July 21, 2010 Santiago de Compostela to Cudillero

The view into town.

The local kids would jump off the embankment and swim between boat landings.

The pour is cool to watch, the sidre on the other hand, not so good, "but when in Rome"....

Today was our last day in Santiago de Compostela. Dad woke up and found a “supermercado” and bought breakfast which was waiting for us when we got up. The menu included donuts, bread, cheese (queso de tetilla, which has a local legend associated with it, so it was a must try), yogurt, etc. It was an interesting one to say the least. We ate in our room, and didn’t have any silverware. We then got on our way to our next destination, Cudillero. Before we left, we had to wait for my dad to bring the car to the hotel through the twisty, turny streets, many of which were under construction, so we could load it up, which took like 45 minutes. Once we finally got going, we settled in for our 4 hour drive. The scenery outside was beautiful right by the ocean, something you would expect right out of a travel book.

When we got into Cudillero, which is in a different province called Asturias, we were met by a cool little town, right on the ocean. It’s nestled into the side of a mountain, looking out  to the Atlantic. It seems to be a small town, but, surprisingly, it is home to 1,700 people. The bottom of the town starts out on the water, and works its way up the mountain. When we were checked into our room, we wandered down by the water to see the fishermen bring in their catches of the day. They had caught many interesting fish, one boat had caught over 150 fish for the day! They basically set up an assembly line, the fish are lifted out of the boat, then into the waiting car’s trailers, which take them to restaurants and other people, who eat them.

We then walked onto their break wall, which encloses the bay. It was very awesome, giving a view of the ocean, and it was mind – blowing to think about where you were, and what you were seeing! Once we were done enjoying the views, we headed back into town for dinner. We went to a place from one of our guidebooks, El Padron. It was very good, the meal served  in courses, so I had a sausage and bean soup, then pork with french fries.

Once we finished our meal, we went to a “Sidreria”, a place where they served hard (alcoholic) cider, or “sidre.” They serve the drink a certain way, by putting the bottle above their head and pouring it into the glass at waist level. My parents thought they would like it, like Aunt Maggie said she did when she was a student here in Asturias. All of us had earlier seen an old man down a whole bottle by himself, and he would chug his glass every time it was re- filled, so we all assumed he was a tolerant drinker of the stuff. As it turns out, you’re supposed to down it fast so you get the good after taste, because the stuff tastes absolutely horrible. According to my dad, it was the worst alcoholic drink he has ever tasted.

Our day was very eventful, and we can’t wait to hit the beautiful beach tommorow!

-Ryan