On the Pilgramage Trail

La Coruna, Spain

Back in Spain again, Silver Whisper stopped at La Coruna (A Coruna in Galician) for a full day.  La Coruna is a relatively large city in Galicia in the far northwest region of Spain. The Galician language is somewhere between Portuguese and Spanish.La Coruna is mostly an industrial center but has a charming “old town “dating from the eleventh century.  It is the place from which the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588 to invade England. That didn’t work out well for the Spanish and Sir Francis Drake tried to occupy the city the following year.  Maria Pita, a local heroine, is said to have taken a spear from her dead husband’s hand and rallied the defenders to repel the English.  There is a monument to her in the town hall square.  La Coruna is on the “English” route for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela and a stopping place for cruise ships offering tours to this most famous pilgrimage site.

Michael and I had considered purchasing the ship sponsored all day bus tour to Santiago de Compostela but we were not interested in a two-hour ride each way, a two hour included lunch and perhaps an hour and a half at the actual cathedral.  We had researched the train route, fare and schedule before beginning the cruise and were on the public bus from the port to La Coruna’s railway station soon after the ship was cleared to let passengers ashore.

The high-speed train from La Coruna to Santiago de Compostela took less than an hour.  We were walking up hill to the old city, and the cathedral complex well before the ship’s tour bus arrived.

 

Street Scene Near the Cathedral of Santiago do Campostela

Plaza Das Praterias, Cathedral of Santiago de Campostela at Rear

The Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela is a mix of Romanseque, baroque and Gothic architectural styles.  The first cathedral was built in the ninth century purportedly over the remains of St. James the Apostle.  The site quickly became a major pilgrimage destination attracting believers from throughout Europe.  Modern pilgrims typically wear a scallop shell; many of the pilgrimage routes are marked at intervals with scallop shells in the pavement or on posts indicating the way.   

 

Cathedral Looking From the Nave to the Choir

Glitz and Glitter Abound

 The current cathedral was constructed over several hundred years beginning in the eleventh century.  The building has had features added continually over the centuries and is now a mix of styles of architecture and ornamentation.

 

Scallop Shell Marking the Pilgrim Route

Modern Day Pilgrim With Scallop Shell on his Backpack

Michael was most interested in the “botafumeiro.”  This is a huge incense burner weighing more than 100 lbs that when swung can ascend almost to the transept vaults and reaches speeds in excess of 50 mph at the base of its swing.  The censor’s purpose was to mask the odors of hundreds of pilgrims who bathed infrequently and camped and cooked in the cathedral.  Today it is mostly a ceremonial object. We didn’t see the actual botafumiero as it is only used on special feast days or when a group of pilgrims donates 300 Euros to see it swing.  We did get a good look at the ropes and wooden supports that are used.  A small silver incense burner hung on a long rope stretching from a few meters above the floor to high in the nave. The real botafumeiro is housed in the cathedral museum when not in use.

On Feast Days and Special Occasions the Butafumiero Swings Here

Michael and I spent several hours exploring the cathedral and the buildings nearby then took the high-speed train back to La Coruna and had a late lunch aboard Silver Whisper.  We had enough time to walk around the old town of La Coruna in the afternoon.  We do manage to pack a lot into our brief shore visits.

Silver Whisper at the Pier in La Coruna

Street Scene Old Town

White Framed Glass Windows Protect Residents From Frequent Rain and Wind

Plaza de Maria Pita

Silver Whisper Pulls Away From the Pier, Gijon Next Stop

Porto - Home of Port Wine

Porto, Portugal

Silver Whisper docked at the port of Lexoes just above the mouth of the Duro River. Lexoes is about 6 miles downriver from Porto and is the main port serving Porto. I got a late start that morning and missed the approach.  I arrived on the top deck just as the ship was backing in to its spot on the pier and the local line handlers were attaching thick ropes to the bollards (T shaped metal pieces along the pier for tying up ships.)

Michael and I were on the first shuttle bus to Porto.  We took a scenic route along the river that kept me wondering where the city really was. The bus let us off at a park on the top of a hill. We were near a large government building and a photography museum.  The Clergios tower, the tallest landmark in Porto was nearby.  The city center was not visible.  We had acquired tourist maps and followed the shortest route to the center of town.  What the maps did not indicate was that the streets were extremely hilly so even relatively short distances appeared daunting. We went up and down a number of hills exploring the historic center of the city.

Fishmonger Selects a Fish for her Customer

Fruit, Vegetables and Dried Cod

Antique Tram Passes the Clergios Tower

Porto is a photographer’s dream. Michael and I both took several hundred pictures. We had originally planned choice to visit Vila Nova de Gaia across the Duro River from Porto proper.  This district has been the headquarters of the port- wine trade since the late 17^th century when imports of French wine were banned in Britain and the English turned to Porto for an alternative.  Wine merchants transported grapes from vineyards on the upper Duro to port-wine caves at Vila Nova de Gaia where wine was was produced and matured a number of years before export to Britain.  This practice exists today, the only difference being that the grapes are trucked down the river instead of floated down on flat bottomed barges. The wine caves and warehouses now have tasting rooms. 

We would have loved to cross the river and participate in a port tasting.  As it was, we weren’t interested in drinking before lunch and we had to leave the city relatively early.  We did look at the other side of the river from a vantage point near the Porto Cathedral.  It was easy to pick out the names of the famous port distributors painted on the buildings. I have a telephoto shot of Grahams on the far side of the Duro River.

Graham's is Across the River - The Nearby Buildings Block the View of the Duro

A unique aspect of Portuguese culture is the use of blue painted tiles called azulejos on many of the buildings.  The railway station had an especially arresting tile mural depicting Portuguese history. A church near the main plaza had extensive tile on its exterior and we saw smaller tile murals on many public and private buildings.

Railway Station Interior - Murals Date from the 1920's

Street Scene With Tile Fronted Church at Right

 The cathedral looked much like a castle on a hill.  The relatively plain exterior belied a rich interior. We checked out the interior and the surrounding plaza then descended to a view point below the cathedral that had a magnificent vista of the city.

Porto's Cathedral

Cathedral Interior

Stained Glass Window

View From Cathedral toward Clergios Tower

Michael and I really liked Porto.  I think it is worth another visit.  We toasted our day in the city with a glass of port, sitting on our veranda as Silver Whisper departed Lexoes at cocktail hour.

Michael Photographing the Railway Station

City Hall

We All Straggle Back to the Silver Whisper After a Day of Sightseeing  

The Cruise Terminal has a Display of an Old Locomotive

More Adventure than Expected in Lisbon

Lisbon

Michael and I flew from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on Monday, May 5.  The flight was uneventful aside from discovering we were not allowed into the Star Alliance Club despite our United Airlines Premier Silver status and our paid membership in the United Club, a Star Alliance partner.   It appears that the Barcelona airport does not allow just anyone who flies a lot into its lounge; one has to have to have Premier Gold status or higher for entry.  Pooh!

In Lisbon, we stayed two nights at the Pestana Palace Hotel.  The hotel has a real palace as the property’s centerpiece. The palace is gorgeous.  We stayed in a very comfortable standard hotel room decorated with antiques in a modern wing next to the palace.  Michael and I made forays into the city proper from this luxurious base. The breakfasts in the mirrored ballroom were fantastic.

Pestana Palace Sitting Room

Pestana Palace Main Gate

 The hotel front desk staff told us we could buy twenty-four hour transit passes near the railway museum, a short walk downhill from the hotel.  They failed to mention that the transit office people spoke no English nor had any interest in communicating with Michael or me.  After a great amount of gesturing and pointing at the Portuguese signs displaying fares, we emerged from the transport office with two twenty-four hour passes costing six Euros each.  We immediately put them to use taking the light rail to the Praca do Comercio, the Commerce Square at the water’s edge of the Baixa district.  The late afternoon and evening were spent walking about the area.  We ate a Portuguese paella at an outdoor restaurant.  After dinner we climbed to the Chaido area and explored there. We walked about half a mile farther than necessary to find the right bus  back to the Pestana and arrived there just as the daylight was ending.

Eiffel Inspired Elevator to Chiado and Barrio Alto (the Upper Town)

Praca (Plaza) da Figueira (Lower Town)

Woman Selling Water in a Square in Barrio Alto

Hanging out in the Park

Chaido Building Exteriors

Praca do Comercio

 Michael and I had the whole next day for serious sightseeing.  We took antique trolley  to the Convent da Graca atop the Alfama. From there we walked to the Castle St George, to the Cathedral and to several viewpoints, called miradouros, overlooking the city and the river.   At one viewpoint, we encountered a group from the Silver Whisper touring Lisbon on the last day of their chartered cruise.  We could see the ship anchored across the river.  There were three huge Cunard “Queen” ships docked just below us.  A Princess ship and a freighter took all the space at the other downtown pier.  With so many large ships in port, there was no room for the Silver Whisper at any of the piers so the passengers came ashore from across the river by local ferry.  Michael and I hoped that Silver Whisper would move closer by the next morning when we were to embark.

"Small" House Across Street from Pestana Palace

Antique Trolley - It Accepts Smart Cards!

Looking from Convento da Graca to Castelo Sao Jorge

Small Shop on Street Within Castle Walls

Interior Se de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral)

Fado Singer Trying to Bring Customers into Bar

Azulejos - Painted Tile Mural

Cunard's Three Queens Beyond the Red Roofs of Lisbon

We took another long ride in a modern trolley to Belem, an historic district on the western side of Lisbon.  There we walked out to the Monument of the Discoverers on the riverside, saw the sixteenth century Belem Tower, and the wedding cake exterior of the St Jerome Monastery. When we were ready to return to the Pestana, neither bus nor trolley appeared for more than half an hour.  We took the first bus that came and it was overcrowded. We changed buses a few times to get back to the hotel and most of them were very crowded too. There seemed to be an exceptional number of tourists on a Tuesday in early May.

St Jerome Monastery

Monument to the Discoverers

Belem Tower from the Water As Silver Whisper Leaves Lisbon

As soon as we reached our hotel room, I discovered my i-Phone was missing.  That morning, I had placed it in a zippered compartment of my handbag and had not opened the bag all day.  When I took it off, the bag was unzipped and empty.  Fortunately, my valuables were in the room safe and I was carrying my transit pass, an ID and a small amount of cash in a deep pocket. The bag had only tissues, sunscreen and the now missing phone.  I had been the victim of a professional pickpocket, probably on one of the crowded buses.

Michael managed to disable and “brick” my phone by calling ATT.  No one had tried to use it before he did so I assume he did it fairly quickly after the phone was taken.  We were both relieved that nothing had been compromised. Only a few pictures were lost.

We went back to the Biaxa area, walked around some more, had a shot of cherry liquor at a small bar, and enjoyed an exceptional dinner of fresh sardines and pork in a proper sit-down restaurant with tablecloths. The following morning we took a long walk around the hotel neighborhood before taking a taxi to the Silver Whisper around 11:00 am.

Michael and I were warmly welcomed aboard and were delighted to see the luggage we had transferred to the silver Whisper in Malaga was waiting for us in our suite.  We spent the afternoon reacquainting ourselves with the ship, greeting the crew and unpacking.  We watched the Silver Whisper’s departure from Lisbon from the veranda behind the Panorama Lounge sipping cocktails and taking pictures.  We were beginning another cruise!

Leaving Lisbon