A short recap of 2016

Another year is coming to an end. Many things have happened throughout the year. The person in our family that travelled most in 2016 is... Artur. Yes, that's true.

First, winter holidays. He spent two weeks skiing in Italy with his grandparents. We stayed home, working.

Second, summer holidays. He spent first two weeks in Zakynthos with his grandparents (with my parents this time). A lot of swimming, sunbathing, doing nothing yet experiencing a lot. We stayed home yet again, working.

Third, summer holidays again. He spent three weeks on the road with us. Practically each day in a different place, many places visited, many places seen. Apart from driving through Germany (and spending there one night on the way back home), we visited France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra.

Fourth, somewhere in June he went on a school trip somewhere in Kashubia, Poland. Don't judge me here, but I can't even remember where to. He had a great time. And that's what matters. Do I even have to mention that we stayed home, working?

Fifth, he went to Malbork, Poland. Twice within two weeks, if I remember correctly. We planned a trip there to see the castle for a given date. In the meantime, he went there with his classmates.

On top of that, he spent a week during summer holidays learning to sail in our hometown. 

Quite a year for the little guy.

Paulinka started her adventure in the kindergarden, which results with her being sick every other week (almost). But we hope this phase will pass soon.

We have hardly anything planned for 2017. Apart from the fact that in less than two and a half months we will be going to London for a prolonged weekend. We - meaning me and my husband. No kids this time. A quick weekend getaway. We still have no plans for the summer though. We'll most likely do a roadtrip again. But nothing's certain yet. Not even the direction. Not to mention any dates. Or anything else, for that matter.

The kids are going to Greece with my parents in the summer. This time, both of them. Guess what? Yes, we will be staying home, working. 

For now, we're planning to spend New Year's Eve together with our kids at home. We watched Inside Out on Christmas (Paulinka loved little Riley dancing on the armchair, butt naked. Btw she used to do exactly the same thing not that long ago ;)). Maybe we'll watch Frozen on New Year's Eve. Or maybe something else. All we know is that we're going to spend the evening together.

Happy New Year to all of you! May it be a year full of travel adventures, near and far.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all, spent with the loved ones, family and friends.

And a Happy New Year, full of travel adventures, near and far.

P.S. Santa does exist.

How 'bout re-reading my post about the Living Museum of Gingerbreads? :)

A quick visit to Santiago de Compostela

The next day was all sunny and hot, which proved that the decision about driving to La Coruna and not stopping in Oviedo was a good one. We woke up in the morning, packed our stuff back into our car and soon we were back on the road. The plan was to get to Portugal already that day. But not so fast. First, we wanted to see a little bit more of the western parts of Spain.

We were close enough to Santiago de Compostela, a town known for being the destination point for most pilgrims on either of the Camino de Santiago routes. Yes, there isn't a single route that you have to take. But all of them will take you to Santiago de Compostela.

We got to the town easy enough. But once we were there, we couldn't see any signs that would lead us anywhere close to the Cathedral. We were driving very slowly looking for any hints. Roadsigns. Anything. But saw nothing. Until...

Somewhere, across a roundabout from us, we saw people walking with backpacks. First thought - we should follow them, cause they know the way. They must be pilgrims. When we got closer, we saw the sticks and the shells. We knew it was the right decision to make. We quickly parked the card and decided to continue on foot. It was much easier that way, at least it was easier to find the right path. Cause it was unbearably hot and thus difficult to walk. Not much shade either.

We finally saw the first signs. The big ones, easily spotted even from a moving vehicles. But these were rare. What actually took us to the pilgrims centre were little bronze (was it?) shells in the pavement.

We were finally there. We reached the part of the city we wanted to reach. There were many more people there. From many different countries. Most of them with backpacks. Real pilgrims, not really tourists like ourselves. I hope that one day, I will also be able to walk the route. To visit Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrim. But it's not the time for me, yet. Frankly speaking, I don't feel ready to do that yet.

Before we went into the Cathedral, we visited a tiny church as if in the back, behind the hotel. An empty one. With its own charm.

Then we went to the Cathedral. Oh, it's a huge one. I didn't take any pictures inside (just one or two outside) cause there was a mass and I didn't want to interrupt. You can walk through the Cathedral during the service, though.

Of course, the outsides of the Cathedral had to be under renovation, cause it's me who's visiting ;) Like with Florence, Paris, and many more places ;)

That was a quick visit. Shoop, shoop and we were done. Back in the car, ready to keep going. Cause we still had a bit more to see that day. Before we got to Portugal. But we ere not in a hurry either. There simply wasn't much more to do there. At least for us.

 

An evening in La Coruna

We spent our last night in the viccinity of Bilbao. As I have already written, the weather changed completely. It got dark, cloudy and ugly. We were soon on the road again.

Changing our plans a few times on the way, we ended up driving all the way up to the North-Western part of Spain. About 150km before the our next stop, the sky started to clear. When we finally got to La Coruna, ate dinner and decided to see the town, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, which made a perfect afternoon after such a long day.

La Coruna, a city a bit off the regular tourist routes in Spain, is famous for Torre de Hercules. Tower of Hercules, as named in English, is the oldest still functioning lighthouse in the world. Reconstructed a few times since Roman times, it still plays its initial role, that is guiding vessels along the Spanish coast.

As most of the things-to-see in La Coruna, it is situated on an island. That particular one (the only one we've seen) is full of narrow, one-way, crowded streets, so getting there was a bit of a pain. Plus, we had to spend some time waiting to be able to get into the tower. They only let in a limited number of people at once. So you can get inside only when somebody else has just left the building.

The lighthouse is in pretty good shape. Steps are in good condition, mostly regular in height. We've climbed much worse (oh, Florence!). Paulinka managed to get all the way up and then down all by herself. I know she has a lot of energy and is not that easily discouraged once she's set her eyes on something, but she is only three.

When you finally get inside, first you can get acquainted with the history of the tower. Every now and then, there are very informative illustrations of what the tower looks or used to look like. How it is constructed. How it used to or is working. Again, a lot of information given in three languages: Spanish, English and (I'm guessing here) Galician. Once you know all that, you can climb the stairs. 

The view from the tower was worth the wait. We got there close to sunset, so the yellowish colours added a bit to my perception of the place, for sure. But the area is simply beautiful. And when you stand right next to the tower, looking at the sea, the waves, you can almost forget that right behind you is the city.