In Search of Dulce de Leche

Why, you may ask, would someone walk clear across town for a jar of some sweet stuff just to make a yummy breakfast? Because, in my book, it is impossible to truly enjoy morning crêpes without some dulce de leche gracing their soft skin, of course … Don’t worry, my new friends also thought I was a bit mad to go to such lengths to get a pancake spread but it really wasn’t my fault that the only place I could reliably get a jar of dulce de leche was a Corte Inglés store and the closest one was clear across town. What I did get out of this walk was another chance to explore an area of the city I hadn’t been in yet so a win-win all around.

I set out by once again taking the route of the waterfront, the southern bit facing the port. It was a gorgeous, sunny day as I set out to the opposite end of the port and the neighbourhood of Los Castros, the large-scale commercial centre of A Coruña. While I had a goal on this walk, I also had plenty of time so I took it slow and enjoyed the Jardínes de Méndez Núñez on the way. The gardens are a promenade-like park, with the glass-fronted buildings on one side and the port and a number of beautiful palaces on the other. Walking through here definitely harkens back to the days of long dresses, parasols, and top hats, and when I closed my eyes I could picture couples from a hundred years ago parading along the waterfront here, though, as I’ve been told, it may have been a very different scene back then as the port was a fishing one and the smell was likely awful; the façades of the buildings now were, in fact, the backs of the stately homes the grand main entrances of which faced the streets behind. That said, I choose to hang on to my romantic notion and pretend it has always been this pretty here.

I continued along the main road which curves along the waterfront, past the massive fish market (which didn’t smell), along some major thoroughfares (they are many roads through this city which is no small feat, being as densely populated as it is and bound on all sides by water), and finally came to the big mall the Corte Inglés was supposed to be in. I was expecting a fancy mall but, to be honest, it wasn’t that exciting but I was able to pick up a jar of dulce de leche, turn around, and go home. On the way back I decided to try a different route, through the fancy Ensanche area, a place to do some very fancy shopping, something I didn’t do, of course. What I did discover was that all parts of A Coruña are very hilly, and it really doesn’t matter which route I take, I need to do a lot of climbing and that’s why my pants are so loose now. I did spot a number of very cool vendors on the way, including some interesting furniture stores, as well as an abnormally large number of Zara stores, but that’s because this is where the chain’s first store was, so it’s sort of like Starbucks in Seattle, one on every other corner.

In the evening, I was gifted yet another beautiful sunset … something I could really get used to seeing every night.