We were scheduled to go on a ship’s shore excursion to visit
the countryside outside of La Coruna, Spain, a port town of about 250,000 people. One of the first things that we learned as we
left the city was this is not your typical Spanish area. Most of Spain is hot and dry, however, this
area gets 180 days a year of rain. They
have a culture that is Irish, with bagpipes and the works.
We did a quick photo stop to see a fort built in the early
16th century as a way to stop pirate Drake (yes, Sir Frances Drake –
their version of history is different from the British history).
The fort is in the background.
When then drove to Pontedeume. This was a small town with a nice bridge and
a small square. We had about 30 minutes
to explore which ultimately was plenty of time.
There just wasn’t much to see there.
Next was Betanzos. In
this town we went on a guided walking tour of the several churches in the
area.
We then drove to Le Rectory, an old church/monastery that
was converted to a hotel and a restaurant.
The church still is intact and is used for weddings and special
occasions, but is not used for Sunday services.
The lunch was a true tapas offering, with numerous different
dishes. We entered the area and two long
tables were lined up with places for the food.
There were chairs around the outside, so we went in and sat down, which
is completely wrong for a tapas bar – you are supposed to stand around, eat, drink
and visit. But we are a bunch of
Americans, so we sat around the outside.
Eventually they filled the tables with food and we got up and started to
indulge. We also had some great wine – a
red - Rioja and a white from the Galicia region called Albarino which was
fantastic. Some of the best white wine
that Bob and Julie have ever had. They
also offered local beer and soft drinks.
The tapas varied from a pie with cod and raisins to an
“omelet” that seemed like it was all potatoes.
Speaking of potatoes, being Irish ancestors, they eat potatoes with
every single meal. There was some
octopus and calamari. Poor Brenda who is
allergic to shellfish didn’t have a whole lot of selections. But the food was excellent.
After we ate and before we left, we got a tour of the
church, parts of which were first erected in 911. We then headed back to the port and boarded
the Symphony. We made it in time for
afternoon tea, which we all enjoyed (Brenda especially since she is a real tea
lover).
Dinner was in the dining room. Bob had an interesting pasta entrée with a
meat sauce mixed with raisins. Julie and
Brenda had salmon. Alex had the veal scaloppini.
After dinner, there was a show by two brothers (the MacDonald Brothers) from
Scotland who played a lot of different instruments and entertained. It was a terrific show.
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