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Tuesday 24th October 2017
Weather: Sunny
Seas: Calm
We met for breakfast at 8.20am as the ship was due to arrive in port around 9am. We were docking in town so could just walk off the ship and head into town. The Jacksons were up early and watched sunrise from the Crows Nest.
Breakfast complete and ship cleared for everyone to go ashore. Our first port of call was a visit to El Corte Inglis – Mums only request of the holiday! IT was a half hour walk from the shop. Whilst Granny did her shopping, the boys tested out the tech gadgets in the shop! Dan’s wish list was growing by the minute!
Shopping complete and we found the coach station in the hope we could find a bus to the Tower of Hercules. Coaches were going to other cities in Spain … but across the road there was a bus stop. We figured out we should be able to catch the 17 bus there and it would take about 20 minutes. tickets cost Euro 1.30 each (no kids tickets as they were for under 5s).
The bus driver shouted at us when we needed to get of the bus. We followed the map and eventually saw the tower in the distance and headed towards it. This was a working Roman Lighthouse originally build 2AD. The old Roman foundations had been found and were on display and from illustrations inside showed the original lighthouse was built around in the 1800s.
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The lighthouse was set in a small park with plenty of paths for walkers and runners along with various sculptures. A modern interpretation of the boat Hercules used to complete his 12 labours was halfway up the hill. The approach to the lighthouse was up a slope. Granny decided she wouldn’t climb to the top the the remaining 9 of us did decide to go in. There was a display area looking at the footings for the original lighthouse, then it was the climb to the top – all 245 steps! The views from the top made the climb worthwhile. You could just about see Aurora over the skyline.
Back down and David decided to take the scenic route down the hill … Granny refused to do the rock climb at the end! so we walked back to the path. David had plotted a route back to the ship via the promenade and the beach and it was a really lovely walk heading back into the town centre. Once back into the streets, the navigating became a little more tricky. We found a local cafe where the grown ups tried Estrella (although this was not the Gluten Free version). With the team refreshed, we set off again walking the narrow lanes of the Old Town of La Coruna. A lot of shops closed for siesta but the boys were chuffed when they found a shop selling many unusual flavours of Pringles. We picked up the Thai Green Curry and Pizza flavour ones to try.
Afterwards we headed back to the ship and grabbed a bite to eat at Afternoon Tea and found a table out of the back decks to sit and chill. Aurora was leaving La Coruna at 5.30pm. Sailaway was being held on the back decks and Dan point-blank refused to get in the pool at the back as all this “weird stuff” was going on! We headed back to the cabin and watched the sailaway from the balcony until the Tower of Hercules came into view. Callum then went and had a swim in the indoor pool where the cousins were still swimming.
We eventually managed to get them all out of the pool and ready for dinner. We just about manage to catch the sunset before dinner (fab meal again) and afterwards we headed across to The Crows Nest so the kids could play their cards and have a drink. More Cheat and Go Fish.
Earlier nights for the kids tonight as they were tired leaving just Jon and I to head to the Syndicate Quiz. We were joined by another couple who were a bit of a nightmare – their answers to all the questions involved telling us of what countries they’d visited or what cruises they’d done. By the end of the evening, we knew all about them, but they knew nothing about us – apart from their names. Jon had gone really quiet which is never a good sign!
We managed to get 14 out of 20 – a couple of points off the lead. We need our wingmen back tomorrow evening!!
