We had a great few days in La Coruna - voted “Best Spanish City So Far” – including a trip to Santiago de Compostela using the very efficient, cheap and simple to use public transport system (~£15 for 2 of us, 75km & back).  We were lucky to see the great incense burner swung across the cathedral; really awesome, needing 8 men to swing it almost up to the roof.

 It was worth sitting through a Catholic mass to see, in fact it was even an interesting experience in its own right.  The baroque frontage of the Cathedral is an acquired taste, and unfortunately the earlier inner façade was covered for restoration, so we couldn’t see where centuries of pilgrims have worn finger holes in the marble.  Favourite building was the beautiful hostel built by Ferdinand and Isabella in the fifteenth century which is now a parador hotel and would be a fabulous place to stay!

Anyhow, we are now anchored off Camarinas, one of the rias altas and reminiscent of a Scottish loch.  We had some good wind – sails away for 1.5 hrs, but it was mostly light and on the nose, so the engine got a good workout after I’d changed the fuel filter (more diesel bug).  

Our 1^st night at anchor this trip, very peaceful.  It’s now Lindsay’s birthday and not quite as warm as she would have liked it, with a cool wind and cloudy sky, but it’s supposed to get a lot warmer once we are past Finisterre!

Today is Lindsay’s birthday!  Yesterday’s forecast was hot sun, but we’ve woken to patchy cloud, cool wind and a new forecast which leaves us very jealous of the Brits.