings. We’ve
discovered a huge indoor market with a wonderful selection of meat, fish,
vegetables and local bread and pastries.
Friday 13th July. The date certainly lived up to
its reputation. We walked 3 kilometres across the city to a Raymarine dealer to
try and buy a card converter for our plotter after being sold the wrong type of
chart software, but they didn’t have them. On the way back I stopped at a cash
machine to top up with euros – it took my card, then announced it wasn’t
working, and wouldn’t return my card! The bank was closed, so I will have to wait
until Monday to get it back.
Saturday 14th July. Jean is leaving tomorrow and I’d seen a
‘typical Galician’ restaurant recommended on Trip Advisor so we booked for dinner.
The place was well off the tourist track, tucked away in a residential side street.
It was full of Spanish locals and the food was outstanding. We had six courses
of local delicacies, including sea food, fish, meat and chocolate pudding
The Torre de Hercules
Peninsular at the mouth of the ria
Sunday 15th July. Jean
had arranged to call a local taxi at 4.30am to confirm collection at 5am. When
he called the number it wouldn’t connect. We tried another number and that
wouldn’t connect! So 5am saw Jean and Cliff wandering the streets on La Coruna
in search of a cab – luckily they managed to flag one down. We both agree that
Jean has been excellent company – we will definitely keep in touch.
After catching up on sleep we got the folding bikes out and rode out
to the Torre de Hercules, a lighthouse that has existed since Roman times and
overlooks the dramatic rocky headland beyond the city. We then spotted what
looked like standing stones just below the lighthouse, but further exploration revealed a
sculpture park with a stunning range of work by different artists
The modern 'standing stones'
Monday 16th July. Arrived at the bank and was
told they couldn’t give me my card and it would have to be returned to Barclays
in the UK. So now I will have to wait for them to send a replacement. Plan to
leave for Ria Camarinas tomorrow, a nine hour sail south.
I have just worked out how to upload video to this blog, so have added a short video of the dolphins playing on the bow of the boat (see La Coruna at last).
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