June 5, 2016

Kapoho Hawaii  

 

There is a certain place inside of me that cries out to write about my experiences during our Baltic Sea travels, and another part that says…why bother.  At this point, the crying out place is ruling.  This is because I want to record and remember our observations of the people we were blessed to meet, the opportunities to learn, the emotions that welled up inside of me and the chance to update my perception of the world.

La Coruña, Spain

On April 29, 2016 we arrived in La Coruña (A Coruña in Galician), on the far northwestern tip of Spain.  For those readers who may have trudged through El Camino de Santiago with us, via my ramblings in this blog, you already know of our love for Spain and the Spanish people.  This particular city was especially poignant for me because it is the closest populated area to Finisterra – the traditional ‘end of the world’ and a regular stop for some of the peregrinos who make it to Santiago de Compostella.  One of the arranged tours offered by the ship was a bus trip and guided tour of Santiago de Compostella.  Having walked 500 miles to get to that historical city, there was no way either John or I wanted to go into it via tour bus with hundreds of people who are sightseeing.  Needless to say, my emotions and memories of our pilgrimage are precious to me and to arrive via bus would tamper with my heart too much.

La Coruña is a busy seaport and the gateway to the Galician region of Spain.  Originally inhabited by Celts, the Roman occupied the area in the 2^nd century BC and, realizing the importance of the harbor constructed the Tower of Hercules lighthouse.  This is the predominant landmark of the city and still operates, guiding vessels of all sorts into the harbor and away from the rocky shoreline.  It is a magnificent structure, built high on the side of the windswept bluffs.

Tower of Hercules Lighthouse...and my personal lighthouse, John.

While on the coast, visiting the lighthouse, we could see to Finisterra.  This was emotional for me, as it was our intent to finish our El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage there.  Back in October 2014, when we made it to Santiago, John was so injured that we simply needed to get him home and to a doctor.  But hey…we now have a picture of Finisterra from afar.

WAY in the background...Finisterra

Our small tour group was driven around a huge sandy bay, that includes a separate part for clothing optional, and a good portion of the old city.  The only people on the beach were bundled up, as the winds off of the Atlantic were brisk and cold. Finally, I was determined to have some pulpo, or octopus.  Wonderfully tasty and we found it.  In Galicia, one must check out the pulpo. 

The celebrated pulpo, in art on the shore and in the menu.

Orujo de Hierbas

During our pilgrimage in 2014 we discovered a Galician medicinal liqueur called orujo de hierbas.  It is traditionally made in the home using the sludge left from the wine making process and over 30 types of medicinal herbs.  John is fond of telling friends that, during the last half of the Camino, he had two drinking bottles in his pack…one with water, the other with orujo.  The herbs in this concoction really do work.   It is manufactured commercially as well as on farms all over Galicia.  During our pilgrimage, we would walk into a bar, ask for orujo de hierbas and, when the bartender reached for the commercial bottle behind the bar, John would say, ‘no’, and point under the bar.  That was the universal code indicating that he wanted the local product that was always kept in a cooler under the bar.  John would proceed to get enough to fill his bottle again and, after a rest, we would be off on the trail again. Many bartenders and local customers got a good chuckle out my John and his passion for locally produced orujo de hierbas.

 

Frosty Cold Orujo de Hierbas

We have searched high and low and across the internet in an attempt to procure some of this delightful liqueur, but have had no luck.  With high hopes for finding some in La Coruña, we left the ship as early as we could to track down a store. Luck was with us and we found a grocery store that carried many brands.  We bought a couple of bottles, walked to a city park and filled our water bottles with the liquid gold and returned to the ship.  In theory, every bottle of alcohol that passengers bring on the ship during port calls is confiscated and held until the night before disembarking.  We were confident that our water bottles would not be confiscated.  For some reason, the ship was not taking the liquor bottles in La Coruña.  It didn't really matter if our next bottles of orujo were confiscated or not...we had our water bottles for orujo to drink on the ship.  Since we wanted to take some home we purchased 4 more bottles and ended up with orujo to drink during the voyage and two bottles each to bring back to Kapoho.  It’s strong, but it’s good.  John’s brother Gene made sure he had a sample of the stuff in the cooler behind the bar, while in La Coruña. 

At one point of our touring I announced to John that, if we were to live for a while in Spain, La Coruña would be a great option.  That said, it is cold in the winter, so I’d only want to be there is the spring, summer or fall.  Beautiful, friendly and genuine people.  This is one of the areas we visited on this that I will most certainly return to…whether by air, sea or trekking.