Generally, northern Spain is cool, wet and windy. Well as they say, 2 out of 3 isn't bad.... we had cool, windy and sunny! An unusual weather day. It is a beautiful coast line and A Coruna is a vibrant, crowded and busy city with a spectacular mix of ancient and new architecture, high vistas, magnificent coves and fishing harbors and a huge sandy beach in the downtown area. The city boasts the oldest working lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules built by the Romans which has been refinished and restored to preserve it. There is a 6 story paved hill to climb to get to the base, then another 300 steps to the top. We made it to the base and quit! But even there a spectacular panorama of the city was ours to enjoy.

We were on an overview bus tour, 15 euros each for just over 2 hours with a guide who spoke English and shared here internet connection with us. We had not booked with the ship and saved quite a bit and saw the same sights. The downtown beach which is a cove open directly to the Atlantic is about a mile in length, and although it looks inviting is considered quite dangerous because of the currents and rocks and cold water temperatures. A number of people die every year. In the winter, the road we were on is actually flooded over and not useable even though the city spends millions to build sand barriers to protect it.

We returned to the ship, played cards and enjoyed a ships bar-b-que poolside for dinner including suckling pig, short ribs, steaks and plenty of different salads and sides. We skipped the entertainment and played dominoes listening to the wind. A restful night and we slept in on Saturday morning!

A quiet Saturday at sea yet cold and windy but the waves were low and we took a 1.6k walk (3 laps around the ship before a light lunch in the Lido. Captain Nixon gave a provocative yet highly informative on the sensitive subject of slavery going back over 2000 years. Some of his power point was a bit salacious but necessary to get the message through. A thought to ponder: more African slaves went to Brazil, over 5 million than any other area in the Western Hemisphere including America which only received about 500,000 during the 17 & 18 hundreds.

An afternoon concert by the ships singers was followed by another formal night and the obligatory surf & turf offerings in the dining room. I opted for a veal chop. The evening entertainment (we went to the early show at 8 pm) was a piano showman from Manchester, England who was quite good and did a nice impression of Liberace. Early to bed tonight for a 6am wake up. The ship docks at 8am in Cherbourg and we meet our guide on the pier at 8:30am. And we will be off to the Normandy Beaches. Let's hope the winds die down as the forecast temperature is 55 degrees.