Tag Archives: Santiago de Compostela

Baileys: Reinventing Coffee Hour

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When Bailey’s asked me to work with them on a few of their events to launch Coffee Hour, I obviously jumped at the chance! Last week I was at the Felder Felder SS13 show at LFW, as I wrote about here, and this evening I will be attending Fashion for the Brave, a charity fashion event in London hosted by Claudia Winkleman. For more gossip from the event, check back on the blog this weekend.

Bailey’s and coffee are one of those perfect drink combinations in my opinion. Like Gin and Tonic, Rum and Coke… I could go on. When I lived in Spain, we used to spend our lives in Cafe Casino, where their special house coffee was a beautiful Baileys coffee with whipped cream on top. It was amazing to curl up withu p on those cosy, rainy nights in Santiago. Now Baileys are reinventing this simple drink with a couple of fabulous recipes, some of which will be served this evening at the event. I’ve been sent a preview which I would love to share with you guys.
My favourite is Bailey’s Coffee Gold with a touch of honey. It’s the one thing making me want winter to come a bit quicker just so that I have more of an excuse not to go outside!

Baileys Coffee Gold (Each serving contains 0.5 units of alcohol)

  • Brew a fresh shot of espresso and combine with hot milk so that you fill a tempered glass 2/3rd of the way.
  • Stir in 25ml Baileys with a hint of coffee and 12.5ml artisanal honey.
  • Recommend serving in a clear tempered glass or latte glass for a more elegant effect.

The above photo is from Baileys GB on Facebook. You can see loads more recipes there too!

Why does it always rain on me?

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I have lived in 3 places in my life: England, Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Costa Rica. They have one thing in common. RAIN.
This was our BBQ planning going to pot whilst I was home last month:
This was my balcony the weekend I got back to Costa Rica:
And this is from Santiago a couple of years ago (I took a picture of a picture, but you get the point!):
Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

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Ten Places… to Tapas in Santiago de Compostela

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Located in Galicia in the northwest of Spain, Santiago de Compostela is one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.  Its combination of old streets, traditional tavernas and modern, cosmopolitan bars make it a fantastic place to spend time with friends and ir de tapas. Drinks often come with free snacks, making it not only atmospheric but perfect for the budget-conscious jetsetter.

Restaurante San Jaime – Make this your first stop in Santiago. A favourite amongst locals and tourists, this bar is reasonably priced and authentically decorated. Expect Ensaladilla, Tortilla or Croquetas with your drinks and if you desire a little more, you’d be crazy not to order their Chorizo al Vino!      Rúa da Raiña, 4

Casa Pepe – Amazing wine with a fantastic selection of meats and cheeses on little pieces of bread, Casa Pepe may be a little more difficult to find, but really is a tucked-away gem.    Cantón de San Bieito, 5

Café Bar Tokio – Often overlooked by tourist guides and websites, Café Bar Tokyo is the place to choose on the strip facing Parque da Alameda for the best tapas, in both quantity and quality and without the marked-up drink prices.   Avenida Figueroa, 7

El Gato Negro – Simplicity in every sense of the word. If you are looking for fine dining, then El Gato Negro may not be your cup of tea, but if you want good, local food at much lower than reasonable prices and homemade wine, then this is the place for you! Order lots and mop up all of the divine sauces with fresh bread.  Rúa da Raiña

Trafalgar – Make sure you hotfoot it over to Bar Trafalgar for their Tigres Rabiosos. These locally-sourced mussels in a spicy sauce will set your tastebuds on fire! Every customer usually receives one with a drink. Stand at the bar, if you can find a space!    Rúa da Raiña

Ambitus Veter – At just 1€ for a glass of wine, you can’t really go wrong in this spacious, modern bar. The amount of tapas that you receive is a little ridiculous and you get even more when you order another drink! Keep an eye on football times however, as the place is absolutely packed when there’s a game on.  Aller Ulloa, 3

 Senra – For an amazing selection of tapas and a great menu to boot, Senra is the perfect place to enjoy a glass of Albariño. Just make sure you can get a seat, as this place is a genuine hotspot for locals!   Rúa da Senra

Restaurante Marte – Sit and enjoy the sunshine outside this traditional bar. If you arrive at the right time, you will be greeted with a lovely little plate of tortilla, croquetas or even a mini-paella! The terrace is a gorgeous suntrap, so top up on suncream before you relax!   Avenida de Rodrigo de Padron, 11

Agarimo – The name means ‘darling’ in Galician and they certainly do cherish their customers. With a glass of the local Ribeiro or a caña, expect a mini spaghetti bolognese, pizza, sandwich or even a mini chorizo and chips! On a good night, you may even receive amazing tapitas, open sandwiches with a whole host of scrumptious toppings! Do not be put off by the sheer amount of people at the bar, fight your way to the back where you’ll find a few tables and a lovely atmosphere.   Praza de Cervantes / Rúa do Preguntorio 2

San Clemente – Renowned amongst students for their almost meal-size portions of tapas, San Clemente is the place to go if you are looking to sample some mussels and olives whilst sipping a glass of wine. The menu is a little pricey, but the tapas are enough to fill you up over a couple of drinks!   Rúa do San Clemente, 6

This article was previously published on Running in Heels.

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Back to where it all began!

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I just got back from a long weekend in Santiago de Compostela with my boyfriend – That was where we spend our year last year. We visited friends and all of our old haunts. We had fun, but it was odd that nothing had really changed, even though we’ve all moved on! Amazing to think that whenever we want to go back, SdC will be there for us! So, in the meantime… back to the grindstone, I guess! 

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Home Sweet Home?

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I had to leave Santiago last week to come home in order to get ready to go to France on my language course next week. It was really hard leaving everybody! Santiago felt like my home and packing it up and leaving was awful. There were tears everywhere!! Here is what I recently wrote for my year abroad report for my uni about my experience:

I didn’t want to go to Santiago. I’d never even heard of it and when I researched it, I found a website describing it as “the Wales of Spain”. That didn’t sound hugely appealing to me. But then I came here, and I have had the best year of my life! It is a magical place with an inordinate amount of bars and restaurants to discover on any night of the week and the student life is absolutely brilliant. I have met some great friends for life and would always recommend the place to anyone who asks.

Finding accommodation was pretty easy. I flew out at the end of June to find somewhere and through a friend of a friend found out that most restaurant owners have flats too. My landlord owns Ribadavia restaurant, situated on Rua do Franco, in the Old Town. My apartment is there too, with views of the cathedral and much cheaper than a room in a house in Selly Oak and the bed is the most comfortable that I have ever slept in! I shared with one other person in each semester. It wasn’t difficult finding the second person (the first was a friend). I used the online notice board on the USC website called “Taboleiro”.

The university registration process, I’ll admit, was a nightmare. Simply, because the offices that you need to go to close a silly times for the day and are at opposite ends of town to each other. Admittedly the town isn’t very big, but that’s another thing about Santiago, it is full of hills! I have never had such toned legs in my life than what I did in the first couple of weeks here. I actually ached from walking to and fro around town sorting out paperwork! However, once it was all done, the university system was pretty easy to deal with. One issue is the constant use of Galician in everything; the forms, lectures handouts, some classes and explanations. They are pretty good at explaining it to you if you ask, though it’s not too difficult to decipher once you get used to it and it doesn’t hugely vary from the Spanish.

Of the things that I did enjoy, one of the best has to be visiting the surrounding area. Surprisingly, however great other towns were, I always came back to Santiago and thought how great it was to be home and how much more beautiful it was than where I had just been. My top visits included Porto, Vigo and Las Islas Cies. The latter was voted the best beach in the world by The Guardian in 2008 and it is definitely worth a visit!

From spending a year in Spain has drastically improved my understanding of the language. I feel like my grammar and written skills are much better too, and my speaking is now probably what I feel most confident doing with Spanish now. When I arrived, my tenses were all over the place, I had to think a lot about what I was saying and now it just flows out; not perfect however, but a major difference has been made! This is from chatting to other Erasmus and a few natives, watching television and listening to lecturers and students communicate themselves in class.

I am writing this with not very long left in Santiago. I don’t want to leave, as I have truly fallen in love with the place. I am, without a doubt, returning as soon as I can. Which isn’t bad to say that I’d never even heard of the place just over a year ago!

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21 and counting…

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It was my 21st birthday last Friday. I had a fabulous time, as my family came to visit me in Santiago and we did a few touristy things, shopping and had some wonderful meals out! 

A particular favourite was the meal on Saturday night! My dad and I ordered a huge big platter of fish, which came with a huge lobster (we think the restaurant made a mistake, but I am not complaining!) It was really scrumptious and I really enjoyed it! For my birthday, Mark surprised me with these earrings that I’ve been dying to get, with the local stone on them and I got a huge amount of birthday cards from
 back home and even one from my friend in Germany!

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summer is here!!

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I’ve had a very eventful couple of weeks, so much so that I’m going to have to break it all down into 2 or 3 blogs. First, my friend from uni came to visit. She’s currently studying in Zaragoza, but flew out from London to see me. We managed to spend a lot of money in Zara and Mango and we did a lot of tapas-ing! Plus, a couple of glasses of wine too many made it an interesting time! It was good for me to have her here, as our catch-up chat lasted about a day and then I got to see Santiago as a tourist, through new eyes again, which has kick-started my last month here, taking everything in again! Two major things that we did, that I’d never done before was visiting the roof of the cathedral, which I had never done before, but definitely want to before Ileave, as I didn’t have my camera on me and the views were amazing! I have a week left, so I’m definitely dragging Mark up this time! That’s another point that I wish to make! My boyfriend is fed up of being referred to as “my boyfriend”, therefore I am now having to refer to him by his name, as he is a real person after all (happy now?!)!

We also visited the Galicia Dixital exhibition, which was a lot of fun and we got to “virtually” see parts of Galicia that we had never seen before. Highlights included aerial views of the whole surrounding area and a virtual rollercoaster over the roof of the cathedral in moving chairs!!
Next blogs will be about my 21st b’day and an amazing trip to Las Islas Cies, just of the Galician coast!

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May 2008: Rain, Parties and More Rain!

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What have I been up to for the past month?


Well, when I started this blog, I had just handed in my Spanish year abroad

 essay to my university in England, so I had a lot of
 free time on my hands. I spent the first weekend at the local fair, going for tapas and generally enjoying myself. This was followed up by my boyfriend’s 21st b’day.
 Suffice to say more general merriment was endured, as well as a visit from his brother and brother’s girlfriend. We partied and ate in in various places. Santiago has amazing bars, so you can never tire of floating around the city, enjoying a very reasonably priced glass of local wine and a pile of free food! I love the reactions of people who aren’t aware of the tradition, when the food arrives! This isn’t good for the waistline though, though I don’t seem to have been so badly affected, as I have managed to lose 5kg! Must keep going on t
hat one! We also attended a Deportivo Coruna football game in A Coruna and put ourselves through a rainy ride on the local Santiago tourist train. At one point, it drove right past my boyfriend’s flat, so we didn’t exactly see anything new…! That’s another thing about Santiago – THE RAIN! I’ve heard Galicia called “The Urinal 

of Europe”, which obviously avoiding the dirty connotations could be exactly right!

After a week of partying, I settled down and got back to classes. I had an hour-long group presentation to do on the Spanish of Mexico, as well as little bits of homework that I had been blissfully ignoring for a while! I also got back to the gym and have been working on my fashion journalism course, though it is difficult to get hold of useful English magazines over here in Galicia!
I was supposed to spend last weekend in Andalucia, exploring Malaga, Granada and Seville. My plans fell through due to problems with technology, rising prices, people cancelling and lack of organisation! Shame really, but I still managed to enjoy myself in Santiago catching up on all of the gossip with the girls!
This week has been a bit slow, I’m feeling a bit under the weather, though can’t put my finger on exactly why. Having dinner with friends tonight and then a good friend from Uni is coming to stay for a few days on Sunday, so that should be fun! I guess I’ll just have to wile my time away having coffee and gossiping…! What a life I do lead!

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my first ever blog!

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Hi!


Welcome to my first ever blog! I find the first blog quite an intimidating thing to write; what do you say? How should you come across? All of these types of things filled my mind and then I suddenly thought, just write! If people don’t like you then they won’t read it again! So, here I am, this is me!

I’m writing a blog as a way to communicate my thoughts and practice more writing, that isn’t academic. My dream is to be a fashion journalist and I’ve always had a thing for writing. Many of my essays get criticised at university for having too much of my own voice in them. I often get comments along the lines of “a little colloquial” or “very magaziney”. Well, I guess that I should put that to good use and write for magazines with my own voice! So, that’s what I am attempting to do.

I’m currently living and studying in Santiago de Compostela in Spain on my year abroad from university, as part of my course. Above is a photo I took of the city’s main attraction, its beautiful cathedral. I study French and Hispanic Studies at the University of Birmingham, and now I’m studying Fashion Journalism online with Cleland Thom. My dream is to combine my language skills and my love of fashion and travel in my future career. It’ll be a long hard struggle, but I’m willing to do it!

Until the next time…

Ciao for now!

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