Sábado, El Cinco de Octubre
On Saturday, October 5th, the weather was clear and heading for the low 70’s F. Early that morning, we left our bags at Hotel Plaza, and we took a taxi to Torre de Hercules (the Tower of Hercules), the oldest operating lighthouse in the world, which sits on a bluff on the peninsula that extends north from the city of A Coruña. This lighthouse was originally built by the Romans in the 2nd century AD, but in 1791 the Spanish renovated and built onto the original structure. Besides being an operating lighthouse, it stands as the centerpiece for a park that serves as the cultural and historical center of the city.
The tower itself didn’t open until 10:15 am, so we had an opportunity to hike around that part of the peninsula and take some photos before our climb.
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- Patty on the path that circles the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- Patty on a rock below the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- O Boi Pequeno and O Boi Grande, just off the coast from the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- Looking east towards Punta Herminia (Point Herminia), at A Coruna, Spain.
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- Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- The base of the lantern used by the Romans in the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain.
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- A portion of the original Roman foudation of the Torre de Hercules. The Spanish renovation in 1791 built around the original lighthouse. So this view is underneath the exterior addition.
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- Same here.
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- A view looking up in one of the original interior chambers.
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- View looking east from the top of the Torre de Hercules. The point in the near distance is Punta Herminia. It is also part of the park that contains a number of stone and steel sculptures. In the far distance is the Punta de Miranda and the Punta do Segano, which are on either side of the Ria de Ferrol, which leads to the port city of Ferrol.
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- Patty at the top of the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- View looking southwest from the Torre de Hercules, across Enseada do Orzan (the inlet), to the western side of A Coruna beyond.
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- Rich and Patty at the top of the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain
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- Patty descending the original Roman stairway in Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain.
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- Part of the original Roman lamp in the Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain.
Below is a statue of Breogán, a historical Galican figure.
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- Statue of Breogan, a Galician historical figure, with Torre de Hercules in the background.
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- Looking back into the sun from TBD.
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- The Torre de Hercules, A Coruna, Spain.
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- On my topographic map, this area is called on the eastern side of Punta Herminia is called O Altar. Is this an area where there was an ancient altar?
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- A chute at the southern end of O Altar.
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- TBD
From the lighthouse, we walked east to some of the other features on the peninsula.
Malpica.
We walked to TBD and had a snack. We picked up some Compede from a Farmacia.
Then we took a taxi (Annie), she took us to pick up our equipaje from El Hotel Plaza. Then she took us to drop our equipaje at our final destination for the day, Casa de Vasca, at As Garzas. Then she took us to the port in Malpica to start our walk.
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- Patty at the port of Malpica, Spain
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- Port of Malpica, Spain
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- The port of Malpica, Spain
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- Looking west from Malpica’s A Atalaia, toward Praia de Area Maior.
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- The view west-northwest from Malpica’s A Atalaia. The land mass on the left is Monte de San Adrian, on which can be seen the Ermida de San Adrian. Today’s destination is on the far side of Monte de San Adrian. Offshore are the islands Sisarga Chica, Illa Malante, and on the left, Sisarga Grande, on which there stands Faro das Sisargas (The Lighthouse of Sisargas).
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- Patty at A Atalaia, the high ground overlooking Malpica, Spain
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- Looking west from A Atalaia toward Malpica’s Praia de Area Maior
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- Some of the locals.
The walk from Malpica to As Garzas was absolutely amazing. Including walking about 4 miles in A Coruña, we ended up walking over 14 miles that day, which was much more than we expected.
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- Patty at Malpica’s Praia de Area Maior
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- Patty at Malpica’s Praia de Area Maior
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- Malpica’s Praia de Area Maior. The high point of A Atalaia is in the distance.
When the path started to break away from Malpica, we were walking on crushed stone bordered by timbers. Beyond the Ermida de San Adrian (TBD), the path changes to TBD.
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- The Faro das Sisargas on Sisargas Grande, viewed from Cabo de San Adrian on the Camino dos Faros.
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- Yes, the faint crease in the low ground cover just above the cliff at right is the path we had to hike.
On the approach to Seiruga, we had to ford the Rego de Esteiro, which at that point was a flowing stream about 6 feet across. Our feet got wet, but at that point it felt good. Then we trudged across the beach to what we hoped would be an open cafe. Unfortunately there were no signs of life, so we trudged on.
Past Seiruga, we were looking for shortcuts. So I found a farming road that would take us over the peninsula, and over to As Garzas to our accommodations. But given a choice of farming roads on the map, I chose the more direct one, that was fine as it crossed the crest of the hill, but quickly turned into a thicket of brambles and spider webs occupied by monster spiders. After encouraging Patty to follow me down the hill through the brambles, I had to tell her that we needed to retreat back to the summit to take the other route.
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- The view approaching Casa Raul (finally), As Garzas, Spain, with the sun setting behind Monte Nariga.
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- The sun setting behind Monte Nariga, As Garzas, Spain.
We were pretty spent when we reached Casa Da Vasca. I immediately went for an Estrella Galicia from the bar, while a Patty went to our room to grab a shower.
Dinner was wonderful. For starters, we shared a dish of clams with artichokes. Then for the main course I had Monkfish with Langostinos on couscous. Patty had cod. We both had flan with ice cream for desert.
Lonxa de Malpica (fish market)
Atalaya (hill over port)
Church of Saint Adrian
Lighthouse on island
Playa de Seriuga (beach)
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