At the bottom of the page click on the YouTube link to see the photos.
We crossed the invisible border and cruised into La Coruna, Spain early morning. This city is quite magical with its Tower of Hercules, built by the Romans.
The Prinsendam offered a number of excursions, but none of them would have given me enough time to climb the famous tower. So I ventured out on my own again. I say I, because Dick’s fragile back is given him lots of trouble today and he decided to stay onboard – too much walking in Lisbon and Porto, he said.
The taxi driver gave me a run for the money. For a set-fee and limited English, he showed me the highlights, but none were more grand than the Torre de Hercules. I learned that in 61 B.C. Julius Caesar himself led the expedition with the intention of installing a port and commercial settlement. It was to become a base for the conquest of the British Isles.
I am a sucker for up-high, so I climbed the 242 steps to the top of the tower. From the ground it looked to be about 10 stories, but that was just a funky optical illusion of Hercules playing tricks on me. It was actually closer to 25 stories of cramped, steep steps built back when the average Roman was about 4’8 and 90 lbs., so someone of my bulk had trouble squeezing through the labyrinth of stairways. The climb was grueling. People were dropping like flies all the way up. Every alcove had breathless, sweating people who, judging from the way they looked, you would have thought they had just sprinted full speed into town all the way from Rome. I couldn’t mock these people too much; I too was sweating like a pig, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was wearing a long sleeved blouse and it definitely was not long-sleeve weather in the musty stairway. In the end the effort was well worthwhile for its magnificent views of the city and its coastline ………… and bragging rights.
(Wouldn’t you know, my camera was locked in the AF Macro Mode and no matter what I did the damn thing didn’t budge. The onboard ship photographer is trying to fix it, but so far not luck).
Hungry as a bear I searched for the best Tapas bar in town: La barra del huerto. Sure, we have them in the States, but for the true tapas experience one must go to Spain. I can’t resist munching on these small portions of seafood, salads, meat-filled pastries, and on and on. Yes the Tapas are noisy and the TVs are blaring with soccer games – it’s all part of the charm. La barra del huerto, the Garden Bar is a place where locals go - looking around I was the only Anglo-Saxons in the joint.
A young couple on the next table soon struck a conversation with me and before I knew it we sat together, ordering another round of drinks. The traditional stuff here is Fino, which tastes about the same as rubbing alcohol. Having never acquired a taste for it, I ordered a Sangria - best I ever had. Then a Rum con limon – delish! After a while the Spanish and English all rolled together.
“Are you pasajeros on Prinsendam el puerto?” they asked.
“Si”
“Ha estado en Portugal?”
“Yes we’ve just cruised in from Portugal.”
“I tell you joke about Portugal.”
Knowing too well that the Portuguese are the butt of jokes in this corner of Europe, I was curious what they had to say:
“There was agricultor portugués (a Portuguese farmer) who nearly succeeded in teaching his burro to live without eating. He was so excited that he couldn’t wait to tell his amigos. Luego, su burro murió” ............(then the buro died) ........ (maybe it lost something in translacione..... ha ha ha .... another round....por favor).
A word of advice: You need to be quite aggressive in a Tapas Bar or you’ll never be served. We learned that in 1998, while vacationing in Spain for 2 months. A simple “Por favor” grabs a waiters attention, but it won’t get you "una tabla de canapes variados", a plate of various little open-face sandwiches. Always order 2 glasses of wine because you won’t see the waiter until he hands you “la cuenta”, the bill – meaning literally “the sadness.” ¡Salud!
Tomorrow is a much needed sea day, then we’ll dock in Bordeaux for 2 days.. More wine for poor devil!
Click on the above YouTube link to see the pictures.
We crossed the invisible border and cruised into 
