(L)A Coruña

A Coruña is just 30 minutes to the north of Santiago de Compostela by train, right on the Atlantic coast, and is one of the largest cities in Galicia.  Consequently, it has a big city feel, and can be harder to explore by foot than Santiago, being more reminiscent of a smaller and rainier Málaga. 

Our visit was hampered by underestimating a whole range of things:  when we should wake up in Santiago to take the train, how long it would take us to get the Santiago station, how long it would take us to get from the A Coruña station to what we would like to see, how navigable A Coruña would be for the pedestrian.  And so consequently, although A Coruña’s food scene is supposed to be spectacular, by the time we got to the older part of town where the restaurants were, we were smack dab in the middle of the black hole of Spanish dining (more or less 5-7 or 8 pm). 

We wanted to get back to Santiago for dinner, and we had completely missed the lunch boat in A Coruña.  Unlike Segovia, where we found a restaurant that had mercy on our guiri souls, we were not so lucky here, and ended up having greasy empanadas and one friend had a layered egg tortilla monstrosity that really hampered his GI tract for the rest of the evening.  Always remember to do some research on transportation and such pragmatic things boys and girls.

On a brighter note, I would suggest trying percebes, or goose barnacles, if you get the chance.  Although they look like something from a Neptunian moon, they are considered a delicacy and are harvested right along the rocky Atlantic coast of Galicia, and especially A Coruña.  This is a photo taken from a banging marisquería in Lisboa, but this is what they look like (on the left). 

But despite a short trip with a few misteps, I really liked La Coruña, and I would like to visit again under more ideal conditions.  Coming from Madrid, I enjoyed the feeling of a bigger city that was still very different and Galician.  I also have a thing for port cities, so I enjoyed the unique feel of a city by the sea.  And had it not been February and in the high 40s and rainy, A Coruña’s boasts excellent beaches as well, perfect for the summer months.

The walk along the water featured beautifully pastel colored houses, as well, that brightened up an otherwise dreary day.  A Coruña also features one of the world’s oldest lighthouses, called the Tower of Hercules, which we didn’t get to visit but would definitely be worth checking out.

  

In many ways, the city reminded me of a smaller Atlantic version of the large Mediterranean Spanish cities, like Málaga and even Barcelona to some extent.  Interestingly enough, A Coruña was not nearly as bilingual (gallego and Spanish) of a city as Santiago, and all the signs were only in Spanish, apparently because gallego is seen as more of a rural language versus the more cosmopolitan castellano. 

The modernista architecture was one of my favorite parts of the city, and the Ayuntamiento in the Plaza de María Pita was breathtaking. Its grey and red color scheme and minutely carved details were beautiful, even on a cloudy and rainy day. The surrounding historical district made for perfect strolling, and had we only been there during a reasonable hour, promised a bevy of delicious food and drink. I highly recommend checking out Cat Gaa’s post on eating in A Coruña, and her excellent blog Sunshine and Siestas more generally.  Hopefully you’ll have better luck eating than we did.

Given its proximity to Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña makes an excellent counterpoint and an easy day trip or more, allowing you to get more than one version of Galicia and to be right next to the sea that is so essential to the character of this special region of Spain.