Yesterday, we were in the tiny city of La Coruna. My tour guide was Maria and we were off to see more churches, squares, and taste some of the common food. One of the more interesting churches was the Santa Domingo church, which stood next to an army building. The church used to be a school that only boys could attend. The top of the building was twisted, but the townspeople insist it is the streets that aren’t straight. I’m not quite sure how that is an applicable argument, but they won’t budge in their word. She also told us they are working on getting rid of all the old army structures, and this was one of the last remaining ones.
The cobble streets were an energetic bustle between people and cars. At one point, I moved a man in my group to the side to avoid the car that was trying to get up the hill. He exclaimed I had “saved his life” and told me I had a very beautiful smile. :D We later chatted on our various travels and discussed the sites of Brazil, since I had just left after four months and he had been right after Carnaval. He was so nice, even sharing his umbrella with me when the rain finally surpassed its sprinkle stage and broke thru the clouds. I was reminded a lot of my Grandpa Joe, and wished that he was here experiencing this all with me.
We stopped at the House of Rosalia, whose husband was an activist writer. Next, we saw the military square and Santiago church with the White Horse of Saint James, where I enjoyed taking pictures of the Priest out for a breath of fresh air. He looked confused and almost worried, maybe because my group was loud and tried to take photos everywhere, disturbing the peaceful atmosphere inside the church. I have seen several churches in the few short days I’ve been in Europe, but they never fail to amaze me. They are each so unique and hold so much beauty in stillness.
We moved back onto our bus and headed out to the beach, where we saw the oldest Roman lighthouse still working to this day. It was built in the 2nd century after Christ!!!! OLD OLD OLD!!!!! Older than my mom!!!!! (LOVE YOU!!!!!) We also passed The School of Arts and Crafts, where Picasso’s father brought his family to study. We saw a sculpture of a dove and Maria told us the story of how Picasso’s father wasn’t a very good artist and couldn’t make feet. He always made Picasso do the feet of his animals. So when he was asked to make animals, he was so fed up that he sculpted them all without feet. Picasso’s first pieces of work were originated here at the school but they now reside in Barcelona because when his sister died, they moved there and he took his art with him.
On the path up to the lighthouse, there were several sculptures and a statue of Hercules sat there too. The legend says Hercules and his enemy were in love with the same girl so the statue looks like he is on the bones of this man, crushing him for the heart of the lady. Back on the bus, Maria was telling us more information about the lighthouse, but was stopped by a man who was trying to wave to her and let her know her microphone wasn’t working and he couldn’t hear her. She fumbled around on her radio, thinking she wasn’t on. The guy laughed, thinking he had saved the day. It was really funny when we told him that we all could hear her and he should try putting in his headphone! LOL.
When we drove onward, to our hotel for a snack, we saw a free hotel that provided free food but nobody wants to live there…can you figure out why? It was a prison, that Maria, she is so clever. On the highway, we passed a Toys “R” Us!!!!! I was half tempted to stop the bus and look for Legos! She told us that there is a lot of United States influence here but unfortunately their movies are in Spanish. I know that in Brazil, a lot of the movies are still in English with subtitles in Portuguese, and she said the same is true in Portugal but Spain tries to switch it all over. I have tried to watch several movies in Portuguese but it’s distracting when the lips are saying different words and especially when you know the voice of the actor and some other weird voice in talking instead. It throws me off and I have difficulty enjoying the movie. Maria told us she hates it too and wants to hear George Clooney’s real voice ;)
The hotel provided wine and coffee, as well as traditional omelets, tortilla wraps, and cookies. There was a fantastic view of a fortress across the way, which is now an institution. That seems to be pretty common here in Europe, turn the old castles into universities. I hope I can see a castle that still holds its’ royal interiors. I want to sit on a throne!!!!!!
Once back at the port, we dropped the guests off. Robert and I, who went on the same tour but was with a different bus, crossed the street and window-shopped in the local area. Maria had mentioned the shops were owned by the government and would be closed, not sure what exactly “today” was in regards to them but we took a peek around anyways. She was right so we hit up the candy store in the mall and returned to the ship.
I wish my whole family could be here with me, I hope that my next contract will allow them to cruise!
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