Northern Spain

The arrival in A Coruña was a kind of milestone, but in our case it was somewhat split in two, because we had already “landed” in Cedeira the night before. But it was nice to have completed the crossing and to drink our 1st Spanish beer in the harbor and also eat some good Spanish food. I showered long and washed my hair, which was quite tangled. The next day we got to know A Coruña: lively, many children, many dogs, old people shuffling along the street. Crowded terraces with Spaniards, often in groups, catching up with each other. They seem to have a lot to tell each other! The old town is right next to the harbor with bells chiming every fifteen minutes, very nice to wake up to!

We have walked a lot, also to the lighthouse of Hercules, which dates back to Roman times. And a day by train to Santiago de Compostela, known as a place of pilgrimage and the “Camino de Santiago”. To complete the tour you must have walked at least 100 km of the route, or cycled 200 km or 100 km on horseback. Seems a bit odd to me.

The Spaniards and especially the women generally look very well-groomed. Nicely painted nails, open shoes with heels and lots of dresses. It feels a bit clunky in denim shorts and flip flops. There are tourists, but mainly Spaniards and they are not aimed at tourists. It is quite possible to exchange something in English, more than we remembered from previous Spain holidays.

After about 4 days we continue towards the rias on the west coast of northern Spain. You have the Rias Altas in the north and northwest and the Rias Baixas on the southwest coast of Galicia. The Rias Baixas are a series of 4 coves: the Ria de Muros e Noia, the Ria de Arousa, the Ria de Pontevedra and the Ria de Vigo. Such a ria is an estuary: a wide cove formed by rivers and tidal currents.

Once you have entered such a ria, you imagine yourself on a large lake such as Lake Garda in Italy. Villages all around against the mountains, the road around all the villages and small beaches and bays everywhere. In the villages, the boulevards along the water where at the end of the day people are busy strolling. Muros is such a village where we anchor, first in the harbor and later in the bay along the boulevard. It is now wonderfully sunny and clearly warmer than in the northern ria of Camariñas where we were earlier.

When moving to another anchorage, the temperature gauge of the engine suddenly rises quite a bit; we quickly stop the engine and sailed to the side and dropped anchor. The water pump appears to be leaking. Sail back to the port of Muros where with the help of the English speaking harbor master we (read the captain) find a company where they can disassemble the pump. The next day we order a new water pump via the internet and are now in the port of Muros waiting for it to be delivered to the port with Fedex. We just received an email this morning that the delivery has been postponed one day until tomorrow……

We fill the wait with a walk to the campsite one bay further; along the shoreline and back along the top. Watching the Olympics and having a BBQ on the beach, well you could do worse 😉