Spanish views from a small town

Now that I have classes all afternoon, my writing time has become cramped. Yesterday, I didn't have enough time in the morning, and when I finished classes at eight, I was mentally exhausted. All I wanted to do was sit and vegetate. This morning my husband and I went to A Coruña to check something out. We hadn't been in the city since August of last year, when we went to see Patti Smith in concert at  Riazor beach. If this year had been normal, we probably would have gone to this August's concert, provided an interesting group had been booked. A Coruña is a city that my daughter has described as grey. The truth is that, through the middle of its streets, it's much like any other northern Spanish city. The modern parts of Avilés and Gijón are similar, and I suppose so are others all the way to the French border at Irún, though I haven't visited any Basque city. Apartment blocks stretching up, creating shadowy streets, barely any balcony. Smartly outfitted shops next ...