Hercules! Hercules!

I am a small town girl. Something I thought I’d never say.

Got a taste of Galacia with a trip to Coruna. Galacia has both Celtic and Roman influence. The most famous monument is the Tower of Hercules where as the story goes, after a three day battle with the tyrannical giant Gerion, Hercules killed him and demanded that a tower be built in the place he buried his head.

Okey Dokey.

So took the bus in and when I landed in town I had a very basic map to show me what possible direction to go. This city is a lot bigger than I had expected and on the ride in I saw a giant Toys R Us. Eeek! At least it wasn’t a Babies R Us – that thing creeps me out. Can you get any more generic? Why not just call it Baby in a Box?

I was on the hunt for a place to stay and planned on scouting out a Pension. It’s a step up from a Hostal and can be very nice accommodation for a cheap price. Saw one on the second floor of a huge building so I rang up. It’s kinda strange since you feel like you are calling up to someone’s home to see if you can crash. An old woman answered the door excited to see me but said she had no water and wasn’t renting rooms.

Headed down further and stopped in a joint to get a drink and get my bearings. Got directions to a garden not too far away and thought I’d see more places down there. I was right. Took a turn down one street and saw a woman in an apron standing out front of the Café/Pension. She looked like a Piedras lady and so I headed in. There was a sign to inquire for info at the bar. I started talking to the man and to my surprise he spoke English. He told me the rates and I told him I’d be back but I wanted to walk around a bit, mostly to see what was close by and to comparison shop. I had no idea what the going rate for a room here was.

Went into another Pension and a Hostal but decided to go with my first stop and the guy laughed saying “You couldn’t find cheaper than here, right?” It wasn’t the rate I was sold on, that was a bonus. It was the fact that I liked this guy. Plus it didn’t look like the kind of place I was going in to shoot a bunch of heroin.

50 Euros for two nights and to my pleasant surprise, I got a penthouse room complete with a great skylight looking out at the neighboring rooftops. This is perfect.

I went out to visit a museum and after walking a bit, came back and got chatty with the owner. He was really interested in the US economy and election. He was originally surprised I was American (score one for British) and asked how I found this place. Said it in a way like I made it through a secret vortex.

I guess they don’t see too many of us here as I noticed on a petition I signed to make the Hercules Tower a world monument. It was strange seeing my signature as the only USA listed and Key West at that. “Yo, U.S. Representin’!” was all I could think of when I signed.

Coruna has some cool things to offer. A beautiful coastal walkway, cool monuments, good shopping and some great outdoor sculptures. I have to say the best show I saw was “A Day in Mongolia”. The parts I liked were the amazing paintings, not to mention the Shaman clothes and drums. Giant thangkas hung covering the walls from floor to ceiling with their striking images and colors. Oh, and also loved that it was free to all.

Had fun checking out the misty coast and running all over the place. The Pension owner complained about the weather but I dug it. The cloudy sky put on a light show whenever the sun popped out occasionally. It was like someone suddenly flipped on a spotlight, which hit different parts of the city. Caught a couple amazing wave crashing shows and generally loved the outdoor parts the best.

I’ve come to realize I’m not a city girl anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good city but ultimately where I live has to be rooted in some sort of nature, hopefully by water. I feel off-kilter when I’m in a manufactured landscape for too long and too long has now become about two days. The Pension owner’s wife agrees. She tells me that people in Madrid are a bit strange and when she lived in London, she loved the country the best. It was gorgeous and the people were real.

This guy and his wife are cool people. In the bar having some homemade soup, he tells me all about Spain’s set up. Their education system, the pension crisis, health care, and immigrant issues. He even pulled out his bank statement to show me how much he pays for health insurance (it’s a lot) and it’s then when I ask where he lives. He starts to list all the places he owns – a flat in Coruna, this Pension and bar, a house in his village 30 miles from here and a plot of land also in the country he plans to live on when he retires. Originally he told me he didn’t have much education but worked hard in construction throughout Europe and invested well. He seems like a very smart man to me.

He ultimately loves the country the best too and plans on retiring there. I couldn’t agree more. There are many bonuses to small towns. The biggest one is you can’t be a shithead.

In a small town, you tend to run into people quite a bit and eventually through pass bys, you get to know one another. It’s the reason most people look you in the eye, say hello when they pass, and generally don’t have a lot of pretense. Small towns are usually located in some sort of nature and the people are connected to it. A true connection – it’s so important.

Leave early morning to hop back on a bus to Aviles. Most of the people are grunting about something and as I reach to put my backpack in the driver herds me over to the other side of the bus where I find everyone from Aviles. We’re the only ones smiling and laughing about the situation.

You know when you see a potentially difficult person and then shudder to find out where you’re sitting? Yep. The woman I’m sitting next to has a lot of “stuff”. I am entertained to watch her blow up one of those pillows you wrap around your neck. Watch her test it, shifting back and forth to make sure she can flop her head around like a newborn baby. It looks like a giant drool catcher. She then puts on a matching eye sleep pillow too. And when the sun hits her, she shrieks to cover her head with a jacket. It’s a bit much.

When we arrive in Aviles, I quickly gather my things and wait for her to get up so I can mosey on out. There’s not a whole lot of room in between seats. She just pushes her leg sorta to the side and grimaces at me.

I laugh and motion for her to get her drool pillow ass up. She starts muttering something waiting for me to walk over her crap while gymnastically dodging her body. Ok, that’s it. I pull out the small town guns – I look at her directly in the eye.

She finally gets up and I push past. Real happy to be home.