The first reaction to the advert for a mystery cruise was wow that’s cheap. Then we began to think about whether we would actually enjoy it. I usually reject Med cruise offers as we have been to most of the places but for this (very cheap) cruise we would have no idea where we were going – it could be a lot of fun!
So the decision was made we would go on a mystery cruise to who knows where. Packing was tricky were we going north to the fjords or south to the sun – jumpers or tee shirts? Assuming we would be staying in Europe we took euros and just hoped for the best.
Our first mystery stop was A Coruna in Northern Spain, a good start, somewhere we had never been.
A Coruna is a port in Galicia, its port is in the centre of the city making it easy to wander round. So easy we actually walked ten miles that day, just as well with cruise food for a week. We were charmed by this place with plenty to see and coffee for a euro. In tourist terms it’s overshadowed by the nearby pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela but we were happy to stay in town.
The City symbol is the tower of Hercules actually built by the Romans. At the opposite side of town it also has the inevitable millennium monument, this time an obelisk. One hundred and seventy four pieces of rock crystal painted with scenes of the cities history although these are quite hard to see. If you walk far enough uphill past it you get to the mosaic octopus a symbol of its famous seafood. I don’t eat seafood but apparently if you do A Coruna has the best.
We walked back downhill along the beach and wandered into the old town or Cuidad Veija where we found a small unusual square called Plaza del Humor with comic character statues and engraved pavements. Nearby we found the more traditional large Plaza Maria Pita with the city hall.
Then we wandered the nearby streets before going back on board for a well deserved dinner and a show.
