We pulled into La Caruna at dawn and were greeted by a beautiful view of their waterfront. One of the interesting features was the façade of the buildings facing the water. We learned that the treatment is called a galería, or glassed-in balcony that let the sunlight in and keep the rain (and humidity) out. Interestingly, galerías were first used in shipbuilding Ferrol, where they initially adorned the sterns of the great Spanish galleons. They eventually migrated to the back porches of local houses, finally drifting southwest from Ferrol down to La Coruña.
The point of this stop was to visit Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de Compostela is the capital of northwest Spain’s Galicia region. It’s known as the culmination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and the alleged burial site of the Biblical apostle St. James. His remains reputedly lie within the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, consecrated in 1211, whose elaborately carved stone facades open onto grand plazas within the medieval walls of the old town.
The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is an extensive network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together here at the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish). Some people set out on the Camino for spiritual reasons; others find spiritual reasons along the Way as they meet other pilgrims, attend pilgrim masses in churches, monasteries, and cathedrals, and see the extensive infrastructure of buildings provided for pilgrims over many centuries.
The tour of the church was interesting but seeing the number of people who continued to walk into the square signifying the completion of their journey was inspiring.
We had lunch at the Hostal dos Reis Católicos. It is a five-star Parador hotel and widely considered one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the world and has also been called the most beautiful hotel in Europe. It is a Parador hotel meaning that it is one of a Spanish state-owned chain of luxury hotels that are usually located in historic buildings or in nature areas with a special appeal. As of 2023, there were 97 paradores in Spain and one in Portugal, with 5,986 rooms in total. Every parador has its own restaurant offering the regional gastronomy of its area. They concept was created with the double objective of promoting tourism in areas that lacked adequate accommodations, and of putting unused large historic buildings to use, for the maintenance of the national heritage.
The trip back to the ship was relaxing as you can see in the final photo.

















