Hola,
Today’s our last day in La Coruῆa. We have a weather window for crossing the Bay of Biscay so that’s what we must do. Not that the weather will be great; it just won’t be awful. Or so the forecasts tell us. You truly never know until you go. If it’s no worse than our passage here, that will be great. It certainly will be shorter; only 2 nights and 3 long days. That will take us to Brest, France and the Marina du Moulin Blanc.
We have loved our time here in La Coruῆa, the city and the marina. Everyone, marina staff, city workers, shop employees, and people on the street have been helpful, warm, and friendly. I think we’ll remember La Coruῆa as one of our favorites! Just wish all of our cruising pals had been here too. Of course, then we might never have left at all.
Wifi has been down all day, the only imperfection of the marina…iffy wifi. But here it is, so I’ll send one final email from La Coruña. Next one will be from Brest, France if we can get wifi.
Ru
Around A Coruῆa
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Visit to a jamoneria….. In Tunisia your lunch was wandering around just outside by the grill. Here,in a jamoneria, it hangs from the ceiling until retrieved, strapped into a contraption on the counter, and then sliced up. We found La Leonesa too late for lunch on Sunday so returned Tuesday to try it out. http://www.bestacorunabars.com/25-bars/la-leonesa/ “A fabulous jamoneria in the old city. A delicatessen for local clientele but also a fine bar to sample Spanish cured hams, cheeses and wines. A small restaurant is annexed next door. This friendly and popular bar may be a little overpowering for vegetarians, with a ceiling full of large hams! “ |
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Calle de Principe Just near Rua Principe and the home of Rosalie de Castro, a famous Galician poetess which is on the walking tour map. |
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Not so different from all those shops that sell ham in Virginia, except they’re not hanging from the ceiling. You can also buy these hams in most grocery stores and small shops in Spain. The tiny paper cones are to catch any dripping fat. |
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Not much left to this one other than the bone!
Retrieving a ham
Is that Woody Allen? No but the guy in the blue sweater reminds me of him! |
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We actually ate it all! Two kinds of ham, some cheese, some spicy chorizo, crusty wheat bread, beer and aqua con gas. Randal bought some chorizo to bring back to the boat. ************************************************************** |
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How fitting to see a Citroen Picasso in the onetime home of Picasso. http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/citroen-c4-picasso-first-drive-2013-6-6 is a review for those interested. |
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La Bella y la Bestia : El Musical You don’t have to know Spanish to know this advert is for Beauty and The Beast which is showing here in La Coruña. ********************************************************** |
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Sad Asking for help to feed his two sons. It’s sad if this is truly the only thing he can do. We’ve seen others kneeling or sitting with signs asking for change. The teenage son of the Madrid family told me things are not good for people who have needs at this time. La Coruña seems so prosperous though we’ve not been far from the “cultural center” to see where or how most people live. People here seem to work hard but sometimes that’s not enough. Three million in extreme poverty Leading charity Cáritas talks of a "lost decade," as family income falls back to levels of 2001 More than six percent of Spaniards at risk of social exclusion http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/03/24/inenglish/1364132011_984614.html |
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Municipal Library Photos weren’t allowed inside the library. We did go in and up to the second floor to look and there were lots of people using it late morning. This building didn’t start out as a library. It says “…..Hacienda” over the door. According to my dictionary, Hacienda with a capital H is Treasury which I’m guessing it was once upon a time. We didn’t even know what it was until a man saw me taking a photo and told me it was a library. |
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Frozen vegetables by the kilo There are two small shops as you enter the building that houses our grocery store. One side has frozen everything. The other has deli type stuff and pet products. Both of the smaller shops close during the afternoons but the big store seems to be open though we’ve never been there between 1- 4pm so I’m really not sure. |
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Randal to the rescue, …. of Doramac! We heard noises as if people were walking on the boat which is rare but sometimes happens. Would have been better if that would have been the case. Instead it was these kids clunking into Doramac with this rowboat they’d commendered from it’s place on the pier just off our bow. They were rowing it around while still being tied to the dock. Not sure why they didn’t untie it; perhaps because it wasn’t their boat. I think it belongs to the marina. Randal helped pull them back to where they were supposed to be but you can see scrapes on our hull. |
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View looking up while walking through the old town. |
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Not a mime or street performer… |
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I think she was directing someone moving a mannequin rather than pointing out dirt spots on the window. |
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Coffee and churros : fried donuts and a Kindle…lovely combination I took a break and stopped into Bonilla a la Vista while out exploring last Saturday. Most folks have their churros with hot chocolate but I wasn’t so brave to have all that sugar at one time. http://www.spain-recipes.com/churros.html In New Bedford I worked at Camp Kennedy two summers. The kids would bring me malassadas, Portuguese donuts which are similar to churros. Apparently malassadas are a big treat in Hawaii too where Portuguese also settled as they did drawn to the fishing industry in New Bedford. http://home.comcast.net/~osoono/ethnicdoughs/malasada/malasada.htm |
