Ferrol, October 20

Everyone agreed on an early start from Pontevedra this morning, to make time for a stop in Santiago de Compostela on the way to Ferrol. Praise and Xiaohan wait in the lobby; Sarah B and Calum have made it outside already.










Nurhan has a last "cafe solo" (espresso) and Marc catches up on an email or two in the cozy hotel coffee shop before the bus arrives.

An hour later, we emerge from the street that leads to the historic centre from the bus drop-off area, into the enormous plaza in front of the magnificent Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. One of the most important sites in the Catholic world's 'Way of St. James' for a thousand years, this world heritage city still draws contemporary pilgrims as well as tourists.


 
We marvel at the intricate stonework on the cathedral, wander through beautiful old streets for an hour, then head back to the bus to finish the trip to Ferrol. Drawing close, we pass lovely inlets from the Atlantic, most flashing by too quickly to photograph as our bus speeds along the "autopista," but nice to view.




When we arrive in Ferrol, what a contrast! Our hotel is ultra-modern, and located next to an equally 21st-century mall. Note the colourful recycling bins by the mall's parking entrance... similar bins can be found on every street, on almost every block in neighbourhoods old and new; they are a normal part of life in Spain's impressively clean cities.

Ferrol is a major port and shipbuilding city at the tip of the northwestern corner of the country, and home to a large base for the Spanish navy. Part of its vast  forest of dockside cranes is visible from nearly every point in the city.






























The Teatro Jofre is lovely outside and in. Tonight's programs are in Galician, which appears to bring some elements similar to both Portuguese and Basque into Spanish. Part of Nurhan's bio, for example, reads "da clases maxistrais e dirixe outras orquestras como recentemente no 29 Festival Montserrat..." 






Nurhan and the orchestra and Marc are really "tight" in Turina, Devienne, Mendelssohn and Dvorak; the audience goes into "pin-drop" mode and then demands encores from both Marc and the orchestra. 


Some members board the bus to go for dinner near the hotel, while others find the restaurant recommended by the concert association closed and end up at an unplanned but terrific place with yet more seafood specialties.


Mig and Marc take the head and foot of our long table, and many toasts are made to a highly successful evening before three taxis take us back to the hotel.