Today we reached our second target for this trip. When we were looking at options for this trip it turns out both of us had Galicia in mind, so today we jumped on the freeway and headed to one of the most famous places in Galicia.
The Tower of Hercules in A Coruña is the oldest Roman light house still in use today. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. The lighthouse was built around 100 AD, and has been in continuous use since. It is built on Cape Finisterre, which the Romans believed was the end of the world. Since it has been in continuous use for 2000 years it has gone thru multiple modernizations, but the core of the first 120 feet of the tower is the Roman construction. It got its name from the myth of Hercules who is said to have slain a giant named Geryon who was preying on the local people. Geryon’s head was buried at the site of the tower and Hercules told the people to build a town here and A Coruña was born.
The grounds are nice around the lighthouse with some artwork, and lots of wildflowers. A Coruña itself is not particularly inspiring architecturally, and most of the buildings look like they are from the late 20th century. The main square looks like it is from the 1800’s.
We are parked in a parking lot tonight facing the ocean adjacent to the Tower of Hercules. Getting here was a bit of an adventure. The total trip was 278 km’s and the first 274 km’s were a breeze on a good Spanish freeway. The freeway ended near the city center and we were following Greta Garmins directions when I suddenly noticed all of the cars turned left. The lane we were in looked ok, but I suspected it might be a bus lane, but at that point we were committed so I continued on, she had us making a left in 150m’s (for an American think 150 yards). When we got to her left turn it was a pedestrian mall so we couldn’t go there! Luckily there was a roundabout just in front of us, and as we came to it I saw a sign saying buses only in 50m’s, so we went around the roundabout and doubled back to where all of the cars had turned left. As we approached the turn there were three cops near the intersection so I thought we might be in trouble, but they ignored us. Just as I was thinking everything was ok, Greta demanded a quick right turn. The road was narrow but one way, but I had a bad feeling. As soon as I looked at the map on Greta I knew the turn was a mistake as it was clear she had directed us into the medieval part of the city, where we had no business. Fortunately after ziging and zaging around and squeezing down one narrow ally we finally made it to the nice modern road we should have been on from the beginning and arrived at our parking place. Greta has been struggling the last couple of days, as the only way she would send us to the campground yesterday was the wrong way down a one way road. I’m going to have to keep an eye on her in the future.
