Yummy Kebabs For Me, Yummy Guys For Mary

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Geo: 43.3718, -8.39592

A rare treat today - sleeping in past 10! There have been a lot of early mornings on this trip, so a bit of extra sleep was quite welcome. We had breakfast close to noon at Cafe Valor, located on Praza Maria Pita. The square has been dead pretty much our entire time here in La Coruna because of the cold weather, which has been a big disappointment.

Over to the San Agustin market - had it not been so rainy and cold and had our stomachs not been bursting with churros con chocolate, we would have picked up a picnic here to take out to the Hercules Tower. It's an incredible spot for a picnic, but not with weather like today's.

The rain was coming down hard so we pushed back our plans to check out the fort, instead shopping in the pedestrian zone. Stores were packed today, since even bigger sales were starting - in Spain, the big sales after the holidays take place in two stages. With Christmas Day and the Day of Three Kings separated by just over a week, it would be like if Canada had two Boxing Days. Discounts are steeper after the Day of Three Kings, but the selection is much more picked over.

We stayed indoor as much as we could until the weather improved - by now, a few hours had passed since our massive churro gorge fest, so we decided to have lunch before heading out to see La Coruna's ocean-side attractions. That yummy kebab shop we went to in Santiago has a few branches here, so eating there again was a no-brainer. The menu at this location was a bit smaller, though they did have one addition - baklava! But at 3 Euros, it was too pricey for such a small, yet so incredibly yummy, dessert. Once again the kebabs were great, but Mary was more impressed by the guys working there ...

Off to the castle - we didn't bother going in, only taking a few pictures from the outside. After that, we had some difficulty getting to the Hercules Tower as the wind had REALLY picked up, making it difficult to walk even ten feet. It was brutal on the exposed waterfront, so we backtracked inland and caught a bus there.

It was just as bad out at the tower, so we weren't able to spend much time outside of it. The inside of the tower was nothing great, especially since the windows were sealed up for the winter, and access to the elevated outside sections was restricted. The main reason for ascending the tower is the views of the rocky coastline, so that was a bit disappointing. Though this probably was a safety measure, as given how bad it was on ground level, the wind up top probably would have blown us all the way back to Morocco.

A bit of relaxing back at the Pension, and it was time for our last tapas crawl of the trip - trying to eat early tonight just after 7 we didn't have any luck, with the first place telling us to return at 7:30, since the kitchen had yet to open. Wandering throughout the entire pedestrian zone and also Praza Maria Pita, there weren't any places with tapas available for immediate consumption, with the exception of one place that was completely packed. We eventually hit up a couple of bars for a light and early dinner.

It was another quiet Spanish night here in La Coruna, with hardly anybody out in the streets, really quite the opposite of what you would expect in Spain, and not the way you want to end a trip to this most beautiful of countries. Though the night was salvaged somewhat with a return trip to the kebab shop - the workers there were very friendly the first time and seemed shocked to see me a second time. I don't know why, given how good their kebabs are - who wouldn't want to return?

I grabbed one for takeaway, along with an Estrella - the guy invited me for a coffee, but I told him I couldn't tonight. When he offered tomorrow, I told him it would have to be next time in La Coruna, since we were leaving the country early in the morning. After our brief discussion, I learned one important thing about kebabs - according to him, the best kebab shops are run by Turkish people, especially ones with a Kurdish background. Next time I eat at a kebab shop, I'll have to inquire as to the ethnicity of the owner before eating!

I crammed down the kebab on the short walk back to the pension, like so many other kebabs I have eaten in Europe. Just down the street from the pension, I disposed of the trash in a dumpster and as I did so, I saw a very pretty Spanish senorita come my way. Totally checking her out, as she got closer I realized that it was the lady from the pension! She waved and said hello, probably wondering why I was skulking around a dumpster.

It was a super early night, as we need to be up just after 6 AM tomorrow, for our flight back to London. No more Spain ... sigh ...

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Photos

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Mary has been eating churros every chance she's had but I've only eaten them the odd time. Since Cafe Valor is a Spanish chain of gourmet chocolate shops, I decided to try some churros today. They were freshly made for a change so they were warm and crisp, and pretty greasy. The chocolate was good quality, not runny like it has been recently, and not chunky and excessively pudding-like as it can be.
Being one of the last days of the trip and therefore one of the last chances to have a cafe con leche, I washed it all down with a huge cup of it. Though the churros were much better than expected the coffee was a tad disappointing. And after eating everything ... I felt quite ill, between the greasy churros, the size of the portion, the rich chocolate, and the massive coffee. Way too full! Mary commented that her pants had gotten tight recently, probably due to the laundromat shrinking her jeans. Yeah ... I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with five straight days of eating greasy churros con chocolate ...
The heart-shaped coffee art created by the barista was a nice touch, but a more apt shape would have been a broken heart, to symbolize the sorrow I feel over leaving my beloved Spain, yet again :(

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Plaza near the waterfront - empty this time, this past summer it was the site of a large medieval fair that hosted a number of vendor stalls and outdoor tapas tents: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/9/1250867354/tpod.html#pbrowser/pwong/9/1250867354/filename=za.jpg

zzz
Newroz - the place to go in Galicia for kick-ass kebabs! Why didn't I find this place the last time in La Coruna???

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Another yummy kebab - after yesterday's great experience, I opted for another wrap. There was no cheese available today, which was a shame - it was still really good but yesterday's was better. The meat didn't quite have the same kick and was a tad dry, though the sauce was still top notch. Perfect with Estrella - mmmmm .... I was tempted to have another one!

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It was quite messy, and we both lost kebab sauce containment! We counted that Mary had used over 16 napkins.

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Mary found a few things in the restaurant that she thought was yummier than the kebabs - the three young guys working there, and an older guy who may have been the owner. Mary suggested that the older guy looked a bit like Richard Gere, saying that there was just something about him ... perhaps that something involved gerbils?

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Another off-the-menu selection for Mary.

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The castle.

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Port-a-potty - it was so windy that we considered taking shelter inside. But with Mary's luck, it would probably tip over in the wind, falling on the side with the door.

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Ice!!! In Spain!!!

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Though winter weather here is less than ideal, the coastline is still quite striking.

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Needing to warm up after spending so much time out in the damp cold, we wandered back towards the Pension for something warm to drink, stopping at La Postreria, a unique cafe that was part coffee shop and part nightclub.

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The mint tea was definitely not Moroccan quality, but the flaky and glazed almond croissant was pretty good. I suppose the quality of the tea was only secondary, as even a cup of hot water would have been pleasant after a day like this!

zzzb
Our fist tapas stop of the night was pretty average - gooey chicken croquettes, bad chorizo, and dry pork cutlet with peppers and potatoes. A cana of beer kept me from gagging on it all.
After that it was back to the first place we stopped at tonight, the bar which told us to return at 7:30 - good calamari, almost North American style, lightly battered and crisp, though lacking a bit in seasoning. It's obligatory to eat octopus in Galicia - ok, but kinda blah after a while. We nearly OD'd on invertebrates tonight! We sample the local Albarino wine - it was nowhere near the quality of the wine we had at El Reloj in Salamanca.

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We had no idea that a single tapa of octopus here was so big - we expected only a couple of pieces, but we each received a fairly substantial plate. One important lesson that Galicia has taught me over the years is that too eating too much octopus leaves you feeling ill!