Casal Coton, a review

If you walk along Rúa do Franco, there's a good chance you'll come across these ladies, dressed in traditional costumes, offering you goodies to try. Do try them! There are at least 5 shops selling them but they all belong to Casal Coton, a family business which has been around for a long time. You're under no obligation to buy anything, but once you've tasted their offerings, chances are that you'll walk away with something.

Apart from pastries and biscuits, they also sell chocolates, cheese and liquors. Most of the pastries and biscuits have almonds as the main ingredient. You've probably heard of tarta de Santiago, which is basically an almond pie. They do that, of course, but I prefer their Tarta de Apostol, which is also an almond pie, but less sweet.

They also have these biscuits (or cookies) which are just heavenly. They're called Caprichos de Santiago (Santiago's cravings). Mmm, I wouldn't mind some right now!

Santiago's cravings

Caprichos de Santiago

Almond pie (Tarta de Apostol)

Name; Casa Cotón
Type: shop (pastries, cheese, wine...)
Website: http://www.casalcoton.com/productos.php
Location: All along Rúa do Franco (see their website)
Verdict: Don't go home without some of their products!

A Taberna do Bispo, restaurant review

As you can imagine from previous posts, once again, dinner was going to be another late night affair. Not wanting to go far, and looking for something cheap & simple, Rúa do Franco was about the best choice.

A Taberna do Bispo was the one elected. It was quite full, but we preferred to sit by the bar anyway, which was no problem. Wanting to keep the cost down, we stayed away from seafood, but the two guys beside us had some and they looked good, the seafood, I mean ;) . They thought so anyway, the guys, I mean ;) .

Chistorra and pimiento de padrón

Chistorra "is a type of fast-cure sausage from Aragon, the Basque Country, and Navarre, Spain. It is made of minced pork, or a mixture of minced pork and beef, is encased in either lamb tripe or plastic, and has a fat content that varies between 70 and 80%. The sausage is flavoured with garlic, salt, and paprika, which gives it a bright red colour." (Wikipedia) Something to up the cholesterol a little, haha. Pimiento de padrón is a species of baby green peppers which are usually not spicy, but you may get the odd one at any time! ;) 

Crocanti de brie

This is their star tapa. It's Brie cheese, lightly fried with egg & almond bits (I think) and served with a little jam (could be raspberry). I'm not a fan of strong cheeses, and generally avoid Brie, but this was lovely.

As you can see from the photos of the bar, there were still a lot of choices even though it was almost midnight. We had a total of 8 tapas and two soft drinks and the bill came up to €16.80!

The warm tapas are served warmed up, and service was very good. The guy behind the bar was efficient, relaxed and friendly.

Name: A Taberna do Bispo
Type: tapas bar, restaurant, budget
Website: http://www.atabernadobispo.com/
Location; Calle del Franco 37 B, 15702 Santiago de Compostela
Verdict: Highly recommended!

Best coffee in the north of Spain!

By the time I got back to Santiago, it was evening, or perhaps not. If it'd been evening I would probably not have wanted coffee, but I did...

Walked past a few and chose San Jacobus on Rúa do Preguntoiro. My instinct was good. I'd been terribly disappointed with all the coffee I'd had during the whole of this trip, but the one here was perfect! The right temperature, the perfect strength, the ideal (for me) balance of coffee and milk... Even the churros were good! The hot chocolate was very good, too. Thick but not so thick you'd need a spoon to drink it with.

If you're looking for a good cup of coffee, this is definitely the one I'll recommend!

In spite of it being about half past eight or so, there was still a fair amount of light and the sun wasn't setting yet. This was the only day that it hadn't rained since we arrived, so I decided to see what I can shoot around the streets of Santiago. I may just have to open the aperture all the way and/or crank up the ISO, I thought.

Just me, my camera and I...

Sans commentaire... Well, maybe just some captions. ;-)

An ice cream man without ice cream?

Well, well, well, the ice cream man has found himself an audience!

On the Highway to Hell...

When we were walking towards O Curro da Parra, we heard a band belting out 

Sweet Home Alabama

Where the skies are blue

Sweet Home Alabama

Lord, I'm coming home to you!

and they sounded quite good. I said let's see if they're still playing when we finish.

I must admit that while I was enjoying the meal, I had all but forgotten about the band, but when we stepped out of the restaurant, we heard faint strains of some guitar music from somewhere. Hey, they're still playing!

We walked as quickly as our digestive system would allow us, following the sounds of music. We didn't have far to go. There was a healthy crowd and it was a free open-air concert. I wasn't sure if they were contracted by a bar or not, but most of the people were just standing around the band and I couldn't see beyond them as it was quite packed.

The axeman

They were a really good cover band, playing music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. A bit of The Beatles, The Stones, AC/DC... There were two drummers, but not playing at the same time. I hadn't noticed it that night, but looking at the photos, I saw that one of the drummers - probably the original one, from his age and style - had what looked like remnants of a plaster on his right arm. I don't know how he could still hit it so hard... I used to play the drums, too, so I know how it is.

Introducing... a surprise guest!

He introduced a surprise guest, a lady friend. She introduced herself as an Irish living in the Canary Islands! I wonder where!

Belting it out...

Axeman could sing, too

Livin' easy, lovin' free...

We're on the highway to hell!!!! Highway to hell!!!

Well, she was a prime example of why one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She sure packed some lungs, this Irish lass. Highway to hell, no less. Boy, could she sing. She had the crowds (of all ages, by the way) going like crazy. Unfortunately, she only sang just that one song. "More! More! More!" from the crowds couldn't bring her back. I guess she had the chance to rehearse only one song with the band.

The Look

Encore! Encore! Encore!

They played a few more songs without Janis Joplin (haha, my nickname for her), the crowd lapped it all up and wouldn't let them go. I don't remember how many encores they did, but they had to stop some time. I suppose there must be a local law prohibiting loud noises after a certain hour. It was, after all, a residential zone (I think).

What a fun evening!

O Curro da Parra restaurant, a review

Sunday night. Time, about 10 pm.

I was somewhat disappointed with the type of restaurants we had been eating in the previous few days because I'd been "on strike" and did not partake in the decision process. This time, I didn't give any option, I just led the way.

Google Maps on. Destination: Rúa Travesa 20. Start navigation.

We were staying near the Cathedral (if you've been following my posts, you'd know), and it was a short walk, yet away from the populated centre. As with a lot of restaurants here, O Curro de Parra has a small terrace and a small entrance. The kitchen is on your left as you enter where you'd expect a bar. At the back, there are tables with high stools - a bar-like seating arrangement - and leading to this area, running along one side of the wall, is a narrow counter. The place looks bigger than it is because at the back, there's another entrance, a glass door. This makes it appear as though it led to another section of the restaurant. I only realised that it was an entrance when I saw new customers walking in.

According to Google Translate (mmm, they should really be paying me for the amount of times I mention them! Ironically, I've even been banned from their ads programme, and their ban is lifelong, haha), O Curro da Parra means The Vineyard. A good name for a wine bar-restaurant, but it's actually named after the street on which the other entrance resides.

Upstairs is a more formal affair, with the standard seating arrangement. It isn't very big, perhaps 16 covers or so.

I was impressed by the decoration. Now, I thought to myself, this looks more like it, thinking of all the other restaurants we'd recently been to. When a place is tastefully decorated, it has an identity; and when it has an identity, you'll have some hope that its food has some sort of identity, too.

Any reservation? No? Sorry, we're fully booked.

That aroused my interest even more. I wasn't going to give up that easily. Eyeing the counter down the side, I asked "How about standing? " "Ah, yes, that's possible." After convincing the others, we stayed. They had a large group booked and that was why they couldn't take any more people.

Our order for drinks were taken, but then, we were almost ignored after that. I myself noticed the menu and took it. We hadn't been offered one. A group of 3 ladies walked in and did the same as us. They were willing to stand. Being thoughtful, I passed them our menu. And what happened?

The waiter - probably the head waiter - took the food orders from them first! And, believe me, it took me a full 5 minutes or more later, and that, after frantic hand waving, for him to approach us. And, not an apology. So, for that, they lose some service points. Being busy is not an excuse for "discrimination". 

But, to our surprise, a few minutes after our food orders had been taken, a table became available and we were ushered upstairs. Fortunately for the previously-mentioned waiter, he hadn't given the table to the 3 ladies! Or fireworks would have flown. Upstairs was a more sedate affair. Almost all foreigners. Speaking in hushed tones, smartly-dressed, and at least the service here (from a waitress) couldn't be faulted.

The food. Fabulous. I appreciate home-cooking style, but, as a paying customer, I always expect a little more, and this little more is felt in the effort, in the creativity, in the ingredients... In this aspect, O Curro da Parra didn't disappoint. Everything we had were wonderful: the salad, the prawns, croquettes, skewered pork... Perhaps the pork was a little too dry.

So, yes, definitely recommended. But make a reservation, especially at weekends and in the summer. 

Sorpresa de langostino (Prawn surprise), €8.50

Croquetas, €8

Ensalada de temporada, (Seasonal salad), €6.50

Brochetas de cerdo (Skewered pork), €6.50

Name: O Curro da Parra
Type: tapas, gourmet, fusion
Price: not cheap; budget for €15-20 per person
Location: Rúa Travesa, 20; 15704 Santiago de Compostela
Tel: 981 55 60 59
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ocurrodaparra
Verdict: Highly recommended! Reservation is advisable.

Controversial exhibition by Ramón Conde near the Cathedral of Santiago

Where's Galicia?
Isn't it somewhere south, south-west of Cornwall?

Well, yes... The wet, grey, overcast day continued, and the day turned to evening...no sight of the sun...all sound too familiar.

The umbrellas opened and closed, anoraks and raincoats, sombre and bright clashing wildly, travellers and pilgrims trudged and mingled on and around the squares encircling the Cathedral, and me, wishing for more flattering light for the camera.

On one of these squares, the Silversmith's Square, La Plaza de Las Platerías, La Praza das Praterías, it will come as quite a shock to the uninitiated when they looked up at the balconies opposite one of the sides of the Cathedral, just by the fountain of the horses.

A series of exaggeratingly large, grotesque even, naked-as-daylight statues stare down at them in the square. In a way they looked as though they could have come from all those centuries ago - one thinks of the deadly seven sins and of gluttony, in particular, but wait a minute. Some of these are not obese in the slightest. They're big and strong, but not fat.

And you start to think, no, there's something not quite right. They seem, erm, sort of out of place. But, surely, if they're here, the Church must have put them up?

Well, no, the Church didn't put them up here. In fact, they complained about them, but the local council decided not to take them down.

The statues are the work of a Galician sculptor, Ramón Conde, and his exhibition is called O Poder (Power). 15 statues, spread on the balconies around the squares of Platerias and Obradoiro, will be there until 28 September 2014, their underlying concept being that strength and improvement are two essential conditions for survival.

What do you think? Are grotesque naked statues of men an insult to the Cathedral and religious pilgrims?

Restaurante Abella Romero Noya Jesus, a review

I was really knackered. All that driving the day before, the walking in the rain the wrong way, the subsequent late dinner, etc... I didn't have my shower until around 3am! My exhaustion and the comfortable apartment was a combination powerful enough to keep me asleep until 11 in the morning.

I went out, looking for something to have for breakfast in the apartment, but couldn't find any supermarkets that were open. I think I wasn't fully recovered from my exhaustion, and it was cumulative exhaustion. I'm not used to driving so much...

So, skipping breakfast altogether, we had lunch at Abella Romero Noya Jesús. After the previous night's dinner, we were looking for somewhere significantly cheaper, and this looked economical enough.

For the cost, it was a fairly decent joint. It was the sort of restaurant where you would walk out of smelling like fried fish & chips though...

No photos again. The mussels were large and juicy, the sort Galicia is famous for, the seafood soup wasn't salty as it tends to be in most places in Spain, and the pulpo was good... Service was fine, but nothing to shout about. Apparently, it's famous for their steak and chips, which is nicknamed "Crocodile" - not sure if it is because of the portion or the toughness of the meat...

Recommended if you want something basic and economical, but the competition is stiff around here. So, take your pick.

It kept drizzling on and off the whole day, and the sky was overcast and grey, to match my state of mind and body. Today was to be a car-free day and we stayed in town, taking it fairly easy. It being so overcast, it was hard to get enough light to do any architectural or landscape photography, and most of the time, the camera stayed in the bag because of the rain.

Having said that, I did manage to get some shots of people instead of places. With people shots, I can open the aperture all the way and get enough speed to avoid handshake issues, although, it may not be quick enough if the people are moving. With the aperture at maximum, one step and the subject is no longer in focus.

Hold it steady now...

Drizzling in Plaza Quintana

Smiling in the rain

That's it over there

Observing

Galician Wailing Wall?

Restaurante Petiscos do Cardeal, a review

As you can imagine, it was very late when we set out of the apartment to look for something to eat. Just as well we were in the centre, so lots of places were still open and like I'd mentioned in previous posts, it was Saturday. The town was buzzing with people. There was a very pleasant atmosphere.

We walked through the pedestrianised streets, turning down an alleyway instinctively, and found ourselves on Rúa do Franco. There were lots of restaurants here; no doubt, it was very popular with tourists. Still, it was too late to risk going too far away, taking into the account the time.

The restaurant we found ourselves in was Petiscos do Cardeal. Yes, that's right and no, it's got nothing to do with cars. It was full; they had a small terrace, which was also full. We waited for a bit and were soon shown a table. The time was past 11pm and they were still serving.

You know, I searched and searched, through my hard disks, through my mobile phone, and I still can't believe I didn't take any photos here! Perhaps I was just too knackered.

I remember we decided to have tapas: "gambas al ajillo", "tortilla cachonda", "pulpo a la gallega", grilled baby squid, mushrooms, and the family weren't full so they ordered some more.

The service was good, the staff were friendly and efficient. But, to be honest, I can't remember if I liked the food much or not. I don't think it was bad, but probably not great either or I would have remembered. What I do remember, however, is that the bill came up to €40+, so it wasn't cheap.

Bold black cat

No, it's got nothing to do with the restaurant, but it belongs to our apartment host. It would have jumped into our apartment if we'd let it, but no way! Windows were closed whenever we left.

Look out for the next few restaurant reviews!

The best accommodation in this journey

So, by the time I stepped into the apartment, it was very late. But what greeted me was a sight for sore eyes (in the positive sense).

Living room with two sofa beds

Of course, I'd already seen photos of the apartment before I booked it, but sometimes, the real picture doesn't match the official photos, but this time, they do; perhaps the reality is even better.

As you can see from the photos, it's a modern apartment, very elegantly decorated, clean and spacious. The two sofas double as beds - no need for cumbersome pull-outs here (I hate those because they're almost always so awkward that once they're pulled out, they stay that way, eating up the living space); just remove the covers, and the sofas are ready to be used as beds. The sheets underneath the covers were black. Cool.

Lighting was soft, but sufficiently bright. During the day, there are two large windows (to the left of the photo above), letting in daylight and looking out to the rooftops of Santiago. You can catch a glimpse of the Cathedral, which is a mere 3-minute walk away.

Rooftops of Santiago

There's a cabinet along one wall, with wines, pretty serviettes, etc, should you decide to have a little dinner party! Beside one of the sofas, there's a stack of four ornamental antique-looking suitcases. I didn't open them so I don't know if they hold some secret belongings!

Stored secrets...

The kitchen and the bathroom are fully equipped with just about everything you would need for a comfortable stay, including candles! The Spanish being coffee drinkers, once again, a kettle and teapot were sorely missed. Sorry, but I don't have any photos of neither the kitchen nor the bathroom.

The bedroom is large, with ample storage for your clothes, but do be careful with the bed, especially if you're as clumsy as I am! The bed is wider than the mattress and the covers drape over the whole bed, so, if you're orientating yourself to the mattress, you may get an unpleasant surprise - walk around it carefully!

All tastefully decorated.

The inclined roof reminds you that you're in an attic, but otherwise, you won't notice it as the roof is quite high. The window prevents any claustrophobic feeling you may get, but it leads to an empty space whose floor is, I believe, the roof of a similar room in the apartment below. There's no light coming in through here, but there is a plant. If you look carefully above the window, what you see is actually a pull-out washing line. Shame that there's no sunlight here, but there is a superduper techno fan, which I had to use to dry our clothes.

Jesús and Mark live on the 2nd floor - the apartment is on the 3rd - so if you have any problems, they can be reached quickly. We didn't have any, really. There was a slight one, actually. Mark came to check that we had everything we needed and I told him that there were two bottles of shower gel, but no shampoo. He brought one up immediately.

Everything about the apartment is fabulous. It may get a little noisy, but close the windows and you won't hear a thing. Internet connection is powerful, and there are plenty of sockets. Location is perfect, smack in the heart of the old city. It's really a home away from home and if I went back, this would definitely be on top of my list.

Jesús's apartment is listed on AirBnB. If you're not registered with them, use this link
www.airbnb.com/c/cpang26 to get $25 off your first booking.

Page on AirBnB: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3214046

Arrival: topographical disorientation in the night

As I wrote in the last post, I'd left the family and luggage at the police station and headed for the car park. Jesús, our apartment host, wasn't going to be around because he was working at the rural hotel which his mother & he were running. But he'd left his friend, Mark, to receive us.

I rang Mark and told him the situation. I could either go back and get the family, or he could do it and I would then head straight to the apartment myself. Bless his heart, he said he'd go meet them. I later found out that the apartment was on the third floor, but it was an old building and their floors were, well, different.

Mark helped with the luggage and had to heave a heavy suitcase up 70 steps! Yes, that's right, 70 steps. Thanks Mark! He must have regretted volunteering! So, if you have problems with your knees or similar, then this isn't the right place for you.

Meanwhile, I'd parked the car and started to head to the apartment. If you'd been reading some of my posts, you'd know that I have a form of topographical disorientation condition, which is worse at night. By this time, it sure was night and was drizzling as well. Also, my phone's battery was dying out. I hadn't mentioned it before in my post on the car rental, but the Renault came with a usb port! Thanks to that, I could be using the navigator for hours, with the phone plugged in. If not for that, the battery would have conked out very quickly and that would have made using the phone's GPS an impossibility.

So, a piece of advice: if you're thinking of doing the same as I had been doing, make sure the car comes with a usb port!

To cut a long story short, as I came out of the car park, I turned left instead of right, and walked and walked, until I realised I was way off. I turned around and managed to get up to Plaza Cervantes. With the rain, the night, and the phone dying, I wasn't banking on getting to the apartment easily, so I rang Mark again. With my explanation, he knew where I was and said that he'd come and pick me up.

With service like that, what more could you ask for?

Antique doorknocker

It was Saturday evening and everywhere, there were people. The joint was jumpin' as they would say. The streets were packed in spite of the rain. I was glad Mark came to get me. When we got to the main door, I thought, wow. Good vibrations. When Mark said 3rd floor, and I looked up at the stairs, I thanked him profusely for having picked the family up and heaving the luggage all the way to the apartment. Saved my back, for sure.

I had to pay back, though. Checking out three days later, I had to carry ALL the luggage all the way down all by myself! But, that's another story!

I love these shots so much that I decided to publish both! Which do you prefer?

So, what was the apartment like?

Next post: The Review!