Scala

Padron: Just a plain village with good atmosphere

by gmg61

A small galician village. But here Camilo José Cela was born, and his Nobel Prize for literature is the proud of everybody there, You can see Cela in statues, in pictures spread in every bar, in every restaurant: much more than a football star! Here also lived her last years the famous (in Spain!) Rosalia de Castro, and from here come the famous (in Spain!) "pimientos de padron", green peppers, very good fried.
There's a nice atmophere, a small, intimate old town with restaurants and bars, and a river with ducks and swans; and don't miss, every sunday, the local market, colourful parade of street vendors, where you can find almost everything, from underwear to pimientos, from fruits to warm steaks!

Padron

by nomad7890

"A little bit of Galicia between Santiago and Vigo"

This is a small little town home to the Padron peppers and to many pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The town is pretty deserted if you get there after lunch as tradition has it in these parts to close down, but don't worry, things come back to life after 4 PM or so!

"Picturesque sights"

This is a nice little village in which to stroll with a large park and a good botanical garden. When we visited early August of 2006 Galicia was suffering from many fires, which is reflected in these pictures.

"Overnight housing for pilgrims across the river"

Next to the church across the river Sar exists a refuge for pilgrims walking to Santiago

Padron, Spain

by Shabu

Padron is a small village of about 700 people which sits atop a breathtaking fjord. It is the birthplace of several of Spain's leading writers and poets including Rosalia de Castro, Macias, Rodrigues de Padron, and the Nobel Prizewinner for Literature, Camilio Jose Cela.

We spent Friday night in Padron in hopes of returning back to Santiago de Compostela the next morning. This is a view from our hotel window of the very colorful, local train station. The rainbow was a nice surprise...

"Home of the Padron Peppers"

Galicia's fertile soil and cooler weather conditions are ideal for growing Padron Peppers or Pimientos de Padron.

Here's a little history that I found out about these tasty morsels.... Padron peppers were brought back from South America by Spanish monks in the 16th century. The monks grew the peppers in the gardens of their convent in the Padron district. The peppers soon became a favorite at the table of locals, enabling the monks to trade in the peppers for other much-needed products.

Today, these little green peppers are a staple at tapas bars in Spain, where they are simply cooked in lots of olive oil over a slow heat until blistered and served with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. They are sweet and absolutely delicious. But there is a catch you see, one in about every ten of these mild tasting peppers are super hot and I mean screaming, drink what ever you can find hot. The trick is you never know which one. It's like playing culinary russian roulette.

The best way to eat these wonderful little gems is to begin by taking a mini bite from the tip of each one to make sure it wouldn't kill you before you eat the entire pepper. You'll know it right away. Believe me, it will hit you when you least expect it.