Our first day in Spain begins grey and foggy. But at least it is noticeably warmer. And the sun quickly burns away the fog. How lovely! After a delicious breakfast of pancakes, we set off on a discovery tour. Our berth is right in the centre of town, so we stroll through the alleyways of A Coruña in no time at all. We still really like the city and are a little sad that we won’t be spending the winter here. But it’s much warmer in Portugal in winter and hopefully less windy too. In the narrow streets of the town, one small shop follows the next. The walk through the many side streets and into the parallel alleyways is worthwhile and so we meander here and there. Our path leads us past the market hall of San Agustin, where we definitely have to stop by again to do some shopping. We discover the tapas bar where we had such a nice time with Judith & Sönke and Eva & Rüdiger last time. We even rediscover the ham shop with the hams hanging from the ceiling. After so much walking, we end up at a pulperia on the Praza de María Pita for a little lunch snack. Pulpo a Feira for me, sardines with pimentos and potatoes for Axel. Served with delicious bread and an Estrella. Life in Spain can be really tough! Back on board, we take a long siesta to recover from the hard life. In the late afternoon, Jens from the Marieke comes by, who has also arrived in A Coruña in the meantime, but is unfortunately moored in the other marina. We swap stories about the Bay of Biscay and eventually head back into the city together. We stroll along the alleyways again and finally end up at O’Sampaio, where, after initial difficulties communicating with the waiter, we are served a selection of tapas that we can’t even begin to manage. And all for less than 60 euros for 3 people including drinks. Thankfully, we are also invited by Jens today! Back on board, we have a nightcap until Jens finally leaves us in the direction of Marieke. We fall into our bunks almost immediately.
We are woken up early in the morning by humming and gentle rocking. Apparently another cruise ship is docking next to the marina. We save ourselves the trouble of looking outside and go back to sleep. Around 8.30 a.m., I am finally awake and can inspect our new neighbouring berth. The mega cruise liner Anthem of the Seas has docked and is already happily spitting tourists out of its belly. It can carry a total of 4,500 passengers, plus 1,500 crew members. That would be nothing for us! What’s more, the generators are noisy all the time and pollute the air with exhaust fumes. Not nice! We use the still grey morning to give La Ola a bit of care. The washing machine is running at full speed again today and the beds are airing out in the cockpit. Axel finally gets a haircut so that he no longer looks like a hippy. In the early afternoon, we take our folding bikes to Marina Coruña and pick up Jens there. Together we ride to the Torre del Hercules, the oldest lighthouse in the world still in operation. The route is borderline uphill for our small on-board bikes, so we arrive at the lighthouse rather exhausted and prefer to save ourselves the trip to the top of the lighthouse. We head back past Praia de Orzán and through numerous alleyways uphill and downhill into the old town. Jens has been given a tip for a jamoneria and we have well and truly earned a small afternoon snack. We finally reach the Jamoneria La Leonesa and get a nice spot outside by the wine barrel. We quickly order a mixed cheese and ham platter, as well as pimientos and three beers, which are delivered just as quickly. It hits us hard again today! How incredibly nice it is to stand next to an old wine barrel in shorts on a Sunday afternoon, eating delicious food and watching the fun-loving people next to us. The journey across the Bay of Biscay has already been more than worth it. Full and satisfied, we finally return on board our two boats to recover from the day’s exertions. In the evening, we phone the family and make sure that everyone is doing well at home.
Another cruise ship arrives early in the morning. This time the Viking Star is much smaller, although just as humming and smoking. Well, we’ll just have to get used to it, because the current weather forecast suggests that we’ll be staying in A Coruna for a few more days. From Wednesday, gale force 8 winds are forecast, with gusts of up to force 10. With such a forecast, we use today to make everything storm-proof, among other things. Everything that could fly is tied down and braced. The lines are doubled up and all the fenders we have are deployed. After all, we are super well protected in our harbour. If there is a cruise ship there, it will be even more protected than it already is, so we really hope that there will be one on Wednesday! A look at the Internet informs us that Costa Diadema is not scheduled to arrive until Thursday. Marina will then arrive on Friday. The weekend will be cruise-free! Otherwise, we spend the day doing handicrafts and office work. Axel installs USB sockets, maintains the machines and goes shopping. I sit at the computer. Business as usual! The cruiser leaves us again in the afternoon and the wind picks up. Not only because our windbreak has gone, but also because it’s supposed to freshen up in the afternoon. We are still sheltered and sit in the cockpit with chicken fricassee in the evening. How good that we have the conservatory! We spend the evening in the saloon and watch another crime thriller on the ARD media library. During the night we are annoyed by mosquitoes. We’ve also somehow caught a cold and are correspondingly groggy in the morning. The day therefore starts quietly and without much action, except that Axel realises that our heating outlet pipe has come loose and only the baking box under the saloon sofa is left. Fortunately, the problem is quickly fixed, although it is still quite warm today. Jens comes round in the afternoon and we go shopping together in the city centre. The Gadis supermarket under the market hall really does offer everything your heart and stomach could desire. Great quality, a large selection, friendly staff and good prices. Back on board, Axel lies down sick again and we spend a quiet afternoon and evening. Having a cold is always bad, whether on board or elsewhere. In the evening we watch Back to Black on Amy Whinehouse on the on-board TV before heading back to bed.
The night is restless as Axel coughs and snuffles like crazy. Luckily I haven’t caught it yet, so after breakfast I run into town and buy some cold remedies for him. I also finally manage to buy some fly swatters. The last few days we have been annoyed and bitten by numerous mosquitoes. The forecast wind is still moderate at first. It is howling and rattling in our marina, but we have no waves or swell in the harbour basin, so we have a good feeling. The wind is also super warm and the forecast rain is holding off. I have a quick chat with our new Australian neighbour Wayne from the Lagoon 440 CathayOZ and we arrange to meet up for an evening on board as soon as Axel and the weather are better again. At some point in the afternoon, the wind picks up as predicted and the rain sets in, pelting the deck. A good opportunity for indoor work. I defrost our cockpit refrigerator, which is iced over in a surprisingly short time. I also work on the computer. So the rain also has a good side, especially because the salt from the crossing of the Bay of Biscay is finally washed off the deck. In the evening we have a delicious tortellini salad à la Haberland and watch another film on the on-board TV.
The wind and rain continue throughout the night, but La Ola lies calmly in the water and we hardly notice the bad weather at all. The next morning is still grey at first, but in the course of the morning it becomes nice and sunny again. As Axel is feeling better again, we take a short trip into the city centre at lunchtime and buy some delicious wholemeal baguettes and ham for lunch. While Axel then takes a siesta to further regenerate, I surf the internet for a while. The winter time in Portugal has to be planned slowly. We want to have the underwater hull done and are looking for a shipyard that can take out our wide steamer and do some work for us. There are also a few conversion projects on our wish list. For example, I would like to have two fridge/freezer drawers instead of the conventional fridges and freezers with front doors. These would be easier to store and could even be switched individually from fridge to freezer function. There are various models on offer, but it’s not so easy to find out whether they will fit into the available cupboard space and what the advantages and disadvantages of the different models are. Axel would also like to extend the solar panel and install an air conditioning system. Quite a lot of building sites. And if I then manage to find someone to wrap La Ola, I’ll be happy. Fortunately, there’s still a little time left. We spend the evening inside in the saloon again today and watch a sunny report on Fiji while the rain pours down and the wind howls outside.
We get up the next morning in the rain, just in time for the arrival of the cruise ship Marina. Fortunately, the weather improves in the course of the morning so that we can enjoy outdoor activities again. So we make a quick trip to the harbour master, where we enquire about a hire car and book a table at the Club Real Nautico for the evening. According to our Australian neighbour Wayne, the food there is very good and very reasonably priced in a super nice atmosphere. Back on board, we have another delicious baguette with Spanish ham and queso in the cockpit. It’s easy to get used to! Afterwards, Axel takes a siesta while I entertain Lucky the cat and make travel plans for the weekend. We’ve booked a hire car for tomorrow, Saturday, which will not only allow us to do a bit of shopping, but we also want to use it for a bit of sightseeing in the surrounding area. So I plan the route and see what else there is to discover in the region besides Santiago de Compostella. At 8 o’clock in the evening, we set off for the yacht club, all dressed up. It’s not far, we just have to walk along the jetty and we’re there. We dutifully show our reservation slip and are ushered into the time-honoured building and invited to our table. There we can choose between the menu of the day and various dishes. We choose the 3-course menu and are served fish soup and stuffed tomato as a starter, sole and pork chop as a main course and fruit salad and pan viejo with ice cream for dessert. We also have a bottle of white wine and two waters. We forgo coffee and a digestif. We were charged a whopping 28 euros for this! In total!!! The food may not be a culinary discovery, but it is well cooked and delicious. However, we are once again far too early and spend most of the time sitting alone in the club restaurant. Only when we leave shortly before 10 pm does the place start to fill up. We return on board La Ola and sit in the saloon for a while before disappearing into our bunks.
Jens is in front of the ship at 9.30 a.m. on the dot and we make our way to the car hire station together. It’s a 5-minute taxi ride to the station and then a few more steps to the car hire office. We quickly and easily get a blue Seat Leon and are on our way to Lugo in no time at all. Lugo is said to have a beautiful old town centre and the oldest Roman city wall that is still completely intact. The route takes us past rather dull towns and villages, higher and higher up into the mountains, where the weather unfortunately deteriorates considerably. It gets foggy and cold. The thermometer shows just 13 degrees! And unfortunately we are dressed for 20 degrees. No problem as long as we’re in the car. But eventually we reach Lugo and have to leave the car after a somewhat protracted search for a parking space. Brrr!!! So we prefer to walk a step faster through the historic streets and are glad when the sun comes out again. Whether due to the temperature or the time of day, the alleyways are quite deserted and the many restaurants and cafés are empty. We look for a sunny spot for a small lunchtime snack, but don’t really find one. So we just carry on sightseeing and wander through the alleyways. At some point, someone seems to have flicked a switch and the alleyways, which were deserted a short while ago, are suddenly filled with people sitting outside eating tapas and pulpo. We actually find a sunny spot after all and order a nice cerveza. However, a glance at the menu makes us decide against a lunchtime snack. With prices ranging from at least 16 euros (croquetas) to 68 euros (paella), the appetite is clearly gone. Fortunately, the beer is not as expensive and we get a small portion of potato salad on the house. So we don’t have to get up hungry again. We then stroll around Lugo for a while before heading back to A Coruña in the early afternoon. Our first stop there is the El Corte Ingles department stores‘, where we want to do some shopping. Unfortunately, our cordless hoover hasn’t proved to be very absorbent and easy to handle, so we want to buy a new one. Unfortunately, the Dyson we wanted wasn’t available, but with the help of the friendly sales assistant, we ended up buying a corded hoover from Rowenta. We move on to the food department, where we are once again amazed at how beautifully food can be displayed. A paradise for foodies! We continue by car to IKEA, where we buy an iPad holder. Next stop Carrefour Hypermarché, where more groceries and, above all, heavy items such as drinks go into our shopping trolley. After dropping Jens off at his marina, we finally arrive back at Club Real Nautico at around 7 pm. Unloading the car takes a little longer than expected, as several trips to the boat are necessary to get everything on board. Unfortunately, as usual, there are no transport trolleys in the marina. After Axel has parked the car around the corner in the underground car park and everything has been transported on board, it’s time to stow everything away. It’s already quite late when we finally get something to eat. As neither of us feel like cooking, we stick to baguettes with ham and cheese. Exhausted, we spend the evening in the saloon and Lucky is glad that we have come back to him after a long, lonely day on board.
New day, same game. Jens stands in front of the boat in the morning and we set off again in the blue Seat. Today we are travelling to Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the Way of St. James. Although that’s wrong, because many pilgrimage routes lead to Santiago de Compostela. There is the Spanish and the Portuguese route, but there is also the sailing route. And there is probably also one for cyclists. We take the rather unknown pilgrimage route by car and have to do without many an uncomfortable overnight camp and also the stamps in the pilgrim’s identity card. This is not meant to be disrespectful, but there are three pronounced atheists in the car who got their last stamps of success in primary school or early musical education. We drive from A Coruña today through a somewhat more varied landscape and enjoy the winding route. Unfortunately, it also clouds up at some point today and the outside temperature drops with every metre of altitude. But today we are equipped and warmly dressed. In Santiago de Compostela, we manage to find the San Xoan XXIII multi-storey car park straight away and walk the last 800 metres to the cathedral. However, it is surprisingly difficult to recognise the real pilgrims in the crowds of people heading towards the cathedral. Only when we reach the Praza do Obradoiro do we see the pilgrims who have walked and cycled a long way. They sit animatedly, happily, quietly or boisterously in groups celebrating their arrival in the large square and you can tell that the journey has been long and rocky. But they have made it and some of them still don’t seem to realise that they have reached their destination. Although the destination is probably not the square, but going to the cathedral to admire the relics. Or rather to the office where you get the last stamp in your pilgrim’s passport? We three non-believers would have liked to take a look inside the cathedral, but the long queue that winds its way through several alleyways quickly puts us off that plan. Instead, we head to the small Café Literarios and treat ourselves to a few snacks for lunch. Afterwards, we wander through the alleyways of Santiago de Compostela and are shocked at how many devotional objects you can buy as a pilgrim. From scallop shells as necklaces or brooches, to hoodies with Buen Camino inscriptions, tattoos, mugs and stickers, there’s everything. Commerce in the name of the Lord? Well… We finally get back into our car and drive back to A Coruña via the villages and with a short detour to the Ría Corne y Laxe, realising that you really do have to have walked to Santiago de Compostela to get anything out of the hype. We return the trusty Seat Leon and are back in our marina in no time at all by taxi. There we recover from the day’s exertions. As my cold is now making itself felt, we spend the evening quietly on board and don’t go to Jens‘ for pizza as planned. As a surprise, Thomas and Angelika from Manatee come round and bring us dessert. How great! We haven’t actually met them before. Only from stories told by Jens, who knows them from Lübeck, and through our long-time friend Andreas from Hamburg, whose brother is Thomas. Despite missing out on pizza, it turned out to be a delicious evening with prawns, baguette and aioli, complemented by a delicious dessert with Baileys. Add to that the latest Tatort from Frankfurt and we feel better again.
The new week starts grey and foggy and with a new neighbour stinking of sulphur. The MSC Virtuosa has docked next to us. As Monday is my office day, I retire to my little office on board after breakfast and work diligently all day. Meanwhile, Axel completes small boat projects, goes shopping and catches up on the global political situation. I finally get off work shortly before 6 pm and can relax for the rest of the day. Jens is also visiting and picks up a gas cylinder from us. His is nearing the end and, contrary to all the information available, there is unfortunately no way to have the cylinder filled in A Coruña. As we have two of them on board and usually cook electrically, we are happy to hand ours in. The weather has unfortunately improved only slightly, but fortunately the smelly neighbour has left again. We are slowly getting tired of the cruise ships and it might be time to move on again. The current weather forecast gives us hope that we can continue our journey on Thursday. If all goes well, we’ll first go to the Ría Corme y Laxe, which we already inspected yesterday, and from there to the Ría de Camariñas. We can then either continue south along the coast in small steps or make another big overnight stop in Porto, Lisbon or directly in the Algarve. We’ll see!
The next day starts off rainy again. But it has warmed up over night. Despite our new fly swatters, the mosquitoes continue to annoy us at night. We have now killed a whole garrison, but they keep buzzing around our ears and the number of mosquito bites is increasing. Buggers! I disappear back into the office after breakfast and work through my appointments. Apart from that, however, I don’t really miss anything. It’s pouring with rain and we actually feel sorry for the poor cruise tourists next to us who have to trudge through the rain into the city. We sit warm and dry on La Ola and prefer to stay on board during the day. After work, we head into town for tapas with Jens from the Marieke and Thomas and Angelika from the Manatee. We find what we are looking for at the Venezuelan restaurant Lola & Cia and enjoy a wide variety of delicious tapas and dishes. Afterwards, we have a glass of cava at La Ola before the three of them make their way back to their marina through the rain.
It’s raining cats and dogs! And the mosquitoes are annoying again! It’s about time we got away from here and reached warmer and hopefully drier regions. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t really playing ball with this plan. While the weather forecast looked good yesterday, fog and headwinds have crept in again today. However, we don’t want to set sail today anyway, giving the weather another chance to improve. In any case, we want to leave A Coruña tomorrow and sail further south. The boat needs to be tidied up for this, as not everything is always stowed away as quickly in the harbour as it would be at sea. We also want to stock up on some fresh food. There’s also some cleaning to be done and the washing machine needs to be used again. There are also office appointments to attend to, but eventually everything is done. Unfortunately, the rain continues until dinner and we get soaked on the way to the shops. The sun comes out briefly in the evening, only to be replaced by thick fog. Nevertheless, we remain positive that we can continue tomorrow!