A CORUÑA: HIKING THE CAMINO INGLÉS Day 1 - 9th August 2024, 11kms from A Coruña to O Burgo

The first part of this video represents our journey from Santiago de Compostela to A Coruña, 8th August 2024, before commencing our 4-day Camino Inglés from 9th August. Just 11kms today, mostly because of the limited accommodation options on this Camino-less-travelled. It is called the Camino Inglés owing to English pilgrims arriving by boat in the Middle Ages at Ferol or Coruña, before making their way to Santiago, 112kms and 73kms respectively. This ended in 1534 with Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, condemning the route to ostracism for centuries On checking out of our hotel, we made our way to the official start point, the Church of Santiago, before commencing our journey. Dating from the 12th century, the Romanesque church is the oldest religious building in the city, housing Roman period altars from the Tower of Hercules (which we visited yesterday), dating from the 2nd century CE (the tower dating from the 1st century CE, it being the oldest surviving Roman lighthouse still used for maritime signalling). Reaching O Bruma (which is on the Camino), we diverted across the Río Mero to the town of Temple, where our accommodation is situated. Having popped to Eroski just down the road for 'picky bits', we settled in and watched films on the room's smart TV. Music: 1. Falla's 'Serenata andaluza' (1900). While the Cádiz-born composer couldn't be more removed from Galician culture, he remains Spain's greatest composer, and my favourite. After the murder of his friend, the poet García Lorca, during the Civil War, Falla went into exile in Argentina, where he lived until his death in 1946. Against his wishes, Franco had Falla's body shipped to Cádiz in 1947, where he was given a state funeral, followed by interment in the crypt of Cádiz Cathedral. From 1970 to 1982, his portrait appeared on the Spanish 100 peseta banknote. 2. In complete contrast, we have Bill Whelan's 'The Coast of Galicia' (1992), a piece for Celtic harp and ensemble from Whelan’s first major orchestral work, 'The Seville Suite'. In this recording, Galician harpist Rodrigo Romani is joined by members of the group, Milladoiro (Santiago), of which he was a founding member. While demonstrating the clear, Celtic connection between Ireland and Galicia, the movement specifically follows the journey of Aodh Ruadh Ó Dónaill (‘Red’ Hugh O’Donnell) from Ireland to A Coruña following the defeat of Gaelic Ireland at the Battle of Kinsale in 1602.