Palacio Municipal in Maria Pita square

Monday 19th August
Any cloud and fog disappeared over night and Monday started warm with cloudless, blue skies. Emerald got a much needed bath washing off the thick salt that had encrusted everything following the Biscay crossing. Chores done we headed off (at the hottest time of the day I might add) to explore La Coruna. First up iinto the old town behind the marina with its medieval churches and surrounded by a high sea wall.

We wound our way through the wiggly streets down into Maria Pita square honouring a local lass who helped repel an English siege in 1589. The square is huge and contains the Palacio Municipal along one side, the other three sides made up of tall buildings all with glassed in balconies featuring lots of small panes of glass rather than single large panes - a feature of this area. Colonaded walkways run along the bottom of the buildings with cafes and shops.


Terraced buildings

Heading west we walked along a maze of narrow streets lined with cafes with tables outside advertising a huge selection of tapas; octopus displayed in the windows of many.


Heading through the tapas area

The cafes turned into a shopping district and then uphill to the observatory where we hoped to get a view of the town but there wasn't one. We aimed to head back to town by a different route but somewhere something went wrong (I blame the map which had hardly any road names listed and the roads themselves that didn't say what they were called) and we ended up going in almost the opposite direction we wanted, heading into the residential areas. All I can say is that they are big on concrete as a building medium. Once we realised our error (maybe 30 minutes later!) we made the most of where we were and went to the beach area along the north of the town. A wide promenade with cycle path took us along the busy beach, the sea looking very choppy with a strong wind blowing in from the north east. The breeze was very welcome as by now it was scorchio! Somehow we worked our way back to Maria Pita square and back to the marina.

All that walking deserved a treat so we headed out for tapas to the streets west of the main square. If anything there is too much choice! Having wandered back and forth several times we finally decided on 'Rey del Jamon' for a meaty starter then moving on to a fishy place for something else. But it didn't work that way. Having grabbed the last table and with drying hams hanging above our heads we ordered a plate of jamon and a plate of chorizo with bread. They were so good we were hooked and decided to go for another couple of plates and save the fish for another night. For 3 or 4 euro you got a lot of meat. So with eyes bigger than bellies we ordered 2 more meats and a cheese plate, but we were finally beaten and wrapped up our left overs to take home.


Round 2 of Rey del Jamon

The streets were thronged with people but without it being crowded and it made for great people watching at the next bar we went to. We headed home about midnight with the streets still busy and as we passed the restaurants and cafes people were still only just starting on huge plates of food.