La Coruna, España

We’re back in Europe! It’s really good to be back in the more civilised world. When we arrived at La Coruna, Spain, we were docked right next to the Christian Radich, another Norwegian tall ship. She’s kind of like the Sorlandet’s sister ship. She is also fully-rigged just like us however a little bigger. Our captain used to be the captain of the Radich. The Christian Radich is also a school ship used to train the Norwegian navy. It was a real sight to see the two ships docked side by side. 

bell of the Christian Radich, Norwegian tall ship

 The day that we arrived into port we got a bit of shore leave in the evening so we just went out for supper and walked around town a bit. I got a hot chocolate at a cafe, and instead of getting the beverage that I expected I was brought hot chocolate pudding! 

Our first full day in port was full day shore leave. It rained most of the day. I had gangway duty in the morning, so I didn’t get off the ship till around lunch time. I went to visit the Radich. We got a tour of the ship from one of the mates. It was really interesting to tour the ship and see the similarities and differences between our ship and theirs. I guess I’m a bit of a sailing geek now ;) 

Afterwards I went to an amazing seafood restaurant for lunch and then walked around the old town. There were lots of really nice churches and parks. Later we took the bus to the Hercules tower. It’s the oldest working lighthouse in the world. It was built in the first century. Luckily, the sun finally came out and the rain stopped when we got to the lighthouse. We climbed to the top and got an incredible view of the city and the ocean. There were some amazing walking paths along the cliffs and around the lighthouse so we walked around for about two hours, enjoying the scenery and the sea air. 

the Hercules tower - world's oldest working lighthouse

view from the bottom of the tower

We decided to walk back into town to look for a place to eat and took the scenic route along the beach. When we finally got to a restaurant my feet hurt so bad from all the walking! None of the people in my group could read Spanish, and there were about twenty different plates.  We decided to just order all of the tapas that were on the menu, and when we told the waiter his eyes went really big. We watched him tell the cook who slapped a hand to his forehead in amazement. It was actually quite funny. The food came and we had no idea what anything was. We tasted it all though. Some was delicious but some was absolutely disgusting. It was quite an exciting supper. I limped back to the ship after that. 

Our second and third days were port program days involving an overnight stay at a hostel. We took a train to Santiago where we stayed at the coolest hostel that I’ve ever seen! If Ghandi, John Lennon and Bob Marley all contributed to interior decorating, this hostel would be it. There were tons of candles and dream catchers; the walls were all covered in psychedelic murals; Indian sarongs covered the ceiling; and weed leaves decorated everything. It was amazing! 

The man at the hostel recommended we have lunch at this Spanish restaurant.  The man who served us at the restaurant was extremely friendly. He basically just brought out food for us. I have never eaten so much! There was a whole platter of meat, and a massive pot of soup, salad, vegetables and dessert. It was amazing. After that we tried to work off our lunch by exploring the old town, and to visit Santiago de Compostela, the cathedral that Santiago is famous for. It’s the main pilgrimage site in Spain because of the tomb of Saint James that is at the cathedral. The cathedral was really impressive and massive. We stayed there for awhile admiring the architecture. Afterwards we drank hot chocolates (the usual kind!) at the hotel next door and then went back to the hostel for an early night.

Satiago de Compostela - it's massive!

In the morning we got to sleep in a bit (this is a real treat). We went out for a watch breakfast in the old town, and wandered around some more until it was time to catch the train back to La Coruna.  Next stop Belgium!