Tag Archives: travel

Café radar

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café on Illa de Arousa

café on Illa de Arousa

I have pretty good restaurant radar – I can sense from the atmosphere of a place and the menu if it is going to be good, and it’s usually accurate. Marcus has been perfecting his café radar. (We all have to start somewhere!)

cafe2After our fantastic lunch in Cambados, we drove over the causeway to the island of Arousa (in the Ría Arousa). We stopped at a beautiful little beach, and Marcus spotted this café run by a young family. It was the perfect pick-me-up before we headed back to Santiago. The sun felt so good!

Wonderful day in Cambados

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Cambados, España

Cambados, España

After two straight days of pouring rain and gusting winds, we couldn’t stand being indoors one more day. Thursday promised to be partially sunny, at least on the coast, so we blew our popsicle stand in Santiago and headed toward the sunshine.

I had chosen the little town of Cambados for our escapade and ran it by our host. Yes, we couldn’t do better for a scenic village on one of the Rías Baixas, the estuaries that interlace the fingers of land reaching into the Atlantic Ocean on the western coast of Galicia, the little part of Spain that juts out over Portugal. We practically ran to the car.

I just have to interject here, for the practical traveler, that there are no public restrooms in Spain. If you feel the urge, you need to go into a cafe, bar, or restaurante. And, according to the guide books, you are obligated either to buy something when you use their facilities or leave a tip on the plate at the bar. Never having seen a tip plate on the bar, we always feel compelled to buy something – and it’s usually liquid, which kind of defeats the original purpose of visiting the establishment.

chocolate con churros (with someone's beer and jamón in the photo)

chocolate con churros (with someone’s beer and jamón in the photo)

Regardless, we had had an hour’s drive to Cambados, post-morning coffee, so we ducked into a little chocolatería/churrería near where we parked. This was my chance to taste (hot) chocolate with churros. Chocolate competes with a good Rioja wine or perhaps a Basque cider for the national drink. It’s so thick, you have to have it with churros (if you haven’t had them in the U.S., think fried dough put through a Play-doh extruder) to wipe out your cup. Delicious!

El Rincón de Tío Paco

El Rincón de Tío Paco

Although the weather had improved as we headed west, there was still a threat of rain out over the ocean. We walked along the Paseo Marítimo (path along the water) when we arrived and were disappointed not to see women digging for clams, despite the low tide. (Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite experience on her gastronomic road trip through Spain with Mario Batali.) We felt sprinkles and looked for a place to duck into for lunch. Nada. But my restaurant radar was on, and I sensed better opportunities ahead – a red awning. El Rincón de Tío Paco (Uncle Paco’s Hideout). They had a cart out front with the catch of the day, and I was in the mood for mussels and a good albariño, the best white wine in Spain. Coincidentally (or not), Cambados is the heart of albariño country.

mejillones

mejillones

We spoke to José. Yes, they have mejillones (mussels), but he recommended the zambariñas (bay scallops). Great! We’ll have both with a salad and a couple of glasses of albariño.

 

 

 

 

 

zambariñas

zambariñas

 

We sat outside on the terrazza, the sun came out, and we had a view of palm trees with the ocean beyond and the most amazing meal so far in Spain. The mussels were good (the largest I’ve ever eaten and bright orange!), but the scallops were absolutely amazing. And the wine…. Well, let’s just chalk this one up as a good day.

Santiago de Compostela

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I missed the note about sharing food…

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Arcadia Travieso

Arcadio Travieso

So it was too wet and foggy to hike, which is the main reason I wanted to go to Las Médulas. There are some great hikes, I understand, around the collapsed mountains.

Plan B: lunch!

The village of Las Médulas consists of about 30 homes which look, for the most part, like the people are living just above poverty level. But there were several restaurants to choose from (thanks to El Camino and the tourists) – all stone farmhouses, most likely with an abuelita (little grandmother) doing the cooking. We walked through the entire village before deciding on Arcadio Travieso (don’t ask me, I think it’s Latin). Loved the stone interior and the excellent servers. It was undoubtably a family affair.

inside Arcadio Travieso

inside Arcadio Travieso

One thing I missed on the sign when we went in: they serve “food to share”. In other words, everything comes on huge, heaping platters. We ordered salad, an empanada (which are pastries stuffed with meat, vegetables, and potatoes, and in South America and the U.S. are usually the size of a small wallet), and a veal dish with potatoes. The salad was tasty, and the empanada so huge (a 10×10″ square – think stuffed pizza!) that we had to cancel our veal dish. Bummer! If I had known, I would have left off the empanada (which was delicious – chock-full of meat) and taken the veal. Oh, well; live and learn. Good eatings today!

Abuelita's garden - we were eating fresh!

Abuelita’s garden – we were eating fresh and local!

Las Médulas

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the collapsed mountains of Las Médulas

the collapsed mountains of Las Médulas

We drove into the mountains on our way from León to Santiago to see Las Médulas, the site of an old Roman gold mine. The Romans had a unique way of mining gold; they’d dig tunnels into the mountainside and flood them with water until the mountains collapsed, then they’d dig through the rubble for the gold. Made for some interesting countryside, but it was too rainy and foggy to see much.

pilgrimage by horse

pilgrimage by horse

We did see these pilgrims on El Camino, however. It turns out that Las Médulas is on the The Way to Santiago, at least on the Horse Way.

 

 

 

 

a marker for El Camino de Santiago (The Way)

a marker for El Camino de Santiago (The Way)

Note the marker that marks the trail. We’re seeing them everywhere now as we get closer to Santiago. What looks like the rays of the sun is actually the modern symbol for the scallop shell that represents St. James (Santiago). I feel the anticipation building!

Wandering in León

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León's cathedral

León’s cathedral

Sometimes you make an itinerary only to ignore it. Yes, you want to have some idea of what to see in a city, but you don’t always feel inclined to follow it to the letter. León is one of those cities that just begs you to wander through it, and this is what we discovered:

Of course the huge cathedral (how can you miss it?), but next to it is a little sign inviting you to please descend the stairs to see the Roman ruins. As recently as 1986, they discovered some Roman artifacts that launched a massive archaeological project.

 

 

Roman ruins under the street

Roman ruins under the street

While wandering some back alleyways, Marcus noticed the quick-release on a guy’s bike appeared loose. His attempt to help resulted in a dialogue that started with travel and concluded the next day in a small cafe with world politics. It was very insightful to hear a Spaniard’s take on Spain, the European Union, and the world at large. Gracias, Julio.

Cindy & Antoni Gaudí discussing architecture, no doubt

Cindy & Antoni Gaudí discussing architecture, no doubt

The Casa de Botines, a building designed in his early career by Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect we will see much of in Barcelona. I had no idea it was just down the street from our apartment.

A cool shop called Tiger that sells everything from craft supplies to kitchen gadgets. I could have spent all night in there.

 

 

 

 

The symbol of the Camino de Santiago, to keep pilgrims on the right path

The symbol of the Camino de Santiago, to keep pilgrims on the right path

The Camino de Santiago. For those of you who have not seen the movie The Way, find it and watch it and you will understand why we sought out this extraordinary pilgrimage route that extends over 450 miles from across the Pyrenees mountains in France to the cathedral of St. James (Santiago) in Santiago de Compostela. (Thank you, Dorothy Liss!) The 2010 movie stars Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez; Emilio wrote, directed, and had a small role in it. León is our first contact with El Camino as we head to Santiago. We were intending to seek it out at some point, and it turns out we had been walking on it all night! It runs right through the heart of León, and right past our apartment. The path is marked by bronze scallop shells (the symbol of St. James) imbedded in the cobblestones.

Four Lions Brewery

Four Lions Brewery

On our way home, I saw a sign for Four Lions Brewery, one of the few craft breweries in Spain. It makes an honest-to-goodness IPA. I wanted to cry – a beer, made right here in Spain, that tastes of hops! I offered one of our stools to the woman next to me. Too tired to speak Spanish, I spoke in English. She answered back in perfect English, but with a slight Spanish accent. I was surprised but didn’t say anything. Later she stopped to talk. She’s an English professor at the local university and has lived in New York and New Jersey. So warm and welcoming, she offered to help us if we needed anything.

 

Not bad for a night’s exploring. What a great city! I felt a connection when we first arrived. I sensed it was the type of place that would open up its arms and welcome us in, and it did.

Feria in Salamanca!

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concert in the Plaza Mayor

concert in the Plaza Mayor

Getting to Salamanca was easy because we are staying across the river from the Old City. This is a university town and I like to sleep at night, so we opted for a hotel away from all the fracas. And what a good decision it was!

To begin with, it was so nice to have a lot where you can park for free. And the accommodations were so clean and spacious – plush linens, a king-size bed, two sinks in the bathroom, and a fantastic view of the old city! Thank you, hotels.com! Salamanca skyline from our hotelWe were a little concerned about the prospect of breakfast, however, since we couldn’t fix our own and breakfast is often ignored in Spain. We opted out of buying breakfast at the hotel (coffee, tea, and a few rolls for about $20 each). We called room service and asked how much for just coffee and tea: $6 for the both of us. And it came with churros. (More on churros later when I have a chance to try the national drink: hot chocolate, which always comes with churros for dipping.)

It turns out that there is a feria, or festival, going on in Salamanca now. All throughout the Old City food booths sponsored by local restaurants are offering their signature tapas and beverages at a nominal cost. Normally we avoid crowds, but we were hungry, so we headed across the ancient Roman Bridge to get to the old city.

The food booths were everywhere, but most were closed as it was still siesta (yes, they still close most businesses from about 1:30 until 4:00). We explored the city a bit, found the center – the Plaza Mayor – and sat and had a snack while we watch the sound check for a concert setting up on a stage at one end of the plaza. After watching many of Ben’s sound checks, we were amused at this one. It took them forever to check the mics for each instrument, and when they were done with the individual checks and put them all together, there were several instruments you couldn’t hear.

the feria food booths

the feria food booths

We got bored with that and took off through the city again. This time most of the food booths were open and we enjoyed several. When we could hear the music start up again in Plaza Mayor, we went back. The music was great, after tweaking the monitors a bit! It was traditional Spanish music (everyone knew all the words) with a bit of Gypsy or flamenco influence – very strong on the fiddle and accordion, as well as acoustic Spanish guitar. People were clapping in the syncopated rhythm that is so characteristically Spanish, and many were dancing. We had a great time, and didn’t get back to the hotel until around 11:00 – the latest we’ve been out so far. Maybe we will adjust to the Spanish clock after all! Regardless, it was wonderful to go back over the river to a hotel where we had the quietest night’s sleep since we’ve been in Spain. zzz….

La vida dulce

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tortilla española with local beer in Ávila

tortilla española with local beer in Ávila

Whenever you sit in a cafe, bar, or restaurant and order a beverage, they always bring you a little snack. It’s included in the cost of the beverage, which is usually very reasonable even without the food. In Sepúlveda they brought us a substantial snack with the first drink order, and another one with a refill. That’s lunch for me!

We’ve been served everything from a bowl of potato chips (that could have fed six people) to Spanish olives (yum!) to garlic mushrooms (Sepúlveda) and grilled peppers and ham sandwiches. Here’s two full servings of tortilla española (like a potato frittata) that came with our beers. Delish!

Parque Natural de las Hoces del Rio Duratón

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Hoces del Rio Duratón Natural Park

Hoces del Rio Duratón Natural Park

We thought we’d spend our last day in Segovia at a nearby Natural Park. I had read that there is a beautiful hike down to the Hermitage of San Frutos. From the surface, the land looks just like the rest of Castilla y León, the state we are in: dry, brown, and flat. But then we got to the ridge overlooking the gorges (hoces) cut out of the limestone by the River Duratón.

Rio Duratón

Rio Duratón

We could see the Hermitage on a point overlooking the river….

Ermita de San Frutos

Ermita de San Frutos

ermita bells…and had a picnic lunch in the abandoned monastery. Frutos and his two brothers, from a wealthy family in the 8th century, sold all their family belongings when their parents died, donated the money to the church, and went to the Rio Duratón to live solitary lives (separate even from each other) in the caves of the limestone cliffs. They were later recognized as saints and are the patron saints of Segovia. The Benedictine monks built a monastery here in the 11th century to commemorate San Frutos; they occupied it until the 19th century.

vulture

vulture

But the most amazing thing to me were the birds. The land has been declared a natural park to protect a population of vultures who nest here. They flew so close overhead at one point (maybe 40 feet above us) that we could hear the air rushing through the feathers on their wings and see their heads turning from side to side as they looked for food.