Arriving At Casablanca
We arrived in Casablanca early on Friday, the 22nd, which seeing as it was the day for prayers in the Muslim world, probably wasn’t the best days for those, who wanted to visit the mosque in the city.
The ship was fairly close into the centre of the city and it was about a fifteen minute walk.
My Room On The Ship
I really couldn’t complain about the room on the ship. I had been upgraded to one only two decks below the main deck with its buffet restaurant for lunch and tea, when I wanted one. This deck also contained the gym and a good bar, so everything was close at hand. Especially, as I was close by one of the staircases with a set of lifts.
The room was very well equipped as the pictures show. I had a proper atlas, binoculars, a very comfortable bath and shower, a bed that I slept well on, plenty of mirrors, cupboards, drawers and places to sit and more than enough good towels. The only thing that was a bit suspect was the air-conditioning, which tended to dry the room.
Sadly, I was unable to test that, as I’d left my humidity meter behind. It was also not the sort of weather to sit on deck to get some fresh air.
I wasn’t the only one who found the atmosphere a bit oppressive.
One nice touch was that I was able to get a sharps box to dispose of my lancets, that I use for INR testing.
Adverts On The BBC
The only television I watched was BBC World and it was good to see such as Nick Gowing, who I once met on holiday.
However, I was rather fed up with the adverts, for products I weren’t interested in. Although, one was for a mini diabetic meter, much like the device I use to test my INR. Although it was very small. It does show the way these devices are going.
I wonder how long before cruise ships such as the Oriana have a digital television service based on Freesat.
Sailing South
From Corunna, we sailed on down the Portuguese and Spanish coasts to Casablanca. We did see a bit of sun, but I didn’t see anybody in the swimming pools, as it was rather cold.
The pictures were taken on the afternoon of the 21st of March, the day after we left Corunna.
Cod Fish And Raisin Pie
Our excellemt guide in Corunna mentioned that this was a meal she liked.
It sounded good to me, so I just had to look it up. I found a non-gluten-free version here.
This recipe isn’t gluten-free, but I suspect it could easily be made so.
Passing Naval Battles
We were continually passing the locations of famous naval battles. Mostly, where the British gave the French or in later times, the Germans a good kicking.
As we passed through the Bay of Biscay, we passed Quiberon Bay, St. Nazaire and Aix Roads, although we were well offshore.
And then after Corunna, we passed Cape Finisterre, where two battles were fought in 1747 and one in 1805.
Later of course we passed Trafalgar and actually went into Cadiz, where Drake famously singed the King of Spain’s beard.
Corunna
I took these pictures, as the ship was arriving and leaving Corunna.
The tower at the entrance to the harbour is the Tower of Hercules.
Looking at Corunna, it would seem to be one of those places worth visiting.
The Oldest Parador In Spain
The parador by the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela is the oldest parador in Spain.
Part of our tour included coffee, tea and cakes in the hotel. Our tour guide even rustled up a delicious gluten-free muffin for myself. It was labelled sin gluten, with a crossed grain symbol, so coeliacs won’t have difficulty with the language. In fact my Italian pronunciation of celiachai worked well enough in Spain, as the words are similar sounding.
Before we had our snack, I had actually retreated into the hotel to get a coffee because of the cold, which cost me the princely sum of €2.50.
The Galician Gaita
I hadn’t realised that there are bagpipes in Spain, but I saw this guy in Santiago de Compostela.
The Galician Gaita
They are called the Galician gaita and they seemed to my untutored ear to be less harsh that those of our friends in the North.
Local Food At Santiago de Compostela
There was a cafe by the bus station and they did give us tastes of the local food.
The almond biscuits, which are from that area of Spain were delicious and gluten-free. I’ve never seen them before, but why are they not in gluten-free selections in shops and on-line?
The Anonymous Widower 