Sunday, January 29, 2006
Thinking of visiting Santiago de Compostela
There is an international airport on the outskirts of the city with carriers including Spanair, Iberia and Ryan air.
Santiago is Galicia’s capitol and most visited city.
The traffic in Santiago is in a constant state of grid lock, so take a bus, taxi, or park outside the main sightseeing areas.
The city’s large cathedral is claimed to hold the remains of the apostle St James.
Mot of Santiago’s “of interest to tourists” buildings are found in one of the 4 squares built around the cathedral.
The name Santiago de Compostela is said to originate from a Latin term describing a star field or series of lights that appeared to a hermit above the “then lost” tomb of saint James. This point is the current day location of the cathedral.
The other famous Santiago is in Chile.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Fraga!
It is hard to figure him out. He was a fascist in the Franco regime – and not just an insignificant number, but a major player and policy formulator. He spent some time as Spain’s ambassador to the UK and was then an important figure in the transition from the old Franco regime to the democracy that Spain now enjoys.
In the democratic era he formed the “peoples party” (that was in office until elections last year) which he left some time ago for a career in regional politics. Yet despite this he is adamant that the Franco era, and everything it stood for, was worthwhile and something he is proud of.
It is hard to determine whether Fraga is still a sheep in wolves clothing or simply an astute political animal who has adapted and evolved with the time. In any event his political career now looks to be at an end. He was beaten in last year regional elections and, although still holding some “honorary” government titles, is at over 80 years of age on the last lap of politics if not life itself.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
What I have been up to
I have now started the writing of the all new Santiago de Compostela section for galiciaguide. Unlike those of Pontevedra, Lugo and Ourense, the scale of this one means that it will be worked on and up loaded on a piecemeal basis rather than as the finished article. It will no doubt be a good couple of weeks before I have anything ready and looks like been a long term project. I am also starting to work on the area about Spain “as a whole” and have just added a new opening page.
Incidentally click on the title above to be taken to www.theentertaineronline.com
Monday, January 23, 2006
Renting a car in Galicia
Car hire in northern Spain is certainly more expensive than it is in the south and that can probably be out down to the fact that tourist hire is more limited. Rates therefore tend to be geared more to the business user. That said you can still get some good deals.
Ryan Air (and I am certainly not plugging them) offer a deal if you also book your flights with them. Last year their car provider was Hertz and their prices were competitive, but you can do better and Holiday Autos is probably the cheapest source.
Holiday autos use a range of different providers and at the time of booking you will not know which one it will be – it will however be a large national or international chain.
If you want to be extra smart (and you are booking from the UK), rent your car via the budget airline Jet2. If you do this the additional “daily excess” charge that you can add or decline at pick-up is tagged on for free. You also get one extra driver, again F.O.C.
All the major car hire companies have desks at Santiago airport so pick up and drop off is straight forward.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
A couple of recommendations
As I have mentioned before, the best taps bar in Noia is “la Para”. This bar is not like those of southern Spain and in fact has only 5 different dishes, but all are served in meal sized proportions. My top recommendations are the lomo (pork) and calamares (squid), both with a lager and some crusty bread.

For a drink there are a host of bars in Noia’s medieval district and also around the alameda (town square) and most are pretty good. They also serve taps and ice creams.
For a more up market dinning experience, and one that takes in the Galician speciality of seafood, a restaurant called “Ferrador” is a good bet. It is a bit pricey, but you can have lobster, crab, shellfish or better still a platter with a bit of everything.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
San Martino church, Noia

Above, a close up of San Martino churches circular window.
Behind and to the left of Saint Martin’s is the main old street of Noia’s medieval district and this is populated with tapas bars, the best of which is “la Para” (in our opinion) although many would disagree and go for the bar opposite called “la Tasca”.
The reason I have not included a photo of myself is simply for the benefit of anyone reading this – I don’t want to scare you off.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The negative effect of success
Now, some months down the line the site has around 250 pages, a professional look, more unique visitors in a day than I used to get in a week, sometimes a month, but the casual emails have stopped.
I guess that the conclusion has to be that when a site is obviously one of personal interest, visitors are not intimidated by sending you an email telling you what they think, or even suggesting content. On the other hand if the site gives the impression of being professionally designed and run, it clearly makes people less inclined to drop you an email.
Whilst I welcome the number of visitors, which seems to increase on a near daily basis, I would not say no to a return to the days of regular emails. That said I have just had two in the last couple of days, one from Canada and one from the USA, so perhaps I should be thankful for small mercies.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Flying to Galicia from the UK
With a connection
Flying indirectly with a connection can be done from just about any international airport in the UK.
The Connection, be it from within Spain (e.g. Barcelona or Madrid), or prior to reaching Spain, (e.g. Ireland or Portugal) can be arranged with a carrier or independently. Once this was the cheap option, but now it is really just for those who find it hard or costly to get to Heathrow or Stanstead. Prices this way are sub £200 with tax etc, but connections can be missed if there are any delays. The journey also runs to a good 6 or 7 hours and you are against the clock when making the connection at your interim airport.

If you can make it to the “greater London” area, then you have two direct options which are both highly competitive. They are Iberia from Heathrow and Ryan Air from Stanstead, both are now similarly priced and a return can be as little as £100 if you book early enough.
The Ryan Air option is the reason that the prices plummeted, they gave Iberia some competition and did it in their usual “no frills” way, but their “no seat allocation” boarding approach results in mayhem every time. That said flying time is sub 2 hours, so you should be able to put up with anything at that price.
Iberia give you slightly more and we have used them without any problems, but they don’t have a great reputation, so it is a question of swinging one way or the other. Better still check for who is the cheapest for any given flight time.
The destination airport (in Galicia) is just outside the regional capitol of Santiago de Compostela. Car hire, buses and taxis are all available there although pre-booking would be advisable.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Nothing much
This contrasts sharply with the northern territories of Spain where the temperature can reach sub zero and warm clothing including jumpers, coats and umbrellas are part of the staple diet for this time of year.
It is fast approaching the point (now we are in 2006) where we are going to have to start looking at dates for our summer excursion(s) to Galicia. As yet we have no fixed plans, but I favour trying to spread a vacation across the last week or two of July and then into early August – this is generally the best time for hot weather. I also want to avoid the Noia festival in late August which, although fun in one way, causes us sleeping problems if we stay in the main town itself.
The new A Coruna section is now up on galiciaguide.com, so take a look.
Monday, January 09, 2006
What to expect from Galicia’s beaches
Galicia’s beaches tend to fall into 2 categories. Those looking out to the open ocean and those that are somewhat sheltered and lie in one of the coastlines many small bays (known as rias). If you opt for the former you will get sizable waves, strong currents on some beaches and very cold water. If on the other hand you find a beach that nestles in its own cove, you will miss out on the waves, but benefit from shallower and less “system shockingly” cold water.
Many of the beaches found in the bays are very tidal and a large expanse of sand can quickly disappear as the level and shallow beach area is submerged under water –usually only 3 or 4 feet deep.
Beaches tend to fill up from about 4.00pm onwards, so if you want an early tan, don’t expect many other sunbathers. Also check to see if the beach you are thinking of using has lifeguards, all but the most popular don’t.
Friday, January 06, 2006
The tower of Hercules
Today the tower is the mos

The lighthouse is still operational and sits monumentally on the headland that separates the two main bays of the city. (photo August 2005)
Monday, January 02, 2006
Sarria
In real terms Sarria does not appear on the tourist map, it is more of a satellite town. It lies some 45 minutes from Lugo city, has no medieval district and little in the way of real heritage, save for a convent on the hills above the new town. It is also far from attractive and relatively modern.
In Galician terms however Sarria is an important location when it come to antiques, art and anything of old – at least in the context of old furniture and antiquities. If the “Antiques Road Show” airs in Spain, Sarria would lay claim to be one of its collectors mecas. It also has a particularly good pizza bar on one of the town’s main streets which I can definitely recommend – especially if you are starving as we were.
So how and why would a tourist encounter Sarria? Well Lugo has a large monastery at Samos and Sarria is on the Lugo to Samos route!