"Those with honor, follow me!" Maria Pita

Quen teña honra, que me siga ("Whoever has honour, follow me, Maria Pita 1589), what a woman.

 If you zoom in on the photo above you can see the head of an English sailor under the foot of Maria Pita.  Maria was manning the walls of A Coruna old town against the invading English with  her husband who was a captain. He was killed with a crossbow bolt to his head.

An English soldier was  about to land the English standard on the battlements and Maria killed him and called all the locals to help protect the old town from the English invaders. Many women responded to Maria's call. The English were defeated and retreated. 

Maria was honoured with a plaza named after her, picture above and a fantastic sculpture depicting her heroism. Interestingly she was also granted a military pension.

A Coruna has some great walks. We followed the coastal track, right at the end of the bay in the picture above, and then took the wackiest funnicular to the top of Mont San Pedro, another strategic defensive fort guarding the coast.

Fantastic views from the top. Our hotel is on the headland in the distance in the photo below. We walked 7ks around the coast to the funicular.

 After all that walking a refreshment stop was needed. Back to the old town (more walking☺️)  to our favorite  little cafe with the best hot chocolate in Spain, terrific millefeuille too.

 It's fun wandering through the back streets in the old town, so historic.

 To end a day of walking and exploring we finished the day with a typical Galician delicacy, pulpo (octopus) and salad, delicious! Pulpo is soft and velvety and a taste between paua and crayfish.

A Coruna and the sea breeze

We left Madrid in 40° heat and arrived to a balmy 28° and a sea breeze in A Coruna, north west coast of Spain

A Coruna is an historic fishing town. It has beaches, battlements, museums, sculpture, fantastic cuisine, fishing ports, crystal houses, Roman ruins and the longest seafront in Europe. It has something for everyone. 

On the point by the main harbourfront is the little defensive Castle of San Anton. It has been a strategic sea fort to defend against marauding invaders, a prison and now is a great little musem with some fantastic artefacts and Roman treasures. 

You can just wander about and the coastal views are lovely.

The relics from the ancient chapel are incredible.  They are more or less open to the elements and any tourist that wants to touch them.

Beautiful art trasures that tell the story of the castles inhabitants over time.

I loved finding the underground cistern with a reserve of fresh water. Now it looks like a wishing well with all the pennies tossed into the water with wishes. Fantastic engineering. 

Further along the coast is the Tower of Hercules, the oldest functioning Roman lighthouse  in the world.

You wander along a range of coastal tracks with stunning views out to sea, sculptures and plenty of seats and picnic spots, Perfecto!

The Tower of Hercules had guarded the harbour entrance since the first century AD and it's still working, built to last.

A Coruna is sometimes called the glass city as the original fisherman's cottages were along the seafront and they had glass fronts for the fisherman to watch the weather and for their family to watch for the boats safe return. A large fishing fleet still operates from the harbour. Need to go back at sunset and see all the reflections in the glass.

Virgin of El Carmine, protector of fisherman.

In  addition to fantastic seafood we discovered they have wonderful cakes and pastries in funky little cafes. The hot chocolate was so thick you could stand a duck on it, one a day limit recommended.

What a cracking little seaside town.

Click/zoom in on the photos for greater detail. All contents generated on my phone so I get a free pass for typos, spelling and formatting styles. Haste due to free wifi access.

Bears and strawberry trees

The statue of the bear and the strawberry tree is represented on Madrid coat of arms and is a cracking little sculpture in Porta del Sol. Madrid was named URSA which means bear in Latin. Way back there were many bears in Madrid's forests and they feasted on the strawberry trees. Now this bear gets patted daily by thousands of tourists.

Next stop on our early morning walk, to avoid the scorching heat, was Parque del Buen Retiro. Just gorgeous, smack bang in the city a beautiful green oasis. I'm sure every Madridian apartment dwelling dog owner uses this enormous park for their daily constitutional.

The park was originally created as a summer retreat for the Royal family. It was opened to the public in the 1700's. There are lakes, statue walks, rose gardens, a crystal house and acres of space to sit in the shade and relax, gorgeousness. 

As we wandered about we heard the sounds of a saxophonist street artist wafting  across the breeze. 

We left the park to do a final quick wander through the city to Mercado de San Miguel for a tapas lunch before siesta. The buildings continue to amaze.

But wait, there's more, the sculpture here is just stunning too. My little phone camera just doesn't do it justice.

By now we were ravenous and the temptations of San Miguel awaited, we left happy 😊👍.

We noticed the traders in the Porta del Sol that sell 'knock off' goods were ever ready to move with speed if there was going to be a police blitz. They had string tied to each corner of their cloths on the ground so that with one quick yank they could pull up a bundle over their shoulder and hot foot it away from a police round up.

Madrid

First time visiting Madrid. I wasn't sure what to expect so have been pleasently surprised. It's a great city for walking and as the traffic is hideous, walking is the way to go. 

Our little self guided walk had us starting at Puerta del Sol, or 'Gate of the Sun'. This is point 0 in Madrid, all seven roads in Madrid start out from this point. It's a hustle, bustle plaza with a beautiful old clock tower, street performers and many, many tourists.

 Next stop Plaza Mayor, the three story buildings that line the square, feature 237 iron balconies. Very pretty spot.

 Of course we had to visit the Town Hall square, again lovely 17th century architecture.

 The Almudena Cathedral was a surprise. It took 100 years to build and was only finished in 1993. The crypt has 400 columns and 20 chapels. The outside looks Romanesque and the interior has a blend of old and more recently completed finishes. It's beautiful inside, you could sit here all day and still not have taken in all the treasures and art work.

 Next stop the Royal Palace, a symbol of Spanish Monarchy many Spaniards disagree with. It's the largest palace in Europe with over 2800 rooms and approx 1.5 million square feet.

 It has some wonderful sculptures.

When in Madrid it's always import to carry on exploring on a full stomach. The Mercado de San Miguel is a good place to taste the fresh produce, tapas and local vino Blanco.