A Coruna (Visit to Santiago de Compostella) then onto Ria Camarinas

We spent 3 nights in A Coruna and despite the swell we had a great time there. It is one of those places where sailors of the world congregate and we met some great people and exchanged ideas for the next few months. From the cockpit we could see French, Dutch, English, American, Canadian, Swedish, Ukrainian, Japanese, and Norwegian flagged yachts.

The marina is right in the heart of the city which is beautiful, there is a plaza of buildings with the Galician small windowed buildings and then behind that the shopping district sprawls in one direction and the old town and university area in the other. On the headland of the peninsular, upon which A Coruna sits is a lighthouse. The lighthouse, named the Tower of Hercules dating back to the 1st century AD, and it is the only preserved Roman lighthouse that is still in use - just think of people sailing the same route as us in Roman times!!

Tower of Hercules

We hopped on the train to Santiago de Compostela on Friday morning with Lee & Andrew from s/v Katherine. It was about 10 euros return and only took half an hour so we decided that would be easier than hiring a car. The city was packed as we were only a few days after Saint James' Day when many pilgrims aim to be in the town to honour the apostle whose remains are supposed to be buried under the cathedral. It was quite a tourist wakeup call for us as we have been a bit off the tourist trail so far on this trip, however the town is truly beautiful and we had a great day wandering the small streets before settling into a long lunch of langoustines and percebes (goose barnacles - which are a delicacy in this part of Galicia - they taste much better than they look) . As my photos are not that great but here's a link to some of Lee's: https://www.facebook.com/svkatherine/posts/1064166553697887?pnref=story

Beautiful Santiago de Compostella

Langoustines - good up sell but yummy!

Lunch in Santiago

Santiago.....

Crowds in Santiago de Compostella

Saturday we got a few boat jobs done, had a BBQ on SV Katherine, which was very Aussie when a British sailor popped by with a didgeridoo to see if any of us could play it - the answer was no but Andrew had a go.

Andrew, of SV Katherine attempting to play

View from Sv Katherine in A Coruna

Sunday morning we got up early, refuelled and set sail south about 40 miles to Camarinas. We motor sailed out past the tower of hercules hoping for a sail but instead got a glass off so we polished the deck before the wind came in a little. We poled out the jib and had a gentle sail for a couple of hours before entering the Ria and anchoring way out in the middle looking for a bit of peace and quiet after 3 days in the marina - but of course a huge catamaran comes along and anchors right next to us obstructing our view - ho hum.....

Sailing into the Ria

Our open space in Ria Camarinas

Camarinas - beautiful morning!