Hola,
Today was a really nice day but also a kinda disappointing day. The fuel filters Randal had ordered really hadn’t been delivered so we have to return to Pombo to get them tomorrow, hopefully; and the GPS/AIS repair guy who was to come at 3:30 pm today still isn’t here at 6:32 pm. Maybe the part he needed didn’t come on time either. The nice part was we went on a very entertaining Picasso walk through Coruña with a led by a very knowledgeable guide from the A Coruña Tourist Office. Most of the 30 folks (30 is the limit so it was full up) were Spanish speaking so our guide had to repeat everything for Randal and me and the 3 women from Maryland and the guy from Washington though I think they all understood some Spanish. The English version was shorter but just as good because Randal and I were thoroughly entertained. I’d expected more time at the Picasso family home but, hey, the 90 minute tour was free so no complaints at all. And I made a return trip to the Plaza of Humor on my way for groceries.
There’s so much to see here; just walking up and down the streets with their enticing shops is fun. Much better than walking in a mall. The weather gods are going to keep us here maybe another week or more so we’ll get to see more of A Coruña, the silver lining in the cloud of delay.
Ru
Ps glad lots of you liked the “ladies” as much as I did
Two Stories and more Coruña photos
When we were leaving La Liῆea/Gibraltar we heard over our VHF radio what to me was a funny exchange. If you can call a breach of international law funny. Thankfully this was only an exchange of words and nothing more. I don’t remember the exact wording, but here is the gist of it. They weren’t speaking to us….though friends Ed and Sue on Angel Louise had a VHF run in with the Brits while entering Gibraltar unannounced. DoraMac was never that close to Gibraltar to have a problem.
“This is British Naval Ship, you are entering British waters; please identify yourself and state your purpose. “
Silence
“This is British Naval Ship, you are entering British waters; please identify yourself and state your purpose. “
More Silence
“This is British Naval Ship, you are entering British waters; please identify yourself and state your purpose. Not responding is a violation of International Law Code……..and your actions will be reported to….”
“Whose waters?” or something that sounded like that.
“This is British Naval Ship, you are entering British waters; please identify yourself and state your purpose. Not responding is a violation of International Law Code……..and your actions will be reported to….”
“Is this a recording?”
We never did find out what happened but Spain and Britain are definitely having a war of words over Gibraltar. Gibraltar had begun to rigidly check all boats in its waters to prevent Spanish fishermen in Gibraltar Bay. In response Spain was doing exceedingly slow border checks backing traffic up back into Gibraltar. It’s hard for me to believe that most of those stuck in the traffic leaving Gibraltar weren’t Spanish, but I really don’t know. The Brits divided the normally one way traffic into two lanes Gibraltar so that the red border bus could still drive back and forth from the Spanish border to the bus station at Market Square which was all we needed.
Other story, a marina dryer dispute I found much less funny (and really much less important) but makes me more sympathetic/empathetic with the frustrated British Naval Ship Captain. It involves a French woman yelling at me for removing her laundry from the dryer. I’d gone to the laundry room and the dryer was running so I sat and waited. It stopped and no one came to take it out The dryer was set for 30 minutes on what you could tell was synthetics but had been stuffed with heavy cotton towels among way too much other stuff. I opened the dryer to remove the wash but everything was still wet. I didn’t want to restart the dryer with stuff in it because who knows, maybe something would get too dry and be ruined. So as the dryer had been stopped for at least 10 minutes, I took the stuff in it out and put mine in. My laundry had been in the dryer 20 minutes set on algodόn which I’d figured was cotton when SHE came in and yelled at me…in French while I was trying to explain to her…in English… that I’d waited for hers to finish and then waited for her to show up. As I’d no clue whose laundry it was and the marina office was closed, I’d taken the stuff out and put mine in rather than sit around forever waiting for someone, apparently her, to show up. She kept yelling “not possible, not possible.” Anyway, she shoved her wet stuff into a bag and stormed away in a huff. The previous day I’d had to remove laundry from the dryer but it was dry and I folded it neatly and I think it was hers too as I think I recognized the bag. Funny enough when I’d gone to get my laundry that day she was there telling the marina man something was wrong with the washer so maybe it spins poorly and that’s why hers didn’t dry. I know it took mine forever and our washer spins really well. Happily her boat left the marina and the sun is supposed to shine all weekend so I can hang the laundry out!
Now more A Coruῆa photos.
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Boys will be boys # 1 Looking at construction and big machines, along the walkway from the marina. |
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Randal thinks they’re planning to put up a building, but we don’t know. |
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Heading off to the “effectos navales” for some naval supply shops. This is the opposite direction from the “old town” so there’s a mix of old and new. |
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The building on the right I think is a mall, maybe supposed to be shaped like a ship? Or it’s part of the convention center. There are too many “down town” shops to make a mall appealing. |
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Boys will be boys # 2 Randal saw first and by the time I realized what was happening, this was the only shot I got. We’d both actually thought the man with the ear protectors had been teaching the other man how to use the blower. And maybe he was, but somehow he turned it into a performance for Randal and me. Spanish folks are really quite warm and friendly here as they were in La Liῆea. |
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Darning needle for fishing nets. I bought one just like it, just a bit smaller, when we were in China. Mine is smooth wood and I’ve no idea what I’ll do with it. I just liked the shape. |
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Pombo The people in this shop are very helpful and we seem to visit them about every other day. |
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Lost in translation. On the way home from the boat supply side of town, I suggested we forego our regular place across from the marina with the English menu option for something more local. I had a dictionary and the waiter had a computer translator but this doesn’t look like 3 tortillas to me. We ordered one cheese, one tuna, and one chorizo. When he asked if we wanted the Spanish or French version, we opted for the Spanish though he then mentioned something about potato being part of it. I think spices had something to do with the French version. Randal just wanted food, so it was, okay, whatever. There was enough food for 4 people so we went home with lots. The yellow things, not cheese, are pretty good and do have potato in them; and egg and cheese. We had them for dinner with vegetables and beans. |
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Can you tell from just the shape that this is John Lennon? |
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We went back out in the afternoon as I wanted to visit the library which closed from 2 until 3 pm. Randal came with me, but as even I was confused about things, he decided to go back to the boat. I stayed for a bit and looked at an art book about Picasso in preparation for our Picasso in A Coruῆa tour the next day. Then I walked around old town for a bit before returning to DoraMac and catching “the Ladies” wading in the water. |
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I love these knockers and if I see one in a shop might have to get it. The one on top has so much detail you can see the fingernails. I wish I could see inside its building because it is so “old city.” We did get to visit the Picasso family home which was in a tall narrow building so maybe that will have to do. (But that’s another story.) |
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I first encountered Plaza del Humor on my way home from the big grocery store. I had no clue it was a permanent “exhibit” or if it was graffiti. But the next day Randal and I took a look on our way to and from the grocery store which was when I noticed the sign below. Unfortunately a quick Internet search hasn’t turned up much to explain the genius behind the idea and some of the names have been worn down so much that I really need to go back just to look at everything really hard to see who all is there. Some folks I recognized but many I didn’t. Like the guy below who I know is not Jimmy Durante. |
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“Plaza del Humor or Humor Square is a tiny theme square dedicated to many different characters throughout history that had a remarkable sense of comedy of humor. The pavement of this square display images of many of this characters, such as Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Groucho Marx, Moliere, Aristoteles and even Shakespeare. Some of them are also Galician writers and artist that may not be known by many people.” http://www.cosmotourist.com/travel-tip/73184/a-coruna/plaza-del-humor/historic-comedy-characters-in-a-square/ |
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Fred and Barney are here Pedro and Pablo! I wonder if their last names stayed the same. Every time I saw ruins in Turkey I thought of “Barney Rubble.” And when I was 3 years old I played Mae West at a summer hotel our parents visited in Lebanon, CT called Grand Lake Lodge. I remember losing a tooth, learning to float, and playing May West. I think I also hated it because I’m not good around kids I don’t know. Our parents took part in some of the theater activities too. , I remember my father played a bride in some crazy production….if my memory is correct. Har, you remember? God knows how they got me to do the Mae West thing except at 3 you just do stuff. So embarrassing to even think about it. And worse there are photos to prove it.
Socrates, Aresop and Pug On my way back from the grocery store (camera-less so I could carry more groceries) I saw Laurel and Hardy and Oscar Wilde among others. |
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The mom told the boys to get off the head so they climbed on his leg; but it is meant to be sat on anyway. Not sure who it is, but it will be fun finding out. Though it’s the Plaza del Humor I don’t think it’s so funny that I don’t know half of these famous folks, but I do know Pedro and Pablo. |
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Reference Reading Room The staff in the library pooled their limited English, more than my non-existent Spanish, to explain that the circulating books were closed shelved but they could get them for me. I really just wanted to browse the watercolor books so that wouldn’t work. I was shown the upstairs reference/magazine area but they really were just reference books; most in Spanish and few with pictures. Here I have the small book on Picasso’s Blue Period and my trusty dictionary. I’m guessing I should try to find the municipal library that I think exists if I want a browsing collection. |
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I want to read this magazine just because I love the cover. They do have Time and Newsweek , the London Times and WSJ in English in the magazine section so I’ll probably go back to visit as it’s just 5 minutes away. |
