Finisterre, futbol y fiesta

Three homemade Orujos, the after dinner drink of choice

Pablo

Finisterre, end of the earth

Countertop in 3 Glopes

Ribeiro, local white wine

My dish, the smaller of 3 mariscadas on the menu

Local clams, similar to razor clams

Statue honoring emigrants, of which Galicia produced plenty 

Overlooking the Lonja de Finisterre

In contrast to most of Spain, an abundance of drinkable water

Robbie's lost tooth

In the middle, Gooseneck barnacles, called king of shellfish around here (percebes)

Our landlord and diver/guide for the day 

The fish market auctions off fish, boat by boat, starting the price high and dropping down until there is a buyer

Horrea, the local form of silo to dry corn to feed to farm animals

Scallop empanada gallega where corn meal is used for the pastry

meaty ingredients for Caldo Gallego

My Caldo teacher

Shrimp and garlic side dish

Cooked caldo using cabbage instead of Grelos, a green with no translation to English

Of course it is the beginning of the month long summer celebration here in La Coruna.  Free events are happening all month, including concerts, kids activities, etc.  We went the the plaza Maria Pita, the main plaza, to see the mayor (whom we had chatted with a couple of days before) kick things off and then fireworks and a concert.  We played soccer at a very nice sports complex with artificial turf.  We invited along Pablo, our landlady's grandson and new buddy to our boys.  The next day we took of for the end of the earth, Finisterre, where the St James pilgrimage really should end, though many stop at Santiago de Compostela.  We had the chance to stop in at a couple of villages along the way and see the house our landlords own and talk with a farmer who lives right next to a 15th century castle.

Galicia has won the contest for our favorite northern Spain community and we will spend our few extra days here in a hotel near Hercules towers in a mostly natural area, right on the coast, with mini beaches and rocky coastline all around.  Galicia has amazing produce, really nice, unassuming people, beautiful coastline and plenty of boy friendly parks and fields.  Tonight I tried the ternera gallega, the local beef, and have learned that Galicia really produces the most coveted beef in Spain as well as ham from the Celtic Pig that rivals the famous Iberico.  The rough but fertile land and sea make for hardy produce that only lacks marketing to gain fame.