BootsnAll Travel Network



A Coruña, Galiza

     My train arrived at 23.00 from Burgos (€43) and my friend Uxía and her two friends picked me up at the station. After dropping my stuff off at her house, we went out on the town. There was a Medieval festival going on in the center of town, with your typical stalls of food, jewelry, handicrafts and the like. It was a nice atmosphere, because I’ve never been to a Medieval fest in an actual Medieval city. The fact that there were real stone buildings and churches gave it a much more authentic feel that those in America. While we were out, they insisted on feeding me Galician foods. I wasn’t exactly upset by it. Being right on the sea, they have excellent seafood. We all shared a plate of octopus that was amazing.

The next day Uxía took me around A Coruña in the daylight. It was a pretty relaxed day, just walking around, going back through the Medieval faire area, and having some food and beers. We ended up at the beach later in the afternoon, and met with some of Uxía’s friends later, and had some more drinks, food, and drinks.

        

I was originally planning on leaving for Lisbon the next morning, but Uxía said I had to stay one more day, because then I would be there for Thursday night and could really see the city nightlife. So we took the day to wander some more. We went to the Palacio Municipal (free entrance) where they have a huge collection of clocks, as well as other artworks, murals, stained glass, finely polished wood, etc that you expect in a municpal palace. We headed then to the Torre de Hercules, the symbol of A Coruña. Built in the 2nd century as a lighthouse by the Romans, it’s the oldest lighthouse still in use. There were some great views from the top, but would have been better had it not been cloudy and starting to rain.

         

Uxía’s mom picked us up from there and took us back to their house where we would have coffee with her mom’s boyfriend’s family. As is Spanish custom, whole families gather together to meet each other. Nobody else spoke English, so I was trying my best in Spanish… It was a little strange, not being part of either of the families involved in this gathering, but it was also nice to see this cultural family life. They also gave me some Galician liquor that I had to drink to show I was a Galician Man. They often put it in the coffee, but I took it as a straight shot… so I guess I passed… Uxía and I headed out that night and met up with her friends again in a park. It’s the drinking park, apparently. It was loaded with various groups of people that brought their store-bought bottles of alcohol and sat around socializing. Some of her friends were excited to practice their English, so I didn’t get much chance for Spanish. After spending quite some time in the park and finishing our bottles, we ended up at some other bars. I have to admit, I have no clue where. We managed to get pretty ripped… We got home sometime, and had a couple hours sleep before needing to get up to get the 9.00 bus to Lisbon (€53), where I could try to sleep more.

 



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