She is romantic, wild and one of the best in the world
In the ** La Yenka ** restaurant, the woman who presides over the next table asks the waiter if the portions are large. This one, very serious, answers:
– Everything is big here, yes. (Here goes everything big, yeah)
The restaurant is at the foot of the Arealonga beach . The huge windows of the premises allow to see the Cantabrian Sea like a Rothko painting. The waiter insists that if he prefers, there are ways to order less:
– If you want, you can necklace or children's menu. There have a single plate and dessert. (If you want, you can take the children's menu. There you have a single dish and dessert)
It is noon, the weather is good and tourists are swarming on the terrace . We are just over a kilometer from the Beach of the Cathedrals, in Ribadeo , and La Yenka is the obligatory and economical alternative when the restaurant on the well-known beach is crowded ( €12.5 for the menu per week and €15 for the weekend ) . Also, low tide started two hours ago, coinciding with vermouth time.
the Yenka
Marisol sees them arrive. He is not worried, he has experience in this. She runs the restaurant that her mother Mercedes started 55 years ago as meal House . They are welcome to her. Though she admits that the fame of the Cathedrals overwhelms.
A Beach of the Cathedrals is not new. It has been at the top of national tourism for three decades. What is new is its name. Before Calvo Sotelo, recommended by veteran commanders of a Youth Front camp, decided to become an Obregón in the magazine Hello with his boat rides or his red vespino, the neighbors knew her as Carricelas, Malata or Augas Santas . And they didn't even bathe in it.
Some, like the owner of loving house , Juan Ramon Canabal They went there just to fish. "It is a very dangerous beach, with a lot of current, and when there is high tide, there is no sand left, so imagine," he says. With its 30 meter high arches of slate and schist , eroded by the wind and the sea until it is like gothic flying buttresses , the former president decided to baptize it as we know it now.
Discovered the secret Not everyone likes the overcrowding generated by the beach. Every year the number of visitors grows, and so does the landscape wear . That is why in high season visits are limited. 4,812 lucky souls will be able to do it per day and with a previous pass –You must request it on the ** website of the Xunta de Galicia ** –.
Low tide at the Beach of the Cathedrals
High tide on the beach of the Cathedrals
For those who want to get lost in lesser-known corners as well as for those who want to squeeze the tourism offered by the area , here are a few useful references.
From As Catedrais, direction Foz , we have at least eight kilometers of beach – Arealonga, As Pasadas, Lóngara, Fontenla, Valea, Coto, Remior, San Bartolo, Altar and Anguieira - which, at low tide, can be done on foot. We will even see others like Moledo or Caneiro , which disappear when the sea rises.
In the opposite direction, going to Ribadeo , one can take the road national N-634 and visit the not so crowded beaches of Esteiro, das Illas and two Castros , and enjoy the scenery.
Esteiro Beach
Very close to any of them we will find rural tourism houses or beach bars where you can shelter and eat. ** House of Merlo **, House Brais , ** Casa Amadora ** or the Hotel Villa are just a few examples.
The latter is close to a forced stop: the port of Rinlo . Ancient whaling port, it is home to the second oldest fishermen's brotherhood in the country –the oldest is that of the fishing port of Santa María de Cádiz-. They prepare a rice to die for . It is a recipe from the south of Portugal in which the crab has been changed for lobster and the coriander for parsley.
Reserve a table –a long time in advance–, ask for it and let yourself go. If your visit is at the beginning of August, will coincide with the Festa do Percebe . That's all, Your Honor.
Rinlo
Ribadeo is full of Indian houses , wealthy returned émigrés who came from “make the americas” . You will see them even before reaching the villa. But the largest and most spectacular is in the center, the **Torre de los Moreno (Plaza de España)**. It is a modernist building built in 1915 for the brothers Juan and Pedro Moreno Ulloa. In 1997 it was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, and it is still being rehabilitated.
Moreno Tower
If what you prefer are the views, hide in the viewpoint of the Atalaya, where the oldest chapel in Ribadeo (12th century) is, and some cannons four centuries younger. You can go both from the Plaza de España and from the elevator in the marina. Another viewpoint, this one on the outskirts, is that of Santa Cruz . From the first you can see neighboring Castropol; from the second the entire estuary.
Watchtower viewpoint
With a walk through Porcillan Marina , or through the pedestrian streets of the center or a quick visit to the food market (between José Vicente Pérez Martínez and Doutor Moreda streets) will be enough for our stomach to come to its senses and start saying hello.
If he says 'hello' – which he will – a must stop is the now classic ** Casa Villaronta ** _(San Francisco 9) _ for a good octopus or some calamari, which, although renovated to be able to serve more diners, continues having tremendous tails. Best before 8:30 p.m. or after 11:00 p.m. . If this happens and you have not arrived on time, or you prefer something with a different touch, The Bottle Shop _(San Francisco 24) _ directed by the cook George Trenor for seven years, it has had a wide bar full of tapas and at the back there is a small dining room. The menu consists of Galician dishes with influences from other cuisines (the surprising Hungarian goulash ; but the classics like the octopus or the razor clams with garlic sauce do not fail).
The Bottle Shop
The Workshop Bar _(Ramón González 20) _ is a old-fashioned tavern , where the young wine is drunk in cups, ideal for recline. The Fat Corner It is a bit far away _(Avenida de Galicia, 26) _ but the cuisine is homemade and family atmosphere , and outside the menu they usually have market product of the day at a very good price – that day they played some huge and very good clams from the market at 12 euros per ration, if there is not, insurance is the raxo –. If you still have strength, in the still life O Recuncho _(Corner Pasarón y Lastra with calle do Vello Pancho) _ there will be music, tapas, cups of wine and pints of beer wrapped in old wooden walls, tables and bar.
as extra ball , for the nostalgic and the authentic, Ribadeo hides several charming places from outsiders: the Nicanor winery _(Clemente Martínez Pasaron 21) _, an old neighborhood meeting place that over the years ended up being a refuge for lovers of uneven floors and exposed wooden beams – very similar to a furancho of those of all life –, the hanging sausage and drink the wine standing up and the cup –or the glass– leaning on the bocoy.
For those with a sweet tooth, dessert has to be bought at the Santa Clara Monastery , right next to the Nicanor winery. Yes or yes: cream puff pastry and Saint Honoré cake –if it remains, because it always flies–.
Nicanor Winery
And the bread and the pie at the bakery crooked _(Reigning 22) _. Small, new-looking, they've been since 1948 (years ago they were in the Calvo Sotelo street ) and are already three generations of bakers now run by the grandson of the founder.
If you plan to leave Ribadeo with a piece of bread under your arm, a warning: queues form in the morning, go early. That the town is small and queuing is the order of the day. But you know all good things wait.
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Torviso Bakery