A Coruña

After Berlin I headed to Galicia, Spain – Galicia is in northern Spain. When you think of Spain you’d immediately think of warm weather with beaches and sun all year around, A Coruña experiences a mild oceanic climate with unpredictable autumn and winter weather, mostly sunny summers, and stable spring seasons.

I arrived in A Coruña (LCG) the capital of Galicia which in terms of size is kind of like Wellington but with a larger population.

Pablo Picasso grew up in A Coruña but left when he was around 11 years of age. There is also rumour that Fidel Castro has relatives who were originally from Galicia. If you are into food then I highly recommend “Everything but the Squeal” by John Barlow. Read it you’ll either love it or hate it, just like living in Galicia.

Another fascinating fact, A Coruña has adopted the pōhutukawa as a floral emblem. There is a tree where the main Police station is which is dated to be around from the 1800s – story here > https://winstoncowie.com/2013/07/28/spanish-pohutukawa-tree-gifted-greenstone/

The multi-national clothing giant Inditex, most famous for the ZARA brand is headquartered near here in  Arteixo. So there is a bit of an expat community around the city. The founder Amancio Ortega started the business making shirts.

It’s also close to Santiago de Compostela where the famous Camino de Santiago (St James way) pilgrim route ends.

It took only a little time to get adjusted to my new surroundings. As I like running, I found exploring the city was relatively easy along with running around the area of Torre de Hercules. It is the oldest known functioning Roman lighthouse. Built in the 1st century, A Coruña has a rich history dating back to Roman times when it was known as Brigantium.