ekscrunchy

This is a prior thread about the proposed trip, which we are now in the midst of:

https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/a-week-in-galicia-may-1719969/


I will attempt to keep this short and willl be happy to elaborate if anyone wants more details.
Background: I have been to Galicia for very short stays, twice before. Both were more than 15 years ago.

We flew on Iberia from JFK, leaving 9:45pm, and connected in MAD to Santiago de Compostela, arriving about 1pm.

We took a taxi from the taxi line to our hotel; 23 euro payable with credit card.

We stayed three nights in the GH HOTEL MONUMENTAL DE SAN FRANCISCO, a former convent with adjacent church at the edge of the historic district.

Our room was one of two on the top, 5th floor in the "Star' room category.
The room had an excellent bed and it was roomy and comfortable, a savvy blending of the original foundation with contemporary additions.
Just to see how the architects melded the different centuries with mostly successful result, was fascinating and worthwhile for an architect to view.

The location is ideal for the sights of the old town which are all walkable from the hotel.
Next time I would prefer a hotel closer to the newer town, though, but that would be after a few visits.
The architecture of the old town is intact and spectacular; this historic core is encircled by a newer "real" city with restaurants, shops and residences that cater more to locals (there are also top restaurants within the old historic core).

Besides the Cathedral and the multitude of religious sites, a "must" see if the Abasatos food market, (closed Sundays and holidays; open other days until about 2pm) about a 20-minute walk from our hotel, and from the Parador which might be considered THE place to stay for first time visitors. (Formerly a hospital tending to the wounds and sicknesses of the Pilgrims)

Not surprisingly, it rained during most of our stay, but weather was changeable. You might leave the hotel decked out with quilted vest and windbreaker, only to have the sun peek through minutes later. Temperatures were in the 60s maximum. We never felt cold but we often did feel damp. Dress in layers!



Day One:

Arrived at hotel about 1:30 and checked in immediately. My partner took a nap and I decided to deny jet lag and go out to explore.
Walked around, down the Main Street where I would find myself over and over again during the next few days of our stay. Most of the shops and restaurants on this street are very much geared to tourists (that does not mean that they are bad in any way; they were just not for me) but I did find three addresses, on and near the main artery leading off the Praca de Obraideiro (site of Cathedral and the Parador) , named Rua do Franco and Rua do San Francisco (interesting to see a street still bearing the name of El Caudillo but remember that Francisco Franco was born in Ferrol, Galicia)

So in case anyone is in a shopping mood, I recommend these (there may we'll be many others but there there stood out for me):



A CESTA TENDA.....Lovely selection of high quality Galician spirits and foods. Much more than the usual artificially colored orujos and the like.
I bought a wonderful bottle of a liqueur made from the fruits of the elder bush which I was told was very difficult to find in Santiago. I remember that a French liqueur, St. Germain, also has an elder flower component. This was lovely. When I returned to buy a second bottle, I snagged the last one, to be told that they would not get another delivery for a few weeks. I inquired about this in several other shops and was told that this was rare and difficult to find. The factory is in Ourense.


https://acestatenda.com





Another shop I lived very much was LA BOCA, just off the Main Street on Rua do Vilar (close to Frinsa) Its owned by the mother and son, originally from Argentina, who gave me a fascinating history of the back and forth travel between Galicia and Portugal, mainly for economic reasons (think of the Galician empanada and of the South American dish which has many variations depending on which country it is found). This shop also sold Alfajores!

I ended up spending two hours here speaking about food with the son, Tomas, who was a font of food and history information. They do not bake their own empanadas and pastries but they source them from top fabricators. Also here are a vast range of spirits and if you, and he, have the time, Tomas can offer a primer on the food of the region. I bought some lovely dark chocolate studded with orange here (it's sold in many places) and a few other treats.....Tomas' English is almost perfect and I was surprised at the level of English spoken in the city, especially by the younger folks. I also watched quite a bit of tv in Gallego (so far none of our hotels offered English tv, but it's fun to hear the similarities between Gallego and Spanish). Even menus and street signs are often in Gallego.....

https://www.instagram.com/la_boca_80/?hl=en



The third shop, where I did a bit of financial damage, was FRINSA, a shop dedicated to tinned fish and shellfish that has outpost in Madrid and in other Spanish cities. This FRINSA is small and attractive. I bought about adozenn cans of tuna belly from Cantabria. And how wonderful is it that one does not have to toe home a heavy shopping bag filled with purchases? Give the vendor the name of your hotel and your bag will be waiting for you when you return, after dinner, or early the next morning. Now I know how the leisurely class shops!!!!


https://www.frinsa.es/tienda-gourmet/frinsa-santiago-de-compostela/



I'm going to pause this now so I do not take the chance of losing anything..

Will return with the rest of our three nights in Santiago de Compostela, followed by two nights at the glorious step-back-in-time that is the GRAND HOTEL LA TOJA, on the isle of La Toja, connected by a beautiful bridge to O"Grove, on the Arousa Inlet, one of the Riaxa Bajas of Galicia.

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Added Trip Report flag and tagged for Spain

natylou

We have fond memories of Galicia, and I am anxious to hear from your report whether it has changed significantly in the years since you were there. Our last visit was in 2014, yes 10 long years ago. Galicia was still significantly tourist free back then. I think the market in Santiago was more rustic than it is now. We enjoyed every minute.

ekscrunchy

Natylou I am happy to hear your memories of back then.. The Santiago market still seems very local. I saw very few obvious tourists while I was there.
The food is so different from the other area of Spain that I know...the bread, the pork products the cheeses and of course, the fresh fish and the tinned fish... The vendors were so very welcoming!

Tomorrow we leave for Pontevedra and I am wondering if we should take time to stop at the market in Cambados, or take a walk around that town.
Did you include Cambados in your Galicia travels?

(We will have two nights at the Parador in Pontevedra).

ekscrunchy

For our first dinner in Santiago, we chose ABASTOS 2.0, which has three sections at the edge of the MERCADO DE ABASTOS.
We sat in the dining room and our dinner was terrific. Unfortunately, not all of. my photos have migrated from my phone to the laptop, so I cannot post them in this report yet. But, see below, for a few..


Anyone heading to Compostela should put this restaurant in the top rank of restaurant possibilities. Service=friendly and professional.
Seating=comfortable and not noisy. Food=tops! You can make it easy on yourself; book here for every night of your stay...try the dining room one night, the bar another night, and the terrace on a night with good weather. You need to book ahead, online. A heartfelt GRACias to Maribel, for this tip, and many others as well.

We had poor weather for our three-night stay; it rained almost all of the time. But that's part of the package here, so just make sure to bring layers, windbreaker, and umbrellas (I was surprised that our hotel did not offer these but they are easy to buy at every other shop).

Most days I wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt with a light quilted vest over that and, over the vest, a white rain jacket from Costco with a hood. That worked really well except that it got very dirty, very quickly.

As far as the hotel: Its a fascinating transformation of a historic structure. Look at the way they worked in the elevators and the staircases, and even a swimming pool, without disrupting the exterior and leaving most of the interior intact.

My main quibble was the poor breakfast. Cheeses and meats were what I would call "industrial;" you can find these in a low-quality supermarket.
With all the marvelous breads sold a few steps away, we were offered mostly pre-sliced pan Bimbo/Wonder bread slices with only a few precious loaves of a better grade of bread that was quickly gobbled up. Juices were not fresh and the same comments I wrote about with cheese applied to the pork products. I wish I had taken a photo.

They did have tarta de Santiago, but in this case I believe it was the cheaper "tarta de almendra," plus a few nondescript pastries.
There was a semi-decent tortilla, Vienna sausages, and scrambled eggs in a warmer that were good enough. No option for eggs, or anything else to order. My partner thought the coffee was wonderful.

That was my biggest, and really, only complaint with the hotel and the easy work around would be not to take the room plan with breakfast. Breakfast alone there is priced at 22 euro per person, and if you make the 15 minute walk to the Mercado de Abastos (closed Sundays and holidays) you can avail yourselves of a breakfast that would fall into the category of sublime....there are empanadas in a dozen or more incarnations, to take away or to eat there, and a long line of stands at the front of the market offering everything from egg dishes to pastries to oysters and other shellfish....for me, this would be the way to go, no matter which hotel I chose. We simply had far too little time to explore the wonders of this market and the treasures within. Skip breakfasts in your hotel (I can't comment on the one at the Parador; it might be terrific but I would take my chances at the market on the days the doors are open....)

Dinner the first night, proved to be a super introduction to local Galician food:

ABASTOS 2.0
The restaurant was superb in every way and was priced very modestly.




ABASTOS 2.O. Sign in Gallego and in English

Terrace area of ABASTOS 2.0. Would be lovely on a drier evening

Interior of dining room at ABASTOS 2.0..a top choice in Santiago de Compostela and one that gave us a memorable dinner on our first evening in the city after an absence of more than 15 years! Our wonderful, smiling waiter, Frank, from Ilha de Arousa, standing in the rear. English is widely spoken in Santiago, and in much of Galicia, or so is our experience so far.

ekscrunchy

Dinner at ABASTOS 2.0; unfortunately, many of my photos have not yet migrated to the laptop from my iPhone.




Out of order, but this is the veal that my partner chose as main course; tasty enough but the texture was not as tender as we are used to in the USA. (Partner does not eat shellfish so he eliminated most of the treasures, both here and at the other restaurants we samples during our week in Galicia)

These are the much-vaunted percebes, sea barnacles, pried at tremendous peril by specialized percebeiros who clamber down the wind-lashed cliffs to gather these morsels that sell for hundreds of euros in Madrid and other urban centers. It is very much worthwhile to view videos and read about these brave souls; every village memorializes those who have lost their lives in the pursuit of a delicacy too expensive for most locals but much in demand by tourists, like ourselves.

Octopus is among the most famous of Galician dishes and the version at ABASTOS 2.0 was the best octopus I had ever eaten. The softness of the meat played against the slight char of the outside tentacles combined to make this a dish I will never forget.

Octopus, served over potatoes and "berza Gallega," a local green reminiscent of cabbage and kale and just tops!

Close up of the octopus. Our dinner cost 75euro including cover, water and a glass of wine. To be repeated as often as possible!!!!

ekscrunchy

Cones of jamon in Santiago shop window!!

Dia de las Letras Gallegas, aa local holiday where many dress in traditional attire, play music, sing, and march through the streets of the Old Town. Many shops close on this day.

Tambourine accompanies traditional Celtic-inflected songs.

Wending through the casco historic from the Plaza de Cervantes in Santiago. I think we were some of the only tourists jot here for the Camino!! We met folks from all over. Some on tours where their luggage was carted from place to place in a van. Others who slept rough (and looked it!!). One man from Maine had just completed his 23rd Pilgrimage but he still did not know a lick of Spanish (or Gallego!!).
I also met a middle aged man from La Mancha who had just escorted his elderly parents on the dream of their lifetime. The son helped push the parents along the route;; the parents were both in wheelchairs. The stores one can hear, if you take the time, can be very moving.

I would like to read more about this pilgrimage and what its was like before there were tour groups that did all the arranging.
A new acquaintance told me that years ago it was not. uncommon see people on the Caminoi inching along on their knees once they got close to Santiago and the Cathedral. I've only seen this before at the. Basilica de Guadalupe (the new one) in Mexico City


I have so many good photos but they are on my phone and not migratingnfto the laptop so I cannot supplement the text with photos.

ekscrunchy

I pushed pretty hard on the day of arrival, with little sleeps Day Two was mostly a day of rest in the hotel with a few shorts forays (in the rain) for walks.

That second night we had booked dinner at a meat restaurant, since my partner is not a seafood lover.
We took a taxi (about 6 euro) to the newer part off the city which looked well worth exploring. I noticed many bookstores many ethnic restaurants and places I would like to explore. Next time I might choose a hotel in this area which is out of the tourists fray but close enough to walk in nice weather if you are in decent condition.

ASADOR GONZABA

This restaurant has three locations in Spain including one in Madrid and one in Corona (another city I would like to visit).
Lots brick and dark wooden beams give its the appeal of steakhouses the world over but there were items on the menu that one would NOT find in a New York steakhouse, for example!!!

We were presented with a very tasty pate of beef, spreadable on toast.
Next, a salad of tomatoes with slivers of red onions that was good but I could barely make a dent due to the other dishes that soon appeared,

The highlight for me was very much NOT meat. I had my first taste of zamburinas, scallops with a whisper of the grill, in the shell with the roe and muscle intact. NOW I knew that I was in Galicia!!!!!

Volandeiras, at ASADOR GONZABA in the "new town" of Santiago de Compostela.....all the great parts are presented not thrown away as is the case in the US.

Volandeiras at ASADOR GONZABA..our second evening.