A Coruña, Spain is a charming city with amazing food. Indeed, our time here was spent walking around and sampling some wine, beer, and tapas. A Coruña is beautiful. One of the first things you notice while walking along the waterfront on the Avenida de la Marina is the unique architecture of the buildings. Many of the buildings showcase glass-fronted buildings. This distinctive feature has earned it the nickname “The Glass City.” In the photo below, you can see us standing in front of a row of white buildings. Our tour guide informed us that these very pricy buildings actually have the back of the building facing the water (despite the gorgeous view the water provides) because back in the day the water was for the fishermen – a lowlier class. So instead of having the building fronts face the sea they had it face the land. On the other side of the buildings – at the ‘front’– is a beautiful square – Maria Pita’s Square – named for a local heroine who defended the city against the English in the 16th century. In the heart of the square is the impressive Town Hall, a modernist building built in the early 20th century. You can see that in the second photo below.
Within the square is a statue of María Pita. María Pita was the local heroine who in the 16th century fought against the invasion of the English Armada led by Sir Francis Drake, or as he’s known locally, Pirate Drake.
Along our walk we saw a variety of nice garden areas, some fountains, and many statues – including one of John Lennon.
While strolling, we saw the Igrexa de Santiago or Church of Santiago. This beautiful 12th-century Gothic church is respectfully-preserved inside and out. This church is the starting point for pilgrims who begin their Camino to Santiago de Compostela from A Coruña.
Another church we went to was Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari or the Church of San Nicolás. It’s an old church – dating to the end of the 13th century! We appreciated a few different things about this church. First, there are always such interesting statues and whatnot in old churches. Here, we saw one sculpture with a guy showing off his leg. Another looked like a group of people playing hide-and-seek in long hair. Quite interesting indeed (photos of these below). Second, the tour guide told us that years and years ago, the church unknowingly married a lesbian couple. The couple came in with one of the duo dressed in drag. It wasn’t until later that they discovered that both people were women. Supposedly they never cancelled the marriage though, despite the Catholic church’s views on such things at the time. Interesting for sure.
We wandered down many side streets during our walk. It was fun to look at all the different door knockers that were scattered on the doors throughout the city. Some were pretty creepy but all seemed to still be functioning still. Here are two examples.
Another fun area we came across in the heart of the old town was Praza do Humor – literally translated as “Humor Square”. This whimsical public space pays homage to the city’s deep-rooted tradition of humor and satire. Praza do Humor was inaugurated in 1994 by then-mayor Francisco Vázquez Vázquez. The aim was to create a space that celebrated the importance of humor in everyday life and reflected the spirit and character of A Coruña’s residents who are well-known for their good sense of humor. The square features numerous sculptures and installations that pay tribute to some of Spain’s most beloved cartoonists and their characters. Below are a few photos that show just a sampling of what we saw there, from a bench with a comical man sitting on it to etchings in the ground of famous characters.
Like many places we have visited, we had a quick stop at a fish market. It was fairly standard, though much cleaner than many we’ve been to. Here’s a photo of something cool we saw there:
In addition to touring around to see the local architecture, we also made two stops for some refreshments. We had a nice variety of tapas and drinks between the two places, including wine and local beer, meats and cheeses, a traditional omelet, and some other tasty bites. The first stop had so many hams hanging above our heads I just thought it was a butcher shop and wouldn’t have thought of stopping in for food and drinks if we weren’t on a tour. The little black cones hanging below the meat are to catch the fat as it drips so it doesn’t fall on you. The other place we stopped had a few hams hanging from the ceiling but not nearly this many. These were lovely stops and allowed us to experience authentic Galician food culture.
This was the extent of our visit to A Coruña. On our walk back to the ship John popped into a souvenir shop to buy a cool t-shirt. It made the tour guide a bit panicked because we were cutting it close to when we needed to be back to the ship. In fact, we got back to the ship *after* our all aboard time. No worries though since the excursion was through Oceania and we were only a few minutes late so we weren’t in any real danger of being left behind. Still – I wouldn’t have risked being late for a t-shirt if we hadn’t been on a ship-run excursion! It is a cool shirt though… 😊