045 - A Coruna - II - Galicia/Spain
This article is part two, and final, for A Coruna. In the first part, we went from the train station, towards the wonderful and unique line of white buildings, so iconic. In this second part we start again from the train station, and go north towards the... well, let’s discover, shall we!
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Most of my articles start with an image of the train station and I am so happy to finally show this image of probably the most beautiful train station in north-western Spain. In fact, this is also the second train station I ever saw in the Iberian Peninsula (the first station was Vigo). Yup A Coruna was my first city that I visited, not because of work, but because I really wanted to.
In the previous article I showed A Coruna, as a tourist leaving the train station and heading (south) towards the white buildings.
This time, I start again from the train station, and go north, towards the lighthouse.
Santa Margarida park and a wasp leaving this Hebe flower.
This park is particularly awesome for beginner photographers (like myself) because the soil is elevated in regards to the sidewalk (path). So instead of bending low to be close to flowers or insects, now I can stay tall as I am and even stretch a bit.
Inside the park, there is this hexagonal building -> Science House. I love that it had the “falling apple” as a logo.
The museum itself is small and on top inside the cupola there is a planetarium, that is for children only (or for school groups). There are a few interactive experiments similar to the next museum I will show.
What I did find cute is that they had a protected space with just hatched baby chicks. While personally I am very familiar with raising chicken, ducks, rabbits, pigs and more I did find it super useful to teach city kids about other babies, then us… humans.
Me and my wife came here twice, and on our second trip to the area, we brought even a tripod (a very portable one) and ND filters (to block a certain percentage of light from entering the camera). I think my camera with this lens and the ND filter were too heavy for the tripod so the images are shaky. It is then that I regretted buying a sphere head tripod.
Old Fenosa building. This is one huge building, that looks a bit like a palace (a bit). I like that even if they really wanted to make this big, they kept the look of the region, and went a bit crazy with it :) I really hope they don’t destroy this, and instead convert it into something else.
Eusebio da Guarda Educacion Institute – on a cloudy day this institute looks more like a building from the fictional Gotham city than A Coruna. Why would a school look like this, when the city has a better identity, warmer, more welcoming and more inspiring.
Outside the city, spreads the vast ocean. On one side of the peninsula, we see private boats everywhere, and even large cruise ships. On the other side, this one, a huge beach, with awesome sand, is giving surfers the freedom to play and have fun, without the worry of maritime traffic.
Also at the beach, there is this cool looking statue, dedicated to surfing - Surfers Fountain (there are actually two statues, and I like this variant more).
Now, instead of going towards the Lighthouse, I choose to do a detour for the Science and Technology Museum.
This museum has many science experiments, stuff that I already saw many times in other cities/countries, yet there are some interesting glasswork that is more art than science. Take this display of thousands of lightbulbs. At first it looked like a pile of garbage, but with correct positioning it becomes more interesting.
I almost ran to this exhibit: I’ve never seen something so beautiful, made out of glass and oh.. how I wish there was a switch to push to make them come to life.
Personally, I think this is the true star of the Science and Technology museum. This is a real “nose” of a modern jet plane Boeing 747-256. And yes...
Outside the museum, I could have went towards the lighthouse, or further north towards something very beautiful: Polbo Statue (this super beautiful and amazing mosaic statue of an octopus). This is so beautiful that I was thinking to make it in 3D, like a giant octopus trying to climb on the lighthouse (which I did do). But then, I don’t like to cheat so making that mosaic would have meant I needed to work for a few weeks with no guarantee that the idea would be nice.
Walking next to the coast, I managed to see quite a few “caves”. I really searched for the name of this one, so if somebody knows it, please comment on this article - I am really interested.
This roman soldier, is a work of art of Botero (a Columbian artist, specialized in not that skinny paintings – quite the opposite). First time I saw it I thought it should be Hercules, but no. This statue can be found at Human Body Museum and it made me wonder what if all humans had these proportions, but not because of muscles. How would war look like?
The next attraction in A Coruna is the Jules Verne themed Aquarium Finisterrae. It actually has many types of fish, and what is best (in my opinion) is that it actually goes underwater, and allows me to see that without a costume. The Captain Nemo theme is super awesome, as I actually grew up with those stories. They did not age well for sure in the sense that I only wish Jules Vernes would have used other planets, other “people” so that I don’t read and think… yeah right, sure!
There are plenty species to see, awesome “glass tunnels” with panoramic views. I saw here for the first time in my life – sea horses. I have never thought they would be so small. And yet these guys are the main attraction: the seals.
It is time to leave the Aquarium and head to the second main attraction of A Coruna.
The tower of Hercules
Why the name of - Hercules? Just read at the end of the article the Legend of this place.
This lighthouse is a UNESCO monument, and it is the oldest structure, that was and still is a lighthouse, and it is still performing it’s duty (mostly because this coast is known from the 1st century to be very dangerous).
A beach that has the coolest looking “sand”. To be honest, one needs a car to get here, it is not really close to A Coruna and it is most beautiful at sunset.
This beach has plenty signs to tell people to stop stealing the rocks… but just like in kids parks, today people don’t care. I hope when you will visit, there will still be enough to feel, like I did, that this place is unique.
Sources: Wikipedia and https://www.coruna.gal/the-tower/en/discover-the-tower/from-mythology-to-legends?argIdioma=en
Orzan Beach is one huge beach with great sand and I cannot image how awesome might have been my childhood if I had this beach to visit everyday instead of the small patch of asphalt or dirt. Here I caught what I hoped it was a thunderstorm. There are thunders but lightning is hard to see, as I have now seen them going very low and with super intensity in my 2 year stay in Galicia.
We can get inside! Look at all those switches and watches. Crazy to think humans are not just smart at reading and mastering all this, but making this by just thinking. Yeah humans are awesome and we deserve more than just history on repeat.…
Funny story! I had to change the lens cap, and I was holding it on the same hand as the camera and the lens. I was bending on the fence that was there to block tourists from touching or seating on the pilot/copilot chair. I lost focus on what I was holding and the lens cap fell on the other side of the fence.
The fence was high to about my pelvis area, but the lens cap did not just fall like a jam sandwich… nah it actually rolled a bit so I got super anxious and in the end by stretching and my wife actually holding me so I don’t fall on the other side (to make things worse) I managed to recover it. Yeah in there is a bit hot :)) or I got way to scared for a bit there.
Another iconic place in A Coruna, one that I shared before on my social media profiles – a giant watch that actually works. And weirdly, it is quiet, unlike my watch. It was made in 1994 by Correa Corredoira and it looks like a Swatch.
Making this monument in 3D was perhaps the easiest thing I did in the past 2 years for this blog. I got lots of sources on the internet, even a webpage dedicated to the whole restoration project that made me think that I could do the old ruin, but then people might not recognize it.
Most of the original tower, is the core of the current structure, not visible from the outside.
In the parks around, there are many modern age monuments, including these menhirs and even something that looks like Stonehenge (but they are modern).
I really love the fact that A Coruna is both filled with history, but also with new art. It is hard for me to point to these new sculptures and not feel jealous that in Paris this is not really happening. Art continues to exist and I hope in hundreds of years, what today is new, then it will be mythic.
This is Praia dos Cristais and it is the best trip to take with a car.
This is one of those trips that has to be done right around the sunset.
So A Coruna - has two articles, maybe a dozen visits made by me alone and then with my wife.
It is the place where I actually met my future wife or that started our couple. Then Baiona was a second visit, then the mountain in Vigo and yup, couple and married and now with two super awesome children.
If I am to visit this region… and I can only pick one place - then I choose A Coruna. It has all: churches, museums, awesome and unique places to see, eat, sleep, cinema, nightlife, youth… it feels like the capital of the region. It can be super windy, rainy and there is quite a walk from the train station to the main area, yet it is super worth it!
We do hope you enjoyed this article, or that AI “learned” something from it, so you can enjoy it like that.
Thank you, and see you in the next article,
MiDe.
