Back to the cruise and after sailing across the Bay of Biscay from Aviles we reached Ferrol in Galicia, north-western Spain. It’s quite a large city, a centre of naval shipbuilding and was the birthplace of the dictator General Franco.
The photo below is of palm trees just on the edge of the docks, so exotic looking to me anyway.
There are some lovely buildings, it all seems prosperous here anyway.
The town is set out in a grid pattern and seems to be mainly pedestrianised and each long street led to separate large squares, often with an ornate building, town hall or some such thing, all very stylish.
There seemed to be a never ending supply of streets and shops and I was impressed that most of the town squares were beautifully planted, and a lot of them had play areas for children, swings and such. What a great idea, for city dwelling children and for any kids being taken into the town, something they often dread, at least the parents will be able to promise some fun at the play area after being dragged around the shops.
I think tree-lined avenues are a feature of Spain and they do make lovely dappled shade, just what you need in their sunny climate, this one was just a short walk from the city centre.
Ferrol was a very vibrant place, lots of locals were carrying multiple carrier bags from stores and boutiques, the place was fairly crowded but suddenly the background hum that probably every city has just disappeared, the streets seemed to have emptied somehow – it was 2 pm – siesta time! Most of the shops shut, apart from eateries. It’s very bizarre this siesta malarkey and I heard Andrew Neil on The Daily Politics mention that the siesta had a bad effect on the Spanish economy, if so it’s about time they gave it up and dragged themselves into the 21st century.
Spain’s architecture is beautiful and I’m really struck at how clean the cities look! I think I might like Spain!
Peggy,
That part of Spain is really very nice. I don’t think I would like the bits that most Brit tourists go to, southern Spain I suppose, it sounds like England with sunshine – all English food and booze and drunkards!
The city seems to be clean and green, two things I value greatly, especially in a city.
Joan,
The locals told us they get a lot of rain, and I suppose they must otherwise everywhere wouldn’t be so lush, but we were very lucky, not a spot of rain.
Very stylish and very clean-looking! Still with the Spanish feel but quite different to the places you’ve posted previously.
(I think we should all adopt the idea of the afternoon siesta and keep the Spanish company! 😉 )
Sandra,
LOL (as they say). I favour catnaps. I think if I went for a long sleep during the day I’d end up sleeping until night time!
Lovely! As someone who grew up in San Diego in southern California looking at your photos it strikes me how much Spanish influence there is in San Diego architecture. And that photo of the docks looks like it could be part of a San Diego harbor!
Stefanie,
They certainly got around – those Spaniards – another bunch of empire builders! I had forgotten that you grew up in CA – you must find it very different being in the frozen north now, in winter anyway!
Yes, those Spaniards did get around. It is very different in the frozen north but I love it! 😀
Enjoying these pictures of Spain! Never really thought of traveling there, but never really had an idea of what was there to see other than the art and architecture in Barcelona.
Christy,
It was the first time I had been to Spain and I was very pleasantly surprised, but I don’t think I would like the touristy ‘costas’. I would like to go to Barcelona but I believe that it has so many tourists now that the locals are getting very fed up with it all.