A Coruña - A typical Sunday evening

Its great to be in A Coruña on a Sunday. The bars are full of locals who have scant regard for the fact that tomorrow is Monday.
Es genial estar en A Coruña en domingo. Los bares están llenos de coruñeses y no importa que mañana sea lunes.

In the bar/restaurant Alcume in the centre of town (as in all the bars) the people are eating, drinking and of course they love chatting with friends.
En el bar Alcume ,en el centro de la ciudad (como todo los bares) se come, se bebe y, por supuesto, encanta conversar con amigos.

Before dinner and after dinner the Spanish like to go out for a stroll not just in A Coruña but all over Spain.
Antes y después de cenar a los españoles les gusta salir a caminar; no sólo en A Coruña, sino en toda España.

Inside the bar/restaurant Alcume el Señor Parillada the bar owner is hard at it. For him Sunday is not a day for rest - on the contrary he has to prepare meals for his customers.
Dentro del bar/restauarante Alcume el señor Parillada, el dueño, trabaja mucho. Para él el domingo no es un día de descanso, al contrario, tiene que preparar las comidas al gusto de los clientes.

He has had this bar/restaurant for 30 years . Normally the bar opens at 8 and closes at 11.30. – perhaps a little later on Saturdays and Sundays.
Regenta este bar/restaurante desde hace treinta años. Normalmente el bar abre a las ocho de la tarde y cierra a las once y media, quizás un poco más tarde los sábados y domingos.

At 8 o’clock sharp (if his Casio is on the ball) he lights the barbecue and one of the waiters brings in the meat from the outside fridge where it has been on display for all to see. There’s chicken, spare ribs, spicy sausage, pork and lamb chops and of course steaks.
A las ocho en punto (si su casio está en hora) enciende la barbacoa y uno de los camereros le lleva la carne del frigorífico fuera, donde todo se pueda ver. Hay pollo, costilla, chorizo y chuletas de cordero y de cerdo y, por supuesto, entrecotes.

As well as the usual utensils Señor Parillada is armed with a litre of water, a coffee jar of salt and dozens of lemons. His chef uniform is rounded off by his blue plastic gloves.
Además de los utensilios habituales el Señor Parillada tiene también un litro de agua potable, muchos limones y una jarra grande que contiene sal. Su traje de cocinero se termina con los guantes de plástico azules.

At just the right moment and with just the right amount of food at the ready the cooking begins. From time to time Señor Parillada will disappear behind a wall of steam as he controls the flames with the water bottle.
Al momento exacto y con sólo el alimento suficiente comienza el espectáculo. De vez en cuando el Señor Parillada desaparece al fondo de una pared de vapor para controlar las llamas con el agua.

The meat is doused in salt and lemon and turned by Señor Parillada until perfectly cooked. It is then chopped, plated and served with bread, salad, Spanish style chips and a wonderful spicy sauce.
Empapa la carne en sal y limón y la gira hasta que esté lista, entonces un camerero la corta y la sirve con pan, vino, ensalada mixta, patatas fritas y una salsa picante muy especial.

The local beer or a jug of local wine rounds off this simple feast.
Una jarra del vino de la casa o una cerveza complementa este sencillo banquete.

Another Sunday in AC ends with a coffee and a short stroll back to the hotel.
Se termina otro domingo en el paraíso con un café y un paseo al hotel.

A Coruña - Ordering food : the basics

Okay you’ve been in AC for 12 hours, you’ve visited 14 bars and sunk as many beers so you’re getting a bit peckish and keen to try out a tapa or two.

By now your confidence will be sky high as you’ve seen people react in a positive way to your Spanish skills and you now know that ordering things is a doddle – completely different to how it is in some countries.

Our advice is that you avoid the places that can afford to advertise that they do the best tapas. The people who actually do serve the best tapas need to advertise for more punters like they need a hole in the head.

You do have a very wide choice but eventually you will be able to spot the good ones a mile off. Just about all bars do some sort of food - the customers expect it.

In future, we will be prepared for all eventualities but for the moment you need to perhaps follow a couple of simple rules to get with the flow. If you can see the tapas in the glass cases on the bar this will give you a feel for things. If the locals are having tapas it’s a safe bet to join them. Generally speaking a bar restaurant is the best place for tapas as the care they take with their main dishes is usually reflected in the quality of their tapas.

It will help you considerably if you can resign yourself to sticking to one tapa or perhaps two to get things moving and to keep your confidence high. If you find yourself on a roll then have a look at some of the useful phrases below to move things along apace.

Lets say for example that you like ham and cheese. The ham is usually Jamon serrano or smoked ham and is carved from a leg of pork sitting on the bar. (bolied ham is jamon de york and is not usually seen in bars or served as a tapa)

Cheese is usually goats cheese and the type you need is puro or pure.

Jamon varies in quality and if you can bear to look at the hoof a black one carries better quality meat than a white one as the animal will have been fed a better diet usually consisting of acorns.

The Spanish are not so squeamish as we are when it comes to food and they don’t mind knowing the details. For example they refer to some meats as lechal or from milk. This does not mean that it is cooked in milk but rather that the young animal was taken from its mother and despatched for the table whilst still suckling from her.

When this was explained to me by a Spaniard I said I couldn’t possibly eat that lamb knowing he was taken from his mother. The Spaniard’s reply was “don’t worry about it, his mother’s on the next table.”

Anyway back to the ham and cheese.

I have mentioned before about everything being masculine or feminine and you will have to learn which is which when you learn the word. For the purpose of this exercise most of the words are feminine.

Tag your tapas onto your drinks order by using the word “Y” pronounced ee – it means “and”.

The phrase you for need for a slice or two of jamon is una tapa de jamon (or queso or both)

So altogether:

“Una caña y una tapa de jamon por favor”= a small beer and a tapa of ham please.

Phonetically this works out roughly as “oo-na can-ya ee oo-na ta-pa day
ha-mon por favor” Just as an aside a Spaniard would say the phrase without any gaps between the words– they would all run into each other- that’s the main reason we can’t catch what the blighters are saying!

The double “o”s sound like the English “u” and the “a”s are always said as in the English cat. “e”s sound like the “e” in egg.

For the technically minded all Spanish letters with one or two exceptions are pronounced the same all the time. H is never pronounced in Spanish but the “J”s are said like aitches. If you say the Scottish word loch the c and the h at the end are close to the sound of a Spanish J.

You can substitute the jamon bit for the cheese bit in which case you would say “kay-so” rather than “ha-mon”.

You might start to panic a little if you are asked about the type of ham or cheese but that’s easy as well. They may double check to see whether you want their ham by asking jamon serrano? (say-rr-ano) in which case you just say si (yes, pronounced see) and perhaps point at the leg on the bar or hanging from the ceiling.

If they query the type of cheese they may use the word puro (poo-row – as in boat) and again you will just say si or si puro.

It cannot be more complicated than that. If in doubt just say si to everything – it’s two quids worth of food and drink for goodness sake even if you just get some experience its worth it. With a one hour one to one Spanish lesson costing £50 these days you can afford to be generous.

Life’s too short to make a fuss as they say in Spain - just have what comes.

You now have your drink and tapa and the regard of everyone in the bar. It may have been like the scene from American Werewolf in London initially (where the two guys walked into the pub on the moor and you could hear a pin drop) but once you took your deep breath and blurted out your order you were elevated from the status of gringo/tourist/foreigner to that of someone normal just having a drink and a snack to help keep you going – a local.

A Coruña - Tyred of Spanish Omlette?

What’s the difference between a rubber tyre and a Spanish omlette (tortilla)?

Some might say not much. Until recently, I would have disagreed.

The typical tortilla found in bars all over Spain was once a tapa that I would have looked forward to on every trip alongside a small glass of local beer (una caña) or perhaps a strong coffee with a dash of milk (un cortado). But not anymore. I’ve now discovered A Coruña in Galicia and there’s no going back to the Dunlop tortilla.


It all started in December 2006 with a visit to a perfectly innocent looking bar near to Plaza Pontevedra in the heart of town. It’s called Bar L’Arguie (on Avda Rubine) and is run by Natuska and Julian (a husband and wife team) along with Natuska's brother Angelo . It's clear that they have a passion for great service. They also have a passion for local art which is displayed around the bar and is available to buy if your luggage will allow. We’d been out for a meal and had just popped in this bar for a drink before heading back to our hotel.



There they were. Perched on top of the tapas display case in all their glory. These tortillas were like nothing we’d seen before and will probably never see again (apart from in AC of course). Having already eaten earlier that evening we didn’t really NEED anything else but this was different. If nothing else we could justify it as research.

The two types of tortilla on offer were ‘normal’ (a contradiction in terms) and ‘chorizo’ (Spanish spicy sausage). We had a bit of each to share with a chunk of bread on the side. These tortilla literally oozed quality and rather than being cooked until they resembled a Bridgestone they were removed from the pan with the centre not fully set and slipped onto the plate where they sat proudly waiting to be snapped up by the locals. They didn’t sit on the plate for long.

We made our satisfaction known to Natuska who seemed keen that we learn how to make our own tortilla when we returned to the UK. So, it was off to the kitchen to watch and learn. A few pounds of potatoes and a dozen eggs later the tortilla was in full swing. As a keen cook myself, I had long been cooking tortillas from the comfort of my own kitchen and was always proud of my achievements in creating an authentic rubber tyre. But now things had moved up a gear. I realised quickly that I didn’t have the tools for the job and worse still, I’d been doing it all wrong for years. Forget about warming the oil in the pan, adding some sliced potatoes and frying them until they’re brown, adding the whisked eggs and moving the whole mixture around a bit until the bottom’s cooked before chucking it under the grill to finish off the top. They haven’t been doing it like that in AC since Pontious was a Pilot.



Start by deep frying the sliced potatoes until just cooked. Then, whisk up your dozen eggs and add plenty of salt to season. Drop the potatoes into the egg mixture and leave to soak in whilst you get the oil heat up in the tortilla pan. You need a plate that fits just inside the tortilla pan (plastic is best or you can push the boat out and get a tortilla turner which has a handle on it – you can buy them in the UK from http://www.saborear.co.uk/tortilla). Pour the egg mixture into the pan and before it has time to realise what’s happening get your turner on top of the pan and with a deft bit of handiwork tip the tortilla onto the turner and then slide it back in the pan all in about two seconds. Make sure you carry the pan over to a clear area of work surface to ensure that you don’t get tortilla seeping out onto the hob. It’s an easy mistake to make for a novice so don’t beat (pun intended) yourself up about it. Repeat this exercise three of four times before transferring to a waiting serving plate.

Try to avoid the temptation of standing back to admire your culinary skills as there is almost certainly a crowd forming by now and they’ll all be keen to tuck in.

A Coruña - Beaches & more

Fancy having the beach to yourself for 9 months of the year?

Just outside AC on the road to Ferrol lies the beach at Mino. Also just outside AC but on the road to Malpica lies Razo beach. The thing they have in common is that they are both unspoilt and uncommercialised.

Both have several small ice cream booths selling (you’ve guessed it) ice-cream but there are also one or two that sell bread or cakes or empanada - the local delicacy on a par with steak pie but which usually contain tuna or pork.

What sets these beaches apart is that Mino caters for the sun seeker (which is everyone in a place where you can expect rain any day of the year) whereas Razo caters for walkers and surfers. Both have a couple of bar/restaurants so you can ALWAYS get a drink and something to eat and Mino is close to a small town bearing the same name.




Why, when you can go to almost any other part of Spain and enjoy sky high temperatures (as well as sky high prices) and a taste of the local life would you go to AC? Well, for one thing the people of AC are welcoming and polite rather than in say Barcelona where the people are just as welcoming but let’s be honest here - you just represent the next fast buck.

If AC were a company its motto would be a warm welcome awaits. Barcelona’s would be there’s always another mug just around the corner. Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of Barca and it definitely has its attractions but real Spain it ain’t. If you want to see Barca without staying in and suffering from Barca and you like travelling on air conditioned trains free from graffiti and hooligans and with chamber music playing as you watch the countryside go by see our 48 hours trip to Barcelona website (coming soon!)


Getting back to AC, which is of course what everyone wants to do, you need to take your own beachwear - buy a towel at the local supermarket in Mino. There are no parasols or sun beds but there are a few pedaloes which take to the water during August when the bars on the beach also open for business.

The drive from AC takes about 20 minutes and there are one or two interesting places on the way including a shellfish farm and some spectacular views to enjoy. You can also get there by local bus.

Have a look at a few snaps we took at the beaches earlier this year. You‘ll be hard pressed to tell the difference between the March and July ones which just goes to show how unpredictable the weather can be in a predictable sort of a way. You should always expect rain in AC but there’s time to enjoy the sunshine as well.

Stop for lunch or dinner in any of the towns along the way or at one of the roadside parrilladas (open fire grills) found all over the place lunchtime and evening. Spaniards tend to eat what we eat but its always prepared, cooked and served better than we can be bothered to do it.

A couple of years ago whilst travelling around the Spanish seaside resorts close to Galicia the hotel, which was full to bursting, was serving freshly cooked steaks.


The commotion which greeted the doors opening was awesome (Spaniards can be noisy blighters). When I arrived at the front of the food queue expecting there to be no steaks left I found masses of them – the Spaniards just weren’t interested.

What I had failed to notice was that also on the menu was fresh grilled squid and what I had failed to understand was that if it’s a choice between meat and seafood in Galicia the seafood wins every time.

A couple of days later the same sort of commotion was going on. This time the thing that caused it was fresh fried egg and chips. It nearly came to blows as the rush to get a share of what we would regard as fast or even junk food took hold in a land where fabulous food is the order of the day. Work that one out.

Its easy to do Mino and Razo in a day if the weather turns or a glimpse of a beach is all you want to say you’ve been there.
The only people around most of the time are the locals although naturally the obligatory youth on the noisy moped with his girlfriend on the back will be out and about from time to time.

If it’s peace and quiet you’re looking for and a place to relax for a couple of hours without ending up looking like a lobster then the beaches of AC are the place to be.

A Coruña - The language you'll need

According to people who should know better, some one million mobile phones are bought in this country each year and then shoved in a drawer somewhere and never see the light of day again.

Where would we all be without drawers I hear you ask?

Well drawers are good for hiding and storing some unwanted items but their importance pales into insignificance when compared to the importance of bookshelves.

In the UK, five million Spanish language books are bought each year by people smitten by Espana. You know what its like; the sangria’s flowing and the sun’s shining and you vow not to return to Tossa de Mar without being able to give Manuel the “awright mate fancy a cup a tea” waiter a dose of his own medicine.

You consider joining a conversational Spanish class and then decide that the first thing you need is a textbook to get you back in the mood. Ignoring the books bought for schools and colleges about 250,000 other people are thinking along the same lines as you every October.

So its off to Smiths or online to Amazon to sort it all out but when you do get round to flicking through the pages the 13 verb tense endings to learn under a language where the word for “dog” sounds the same as for “but” and where adjectives come after nouns and everything is either masculine or feminine soon has you eyeing up your bookcase for a slot to store your new Spanish textbook – permanently.

After all - you’ll probably be going to Greece next year anyway and everybody speaks English there. In order to learn the beautiful Spanish language you have to have a passion to go with it. For example, romance spurs the mind into action as does food.

On the assumption that “dos canas y un bocadillo de queso por favor” (two beers and a cheese sandwich please) may be more use to you than what Ingrid Bergman said to Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca – “besame como si fuera la ultima vez” (kiss me as if it were for the last time) - we intend to concentrate on food and drink as a way to improve your Spanish speaking skills.

In the case of AC this food is both delicious and good value and the place to go to get the best of it is not where the restaurant owner impresses you with his English (by telling the sort of jokes a five year old wouldn’t laugh at) but in the places where the menu is pinned to the wall or is no more than a blackboard and where the people are too busy getting on with their own lives to be interested in yours by learning English.

That said they will be polite, patient and overwhelmingly helpful but try and bear in mind that set meals for a fiver cooked on a barbeque in the glare of an open bar is their way of life and is not just a gimmick for commercial gain or for your amusement.

Having made up your mind that you might be able to string three or four words together and accept that the 25 Spaniards in the bar listening with one ear aren’t going to roll about laughing at you for trying to get by (they will only help and encourage and apologise for their own shortcomings) why not go for it?

On this trip to AC you will need to eat and drink something. The Hotel food will be acceptable, especially breakfast, and the 5 star restaurant run by the owner who speaks superb English because he used to be the wine waiter at the Ritz might be part of your plans - but they should be a small part only.

You might consider why with 500 bar/restaurants in AC you, or anybody else for that matter, would need to stay in the hotel or go English! These establishments may however prove useful as somewhere you can go to get exactly what you want in a language you understand - but at a price!

For the moment why not try your hand in a local bar/restaurant. The usual rules apply and the most important of these is keeping it simple. You’re not going to spend a fortnight in the place and neither is anyone else – they want to serve you quickly, politely and with a minimum of fuss and then see the back of you. Its best to go straight up to the bar itself rather than complicating things by getting a table and then trying to catch someone’s eye.

As you stroll up the person serving will greet you. He or she may say any number of things but no matter all you need to say is Hola, pronounced O-la. Then say what DRINK you want. Nothing else just the drink. If you wanted a small draught beer you would just say “una caña” – its pronounced oonah canya. He or she will understand straightaway. If you are feeling brave stick a por favor – please- on the end but its not necessary or expected. Asking politely is expected.

Whilst they are still reeling from the power of your grasp of the Spanish language (and probably from the fact that they have been privileged enough to meet the only Englishman this century to be able to order a beer in AC correctly) hit them with the other drink by saying “ y una coca cola” pronounced “ee oona coca cola” which roughly translated means: and a coke.

When your drinks arrive don’t pay, you wouldn’t pay for a meal upfront anywhere else other than probably in Tesco’s in the UK or a restaurant in Benidorm and you won’t be paying here until you have found the drink to your liking, have enjoyed it and watched the world go by for 20 minutes or so.

In a touristy type place you may receive a chitty with the drinks saying how much you owe. In AC you will have to ask “how much is that or how much do I owe you or can I have my bill” which in itself may be overkill for a beer and a coke.

Go back up to the bar to the person who took the order and just say “Cuanto es” – how much is it? Almost without exception you will get a little till receipt or will see the numbers on the register so you don’t have to understand the price that the barperson rattles off. In any event you should always carry a 5 euro note. You know this will cover the two drinks with plenty of change so just hand it over whatever is said.

On most occasions your change will be returned to you in a saucer. If you want to, leave a coin or two in the saucer as a tip and take your leave. What could possibly have gone wrong? Nothing. Say gracias and adios and head off to the next bar you fancy.

If you are going for food the same rules apply although you may have to compromise initially. There may be oodles of mouth-watering dishes on the menu but you need to know what you want before you go in. If you want the octopus cooked in its own ink followed by roast suckling pig then see the English speaking restaurant owner above – just remember to book a week in advance.

If on the other hand your mind is fixed on a tapa (a small portion) or a racion (a much bigger portion) of ham or olives or loin or mussels or a burger or a pork chop or a salad or a bowl of garlic soup or some spicy sausage or some roast potatoes in a dipping sauce or chicken wings or spare ribs or a toasted ham and cheese sandwich or a slice of ice cream cake or cheesecake then you need to work out how to order one or all of these in Spanish to add to your drinks round. It’s just as easy and by using real Spanish to order you will end up with real Spanish food.

So remember when you come to AC it is best to leave that mobile in the drawer at home but whatever you do don’t leave your new Spanish book in the bookcase or you could end up missing it.

Buen provecho!

A Coruña - Settling in

AC is spread around a headland with the old part of the city centred around the Plaza Maria Pita. If you want to be close to the action but the airport side of town look no further than the four lorries shopping centre (Cuatro Caminos is actually Four Roads but atfirst glance looks like Cuatro Camiones) which includes the ubiquitos El Corte Ingles department store.

There is an unbelievably good value for money 4 star hotel called the Tryp A Coruna. It's modern and comfortable yet a double room costs just £40 per night all year round as far as we can tell excluding breakfast. Breakfast costs 9 euros but should be avoided not because there’s anything wrong with it but because the Alcala cafeteria on the corner next to the Tryp will cook anything you wish to perfection and serve it to you.

Unfortunately the timing of the landing means that you will miss the set three course lunch including wine water and coffee at Sonia’s place two minutes from the airport. Prices have increased recently from £5.00 per head to £5.50 but don’t let that put you off a trip there on your way back to the airport.

Like most restaurants in AC and Galicia generally Sonia’s is a Parrillada or mixed grill which means that food is cooked on an open wood or charcoal fire in the restaurant/bar.

Make a note to visit Sonia’s in the evenings or just before the return afternoon flight as they serve anything from a sandwich (bocadillo) to a steak or spare ribs that are like steaks all expertly cooked and great value for money.

Get there before one o’clock to be treated with respect and to avoid being trampled! Lunch is the main meal of the day in Spain apart from dinner which is also the main meal and it is taken very seriously.

Sonia’s at 1:15 is not the place to try out your Spanish.

A Coruña - Heathrow to Alvedro

Well I never, you’ve taken the plunge despite reading this blog and 1hr 45 after sailing through Heathrow you’ve landed in AC. You could have ordered your in-flight food (not recommended) and drinks in Spanish or English or a bit of both. Euros are the order of the day or cards are accepted no problem. You’re in real Spain – nothing is a problem.

If you know your way round Heathrow you would, like us, have parked at Parking Express, hopped on the green bus (10 minutes) and bailed out at Terminal 2.

There are two Clickair desks and several Iberia desks next door. If the queue builds the Iberia people step in and help out the Clickair people and vice versa – imagine that! So check in times are short. After going through passport control head upstairs to Est Est Est for a decent breakfast so you don’t have to rely on the airline food.

The Clickair (part owned by Iberia the Spanish national carrier) loads at 11:20 and pushes back at 11:33. (200 Spaniards board a plane in less time than 5 English Tourists so don’t get in the way). The classical music starts and lasts throughout the ascent. Same relaxing music plays on the decent but don’t expect any reassuring commentary from the flightdeck – Spaniards don’t travel like that they just want to get from A to B with the crew concentrating on Flying not entertaining. (Captain Pablo performing monkey with My Travel please take note).

If you’re interested in the weather on arrival or how many clouds there are or what the temperature is or if you are wearing shorts or you find yourself asking if you've gone over the Pyrenees yet then you are on the wrong flight – please re-book for one of the costas.

After landing and a leisurely stroll along the airbridge through passport control it takes less than 10 minutes to find yourself in the airport concourse. There are 3 or 4 cash machines there and a Medas cafeteria which you should visit.

There are no queues at the car hire as the flight will have been full of Spaniards returning home not tourists. Taxis are lined up outside and again no queues.
The drive to AC itself takes 10 minutes although there is a regular bus service if you intend to survive for two whole days without a car. http://tinyurl.com/2a7s29

A Coruña - Getting there...

Having decided that AC is the place to be you just need to visit http://www.clickair.com/ and get on one of the daily flights from London Heathrow to La Coruna (Alvedro) airport. Clickair have recently taken over the route from Iberia http://www.iberia.com/ and are 20% owned by Spain's national carrier. You can also book via the Iberia website if you are an Iberia Plus member and want to get your points! The Clickair Airbus arrives in AC at 14.00 and because of the size of the airport at Alvedro you will be out and on your way in no time. We recommend travelling light to save having to wait for checked luggage to turn up on the carousel so you can be outside at the car hire desks, taxi rank or bus stop within 20 minutes of touching down.

If the weather is not so good when you land at AC you might notice the odd bump and sway as you approach Runway 22 but this is perfectly normal (for AC anyway). This above picture was taken on a typical summer's day in AC! This one was taken on a similar summer's day in between warm rain showers : www.airliners.net/open.file/1188092/M/