The final day of our trip was spent in La Coruña. It's located on the extreme northwest coast of Spain and is probably one of the more important ports in the country. We didn't know much about the city but a little bit of research told us we wanted to go to the Hercules Tower. Fortunately, there was a tourist office there with maps and suggestions of places to visit. Armed with our map of circled places to visit, we headed up the long path to the tower. It sits on a small promontory on the edge of the city. Even though the Celts were the first peoples to settle the area, the Romans built the tower in the 2nd century AD. There are some great views of the city from the tower. You can climb up but it costs 3 euros. The wind was whipping hard and this made the waves crashing on the rocky shores spectacular.
We found out we could park at the tourist office for the day free of charge. The lady recommended we take the tourist tram that runs the length of the maritime front. It, of course, was out of service until further notice. I can't think of a better time to not offer a tourist transport than the summer. We headed to the Plaza María Pita via the bus. The plaza is named after the legendary woman who defended the city from a siege by Francis Drake. The legend goes that she took up the arms of her husband after he was shot down and kept firing until she captured a British flag. The plaza has a statue of her in a fighting stance and is home to the Town Hall. We had a lunch down a side street at a local place that wasn't crowded with tourists.
After lunch, we headed up towards the port area. As has become custom on the trip, Izzy's parents really enjoyed the port and looking at all the boats. There were tons of sailboats out in the harbor and it seemed like a great idea on such a windy day. We headed up into the old town to see the old medieval churches, monasteries, and buildings. The area was set up originally by the Celts but the Romans and the Spanish continued building there. We found a plaza dedicated to the Galician soldiers that died in the War of Independence. Around the corner, there was a garden with a tomb dedicated to a British soldier that helped the Spanish fight the French in the same war.
Near the gardens was an old fortress, the San Antón Castle. It sits on what is almost an island but connects to the mainland by a thin piece of land. The castle was built to defend the city in the 16th century and offers some great views. La Coruña has some funky buildings near the castle. Across the water is a bright blue building that houses coal. Off to the left is another funky building that has two cubes, one at the top and the other at the bottom. It serves as the maritime traffic control office. The castle was free that day and has some old historical artifacts from the medieval times, including a reconstruction of a popular fishing boat and a water well that still works.
Our final trip of the day was to a hill opposite the Hercules Tower. When we arrived, we found that it was only accessible via a cable car that wasn't free. We decided against it and headed back to Santiago. Along the way, we found some fun things La Coruña has like a giant watch and a tiled octopus bench. It took us almost an hour to get out of the city because our GPS guide kept trying to take us down roads that were one way going the other way or closed for repairs. Sometimes, machines only complicate our lives. Overall, our trip was a lot of fun and we were really glad to share it with Izzy's parents. Now, we're going to spend the weekend with them in Madrid and on Monday, they fly home and we head to Greece! So keep up with us as we make our way through Central and Eastern Europe this summer over the next five weeks.
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