Combarro had been strongly recommended on the YBW forum as a “must see place” in this Ria so we chose to go there by bus while Grand Slam was in the marina in Sanxenxo. Just a 15minute bus ride (but a likely 30+ mins wait for the bus – sometimes but not always on time!). Only 2.60 Euros return each.
The old town of Combarro is a mixture of narrow paved streets with stone crosses and “granaries”
The houses border right on the shore line in what once an active fishing port and agricultural town. Unique to this area are the “granaries”. The photo below shows a typical granary.
We had seen a lot of these buildings on our travels around Galicia, usually in the gardens of older houses and had wondered what they were for! We were starting to think they were burial crypts!!!!Luckily the guy in the tourist dis-information office spoke good English so we found the answer. Very simply (that's what I need) they are storage sheds for potatoes and vegetables etc, built on stilts to stop rodents getting in (note the big disks sitting on top of the columns). Combarro has the biggest concentration of these structures in the area.
This is another shot of the houses right on the shore line. We did wonder what happens on a high spring tide with a storm surge!!
Combarro also has a number of really nice restaurants serving great seafood. This is the place to eat. We had a meal on Sunday afternoon and hence decided to visit again on Monday for another seafood meal. Prices were considerably cheaper than the seafood restaurants in Sanxenxo and the food and service so much better. If you like sea food, this is the place to go. Pam now can interpret the menu fluently.
Another feature of Combarro is the number of stone crosses at the intersection of many streets. The photo below shows a typical one.
There was lots of tourist “tat” on sale with replicas of the crosses and the granaries and bottled sets of the local red and white wines. Surprising also were all sizes of stuffed witches. We almost bought one for the boat. To get an idea of what I am talking about – you can see one in the photo below (on the left or right?).
A final interesting feature we came across was the communal washing area. We had come across this stone structure on our visit on Sunday but couldn’t work out what it was. On Monday three local women were out using it. See the photo below.
Water flowed in from a stream and they used the stone edges of the “bath” to scrub the clothes. I know it's been difficult finding washing machines in the marinas here (even Port Edgar has a washing machine!) but difficult to believe the locals are still washing clothes this way. They must be getting a European subsidy. When the clothes were washed, they were hung to dry on the top level of the “launderette”.
So that’s it from Combarro. Well worth a visit. Interestingly there is now a marina in the harbour area in addition to the anchorage. This has been built this year and has all the pontoons in place but the service buildings are still under construction and not likely to be ready until next season. The buildings look quite extensive. The marina office is in portocabins at the top of the pontoons with good security gates – but no keys – there is a marinere on duty 24 hours a day to open gates etc. The marina staff didn't speak much English - well actually they spoke no English. I couldn’t get any wifi reception in the area. The marina looks a bit exposed to northerly winds and some swell may get in – but that’s just from looking at it from a distance (when the wind was in the south west) so I may be totally wrong. Nevertheless, a great setting and a great place to visit. One of the highlights of our trip to date.
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