A Coruña, Madrid, and Home October 5, 6, 7

My dinner at Galeon Rain on October 4: Zorza (ham with lots of paprika) and ensalada mixta.

Foggy A Coruna

Clearing up a bit in A Coruna

October 5 dinner at Galeon Raina: Tortilla, raxo, Albarino wine, ensalada mixta, and pimentos de Padron.

October 7

Here are my last few days:

A Coruña  October 5

I was up just before 7 am for the 1/2 hour walk to the train station, buy my ticket, then a cup of coffee with tortilla and fresh bread. Yummy-who would want a sugary croissant when you can have a breakfast like that?

The train was fast, travelling at 100 miles an hour. It covered the 75 km in half an hour. This would have taken three days of walking on the Camino Inglés between the two cities.

I arrived in the city without knowing which direction the harbor and the old town were, but it seemed logical to headboth in the opposite direction of the rails and also downhill. Problems were the heavy fog obscurring any landmarks and too early for any information offices to be open. My instincts proved correct and I soon arrived in the port area. There is a maritime walk about 5 km long encircling much of the city and I followed it aroundd as the fog lifted. The walk included the Tower of Hercules a large lighthouse. The maritime walk and many ancillary walking, jogging, and bicycle paths are an integral, beautiful, and well used part of the city. Next, I wandered around the old part of the city, looking for the Iglesia Santiago. I had no map, but enjoyed bumbling around the narrow streets. I came across four other churches before I found the Santiago church. This is the start of the Camino Inglés and I duly noted the scallop shell directonal marker just outside the church. Next was the walk back to the train station for the mid afternoon train back. I think I must have walked 10-12 km. during my visit, plus another 10 km in Santiago. So still did a bunch more walking, though it was without a backpack. That evening back in Santiago, I looked around for Greg, but did not see him. Instead, I rab across Shirley, a Brit, who has lived in the US, Ecuador, and now south of Seville. We shared a dinner at Galeon Raina.

Madrid  October 6

I took the Alsa Supra bus to Madrid, left 7 am and arrived 3 pm. By the time I took subway to Tirso de Molina and found a room at Pension  Florida, the same place Marge and I were last year, it was 4 pm. I visited both the Prado and Sofia Reina museums as they were both free admission in the evening. Of course I had no time to view everything, just some of my favorites. That would be El Greco, Velasquez, Goya, and Bosch in the Prado and Picasso in the Sofia Reina.

October 7

My looooong flight home day. Up at 7:30 to repack, then take the subway to the airport-what a great transport system they have in Madrid. Check in and wait. 7 hour flight to Philadelphia then wait. 4 hour flight to Denver then wait. As I post this, I am waiting for my 2 1/2 hour flight to Sacramento. I've been up about 20 hours with no sleep, just dozed a little on the last flight. I'm ready to be home and go to bed!