Return to Plaza de Cervantes. Take a right onto Rúa da Troia, which leads to Plaza de San Miguel dos Agros and Plaza de San Martiño Pinario, dominated by the facade of the church of this imposing monastery.
On Rúa da Troia you have Bierzo Enxebre, an inn where if you an order a glass of wine or draft beer, (2€) they serve you delicious and abundant tapas.
Continuing on Rúa da Porta da Pena, on the left-hand side, you'll see Hostal Costa Vella. If the weather is nice, you can have a soft drink (1,80€) in the lovely interior garden. Very recommendable.
Turning to the left on Calle Costa Vella, you'll come to Convento de San Francisco. Tradition attributes the convent's founding to St. Francis of Assisis himself, who, it is said, travelled to Santiago de Compostela in 1213 and had a divine revelation instructing him to build a monastery on San Martiño Pinario lands.
On the way back towards Plaza del Obradoiro along Rúa de San Francisco, on the right you'll pass the Faculty of Medicine and the long side wall of the five-star Hostal de los Reyes Católicos.
Crossing Obradoiro in the direction of Rúa do Franco, you'll come to Colegio de Fonseca, a Renaissance structure considered to be the first building pertaining to the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (16th century).
In front of the Colegio de Fonseca is the Chapel and Fountain of the Apostle, miracle waters which, according to legend, began to flow when the oxen transporting the remains of the Apostle to their place of burial passed by.
After this, on Rúa do Franco, you'll find most of what the historic district has to offer in terms of food. The restaurants, while touristic, try to reproduce the medieval taverns that once attended to the pilgrims from whom this street gets its name ("francos" refers to any pilgrim who arrived by way of the Pyrenees as a "free man"). On this street, students instituted the "Paris-Dakar rally", a legendary bar hop that began and ended in the bars with those names. In each tavern, it was obligatory to drink a cup of wine and tell a joke.
At the end of Rúa do Franco, on the left, you'll come to the square Praza do Toural. From there you can pick up Rúa do Vilar, which takes you back to the cathedral.
Very close by, at the beginning of Calle Raíña, you'll find O Beiro, an ideal place for a glass of wine (2.10-2.80€) or a coffee (1.50€) along with a piece of Tarta de Santiago cake (3€). The tapas are also good here, though a little on the expensive side (a combination platter of Iberian ham, Iberian loin and two cheeses costs 20€).
