Aloha Espana!

First things first

Before settling into our new living arrangements in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, let’s just spend time talking about getting there. By now, it has been clearly established that we do not have a lot of uneventful, easy travel days. This leg of the trip was no exception.

We leave Varone on July 31 for a 3-1/2 hour drive to Milan, where we will catch a plane to Porto, Portugal. In Porto, we will spend the night and make the 2-1/2 hour drive to Santiago de Compostela the next day. You see, it is not so easy to fly around Europe as you might think. Ryan Air is the dominant player in the EU and it does not fly to all major cities every day of the week. In the US, you can get to Chicago, LA, DC, NYC, etc., pretty much any time and any day of the week. To arrive in Santiago de Compostela on 8/1, when our 30 day apartment lease begins, we had to leave Italy on 7/31. Well, you get the idea.

Anyway, we leave nice and early and allow ourselves lots of driving time to get from Varone to Milan. There are 2 ways to go – the scenic route through the mountains, about 20 minutes longer or the less scenic and a bit quicker route via the Autostrada. Of course we chose the latter. We are about 2-1/2 hours outside of Milan when the said Autostrada comes to a dead stop. 3 lanes of traffic and no one is moving. It stayed that way for about 90 minutes! Unfortunately, there was an accident involving a truck about 10 miles ahead of us and people here lack the sense of frenetic urgency that dominates American life. So it is an hour later before traffic starts to move. We are now in a position wherein we will not make our flight. Our only option is a Lufthansa flight that will cost $1200, plus we will lose our money on Ryan and on the hotel in Porto. We decide to wait it out and see what happens.

We get close to the Milan airport with about 1 hour, 45 minutes to spare before our flight leaves. We have to return the rental car and take a shuttle for 4 miles to the terminal, check our bags, get through security and be at the gate 30 minutes before departure because that is when the gates lock. I have decided there is no way it will happen, but Jimmy keeps the faith.

I know some of you are thinking, “get to the point” already. Bear with me.

We get to the rental car return. No one is working and there is a sign that says “scan your bar code and leave keys in drop box”. Without exaggeration, 8 minutes later, we still can’t get the bar code scanner to work. So, Jim makes an executive decision preceded by some “not so nice” expletives. He drops the keys in the box. We have to walk about 1/2 mile to the shuttle stop to get us to the Terminal, 4 miles away. We start moving fast (oh, remember that bum knee I have ???). We are within spitting distance of the bus stop and there is a bus and it’s closing its doors. Jim hauls a** with his bags in tow, and is waving to the bus driver to stop, which the bus driver does, may the gods and goddesses of bus drivers bless him. We get on the bus, drive to the terminal with about 70 minutes to flight departure. You won’t believe this. We finally get to Terminal 1, run to the Ryan Air check in desk (which is #19, of course) for Porto and there is not a single person in line. We get our luggage checked and run off to security. There is NO ONE in the security line. We have checked our bags and gotten through security in approximately 15 minutes and we now have an entire hour to spare before the flight leaves!  OOO  MMMM  GGGG!

We are half way to the gate and it is announced that the flight is delayed (NFW, I mutter to myself) and Jim and I just start laughing.

You absolutely cannot make this stuff up.

We arrive in Porto about 8PM and we are starving. Hope they have a good restaurant at the hotel. The hotel is 1 mile from the airport, which at the time we booked it, seemed like a great idea. Well, this ain’t Chicago, baby. That Hotel is not on the airport grounds. You have to walk the mile on nice cobblestone-line streets, with heavy luggage. Oh, and it starts to rain. We haul it to the hotel (no taxi wants to take you just 1 mile from the airport). When we get there, I almost start to cry. From the outside, it looked like the Bates Motel. More expletives. Ah, it gets better. There is no restaurant in the hotel or anywhere in site. The hotel has maybe 6 rooms. No elevator. We are on the 2nd floor. it is late, we are hungry, we are thirsty and we are now exhausted. Walk up the stairs to our room, which turns out to be about the size of a postage stamp. Two people cannot move simultaneously.  It is clean and there is a nice shower and a king size bed. A knock on the door reveals the manager with a tray of traditional Portuguese cakes and 2 glasses of champagne, on the house. I almost accost the man but Jim beat me to it! LOL

When we are getting ready to leave in the morning, a knock on the door and a picnic basket filled with delicious food is delivered, on the house. Scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, fresh bread, coffee, yogurt and small cakes. Now this is heaven! The name of the hotel, should you ever need to stay in Porto near the airport, is Solar Antigo Porto Aeroporto. Total cost for the night’s stay? $106, including tax and all of the delicious food and coffee. Such a deal!

Enjoy some pictures of the Bates Motel, ala Porto PT!

We retrieve our leased car and head to Santiago de Compostela, where we will spend the next 30 days, living like locals. Wahoooo!

Santiago de Compostela

Thanks for bearing with me on the travel day story. It certainly adds to the adventures, except when you are living through it.

We chose Santiago de Compostela for a few reasons. We wanted to explore more of Spain and specifically, that part of Spain closer to Portugal and known to have cooler temperatures most of the year. Santiago de Compostela is 2+ hours over the Spanish border shared with Portugal and it is known to be very green, with moderate winters and mild summers. Conde Nast travel magazine did an article on this area of Spain (known as Galicia) and Santiago de Compostela checked all of the boxes for us.

Santiago has a large university, including a school of Medicine and is well known for the beautiful St. James Cathedral and the pilgrimage to the Cathedral, Camino de Santiago (more on this). There are about 90,000 people in Santiago de Compostela and students add another 25,000. It has mild temps all year long, with winter being the most undesirable time of year to visit given the amount of rainfall and cool temps. The lush, green landscape is a testimony to these winter temps and also the nickname “the Ireland of Spain”.

Santiago de Compostela is also famous as a Christian pilgrimage route. According to tradition, the enormous cathedral was built on top of the tomb of the Apostle, St. James the Great and is the destination for those making the famous pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, dating back to the 9th century. Just a fun fact, there was a famous American movie called The Way, starring Martin Sheen, which is the story of the Camino de Santiago.

The Cathedral is located in the Old City of Santiago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cathedral is a Catholic shrine with not only the remains of St. James the Great entombed in its crypt below the Cathedral, but many other Catholic saints and lots of saints’ relics, one even attributed to Jesus himself (a piece of the Crown of Thorns). Here are various views of the Cathedral from the outside, following by 2 pictures of the main altar on the inside. The altar is almost obscene in its lavishness, but not quite. Pictures make it impossible to really capture the size and grandeur. You will just have to walk 100 kilometers on a Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to get the full effect – or you can just take my word for it. -:)   The last 2 pictures are relics/tombs; one of the relics housed in the Cathedral is from the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus when he was crucified, complements of his torturers. The last is the tomb of St. James, buried beneath the Cathedral.

 

As a city, Santiago dates back to at least the 4th century. At various times in its early history, it was held by the Romans, the Vikings, the Mores, the French, and the Celts. Another fun fact, the official instrument of Santiago is the bag pipe! It is played in the streets of the Old City throughout the day by wandering musicians and during Mass in the Cathedral.

Santiago has a robust food scene and is known for its Alburino wine, a white wine with a crisp and delightful taste. We hope to visit some vineyards while we are here but absent the time for that, we at least plan to drink lots of the local grape!

Tomorrow, we are going on a 3 hour walking tour where we hope to learn more about Santiago de Compostela, Camino de Santiago and its place in history as well as the role it plays in modern-day Spain.

Until tomorrow, buenas noches and sweet dreams!

Camino de Santiago

The Camino de Santiago is a network of routes leading to the Cathedral of St. James, built on top of the tomb of St. James, and traveled by Christians since the early 9th Century. It is thought to be one of the most famous and spiritually significant pilgrimage routes in the Christian world, considered on par with the pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem. !here are 4 main routes on the Camino, France, Spain, Northern Europe and Portugal. These routes range in length from 200 to 600 kilometers in length, and all routes lead to the Cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. In 2023, more than 430,000 individuals were acknowledged as having completed the pilgrimage (more on “acknowledgement” in a sec).

The Way is steeped in the Catholic religion, going back to the 9th Century. A Mass is said in the Cathedral every day at Noon to honor those who have completed the journey. There is a great deal of ceremony and ritual which accompanies its completion. It is important enough of an event that if you complete the pilgrimage, it will earn you a “get out of jail free” card, more formally known as a plenary indulgence. For those of you out there who have not completed 18 years of Catholic education, as has moi, a plenary indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of time you will spend in Purgatory, the place you hang out getting your soul cleansed before you can enter Heaven. The indulgences are a BIG deal and not given lightly, a testament to the importance the Church places on this pilgrimage.

By the way, if your final destination is “south” of Purgatory, no amount of plenary indulgences will result in you cruising to Heaven, in which case, no need to walk or bike the Camino de Santiago, unless you just want to have an adventure!

The scallop shell, found all over the shores of Galicia, has come to be the symbol of the Camino. It has practical application as well as mythical symbolism. One of my favorite myths about the scallop shell involves this Prince who travels by horseback to the village of his betrothed, arriving on the eve of the wedding ceremony. Somehow (too much detail for me) the horse gets spooked and ends up, rider and all, being thrown into the ocean, which is all whipped up into a frenzy by an impending storm. Horse and rider are deemed gone. Not so fast, my friends. By some miracle of Divine Intervention, the horse and Prince come trotting out of the hurricane-like ocean and guess what? They are covered in beautiful scallop shells.

I still can’t make the connection between this myth and the Way, but hey, it’s the stuff of legends, therefore, no connections need be established. Just for the record, my take is, Mr. Prince got spooked the day before the wedding and threw himself and his horse into the ocean to escape his fate as a soon-to-be-husband. The horse would have none of this suicide mission and pulled itself and the Prince from the ocean, thereby sealing the Prince’s fate. To thank the horse for saving her betrothed, the Princess glued clam shells all over her Prince, soon-to-be-husband as fair warning of what she is capable of should she be crossed in the future. The horse was forever grateful to the fair Princess. I should have been part of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale telling team, don’t you think?

Anyway, I digress.

The scallop shell has practical significance in serving as a marker to identify approved inns along the Way where eligible pilgrims can stay, eat and rest before taking on the next leg of the journey. Generally, pilgrims purchase a “credencial” or pilgrim’s passport, which is presented to the innkeeper to be stamped. The stamp verifies the pilgrim passed through the town and stayed in the approved inn. Upon reaching Santiago de Compostela, the pilgrim submits her fully stamped “credencial” to the Pilgrims’ Office, thereby confirming that the pilgrimage has been completed.

To be recognized as having completed the pilgrimage, pilgrims are required to walk a minimum of 100 kilometers (about 63 miles); if you travel by bicycle, you must complete a minimum of 200 kilometers (about 140 miles) to be credited with completion of the pilgrimage. There are individuals who do this the old school way – by horse! Sans glued-on clam shells, of course.  Typically, it is backpack all of the way, baby! However, a cottage industry now exists which is made up of companies that will carry (as in transport via bus) your luggage from one inn or multi-star hotel to the next, for a fee of course. Nothing says “pilgrimage” like glamping…

Once you arrive at the Cathedral of St. James, you present your stamped “passport” to the official Pilgrims’ Office. This document along with your testimony stating that you completed the Way at least partly for spiritual reasons, will earn you the coveted “Compostela”, or certificate of completion along with aforementioned plenary indulgence AND the opportunity to have your country of origin and starting point of your journey announced at the Pilgrims’ Mass, held every day at Noon in the Cathedral. Our tour guide shared with us that she has completed the Way three times. That’s crazy talk!

Pilgrims fill the enormous square where the Cathedral of St. James sits, every minute of the day and night. We witnessed many come into the Square singing, clapping and cheering. We also witnessed a few doing none of those things and instead, just dropping to the ground in a state of pure exhaustion. It is really a very cool experience to witness. At any given moment, rain or shine, there are hundreds of dirty, smelly people filling the square and they are all as happy as, well, clam shells!  🙂  Once finished with rejoicing, pilgrims stand in line waiting to touch the inside wall of the Cathedral (said wall is actually worn away where millions of hands have touched it over hundreds of years). After touching the wall, they stand in line waiting to enter the Cathedral, walk behind the main altar  and embrace a statue of St. James. Then, descend into the bowels of the Cathedral to view the tomb of St. James.

Jim and I have decided to complete the pilgrimage, hopefully in 2026. Once completed, I plan to have a tattoo of the beautiful scallop shell inked onto my person. Anyone care to join us on the Walk? We will likely leave from Portugal.

  

Some context on the pictures above: (1) clocktower in the forefront of the cathedral (2) a really cool fountain/statue – no idea beyond it just being cool; (3) the Holy Door leading from inside of the Cathedral to the outside. The Door is behind a locked gate, both on the inside and outside of the Cathedral. A locked door behind a locked gate…. Anyway, The Holy Door is only opened when July 25th, the Feast of St. James, falls on a Sunday. This happens with a regular cadence of  5, 6, 11 years, except if Leap Year messes with the calendar. This is big – if you visit the Cathedral, say at least one of 2 specific prayers (too much info to elaborate on which ones although you can call me if you are really interested) and pray for the intentions of the Pope, you get one of the coveted plenary indulgences! The next time the Holy Door will be opened is July 25, 2027. Get those walking shoes on! Picture (4) is Jim and me on Sunday Funday where we spent the afternoon at (5) Pulpo Bar (a Goth bar) after attending Sunday Mass at (6) San Fructuoso Church, built circa 1750.

Botafumeiro

The Botafumeiro is an enormous incense burner. It weighs almost 180 lbs. and is 5′ 2″ in height. The name Botafumeiro literally means “smoke thrower”, which is appropriate because the Botafumeiro hangs from the rafters of the Cathedral and during specially designated Masses overseen by the Archbishop of Santiago, it swings majestically through the nave of the Cathedral enveloping the inside of the Cathedral in billows of incense. Once the incense in the Butafumeiro is lit and smoking, 8 men (known as “tiraboleiros”) dressed in red velvet robes, are put in position to manipulate the Botafumeiro into swinging position. One gentleman manually starts the swinging of the Botafumeiro and the remaining begin pulling on the ropes of the immense, 500 year-old pulley system that will put the Botafumeiro into full swing. Once in full swing, the Botafumeiro will reach speeds of up to 45 mph and heights of 68 feet as it swings across the nave of the enormous Cathedral.

The burning of the incense has a long history in Catholic rituals, even to this day. It evokes feelings of “Wow, this is serious stuff, I better pay attention”. It is a symbol of purification in the Catholic Church and is often used at funeral masses, during Lenten ceremonies and other religious events where the purification of the soul is celebrated. Speaking of purification, there is one theory that the Botafumeiro came to be used to counteract the disagreeable odor of pilgrims who arrived at the Cathedral after the long pilgrimage journey without bathing. I think the same might hold true today based on what I have witnessed in the plaza!

In the Cathedral of St. James, the Botafumeiro is lit on Holy Days or, in the spirit of capitalism, a pilgrim can specifically request the Botafumeiro at a Pilgrimage Mass for 450EU.  Jim and I decided to forego a special viewing in favor of attending Mass on August 15. This is a a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) and a Holy Day worthy of the Botafumeiro. It was in full swing at the start of the Mass and was absolutely beautiful to see; humbling is probably the better word. Jim snuck a few videos of the Botafumeiro being operated, for which he will have to request a plenary indulgence as filming is absolutely forbidden. I will pray for his black heart so that we can spend all of eternity together (Awwww). Hmmm, maybe he committed the sin of videoing to avoid an eternity with me? nah, no es possible!

In all seriousness, the ceremony and the Mass presided over by the Archbishop was really something to behold and we were both struck by the beauty and grandeur of the occasion. If you are planning a trip to Santiago de Compostela and happen to be here when the Botafumeiro will be displayed, arrive at the Cathedral at least 2 hours prior to Mass beginning. The lines wrap around multiple buildings before getting to the main door of the Cathedral.

Here are the links to the two “illegal” videos taken by one, James Patrick Flynn. He will need many plenary indulgences for disobeying the Archbishop. Click on the link for a look at the magnificent Botafumeiro!

Bufemeria Video 2 Bufemiera video 1

Back to Santiago de Compostela, there are so many things to see and do in this amazing city. There is a vibrant Old City, with tapas bars, dozens and dozens of shops, bars, and a huge fresh market open every day. There are large open plazas/squares, 3 or 4 churches, including the Cathedral, a convent church, monastery and a still-active cloister. One of our favorite places to visit has been the Mercado do Abastos, a local farmers’ market on steroids.

Mercado de Abastos

The Mercado de Abastos is the 2nd most visited attraction after St. James Cathedral.  The market is opened every day (except Sunday), and is filled with stalls where vendors sell locally grown produce, freshly baked breads, sweets, a host of local and not local cheeses, local wines, honey, etc. Additionally, there are 8 buildings of stone, each huge and housing butchers, fish mongers hawking a mind-blowing number of fish, shell fish, octopus (a local specialty), chicken and other poultry vendors and a variety of meats and deli delights like I have never seen. It is absolutely DIVINE! There seems to also be an endless supply of empanadas, which is one of my favorite foods in the whole wide world (preceded by pizza, of course!)

You can wander for half the day admiring all of the various foods for sale, take some home and make yourself a delicious Galician meal (like Galician Hake or Galician Chicken, both of which I have cooked up for Jim and me) OR you can purchase the foods and take them to the market food hall, where talented local chefs will cook you a delicious meal using the items you purchased! That’s on the TO DO list for certain.

It is easy to understand why the Mercado de Abastos is the 2nd most visited place in Santiago de Compostela. Once you have been, you will be hard pressed to look at your local grocery store with the same enthusiasm. We have visited the market several times, given it is just a short 1-1/2 mile walk from our flat. We treat it like our pantry – which is a good way to approach food purchasing. In Europe, the enormous, side-by-side, or double door refrigerators do not exist. At best, you have a fridge big enough to hold 2 days of food, a few staples and a tray of ice cubes and a tub of ice cream in the tiny freezer. Not only is this approach more energy efficient, it guarantees you have fresh food in the fridge. The “lost” head of lettuce or runaway zucchini does not exist – there’s no room for poachers in the refrigerator!

Put the market at the top of your to-do list should you make your way to this part of the world.  This picture captures a weary shopper as she makes her way through the many stalls. This large stone edifice has carvings of a cow, baby calves and a number of other market wonders to be found at Mercado de Abastos. The second picture is one aisle of the 2 buildings dedicated to fresh fish. We wondered what happened with all of the fish that did not get bought. No worries! The market supplies every single restaurant in Santiago de Compostela.  Explains why we have not had a bad meal here yet!

 

Parque Alameda

Santiago de Compostela is a city full of green spaces. Think the “Ireland of Spain”. There are beautiful parks and flower gardens throughout the city, peoples’ balconies are filled with brightly colored flower pots and everywhere we look, there are hydrangeas, and I mean EVERYWHERE! I swear, they grow wild here. Being perhaps my favorite flower, I am delighted to see the blue, pink, burgundy, lime and lavender colors of the hydrangea bushes all over the city, highways, etc. If I lived here, I would have a garden filled with hydrangeas.

One of the prettiest parks in the city is located directly across from the main entrance into the Old City. It is Parque Alameda, the perfect place to walk, jog, or ride your bike as there are wide promenades throughout. The Parque is made up of 3 sections, mini-parks, you could say. There is a bandstand and a sports field in the Parque, ponds, flower beds, cafes and statutes all along the beautiful walking paths. The last 2 pictures in this series are views of the Old City and the Cathedral which we took from a vantage point within the Parque Alameda. It was a beautiful, clear day and the views were terrific.

The picture next to the one of Jim, is a picture of a tree growing through the window of one of the restaurants located within the Parque. When building the restaurant, the Planners recognized that the tree had to be preserved and so did the architectural plans for the restaurant. So, they brilliantly planned to but a hold through the window, allowing the tree limb to grow through the window, which they then glazed with some sort of heavy duty plastic-like substance. The tree comes up through the side of the restaurant.

   

As Dúas Marías

One of the more interesting and colorful statues in the Parque is the “As Dúas Marías”, or 2 Marias. These 2 characters were sisters who lived during the time of Franco. Their family was persecuted for going against the Franco regime. The 2 sisters decided to spice life up a bit and legend is they would “park” themselves in the Parque every day around 2pm. They were always dressed in colorful, flamboyant clothing and were considered to be quite eccentric, especially given the “grayness” of the Franco regime. They became local legends and today, they still stand for “resistance and freedom from oppression”, true women’s libbers of their time!

The statue paying homage to the 2 Marias, has them dressed in their “uniform” of brightly colored and flamboyant yellow and pink coats, colorful umbrella and scarves, arm-in-arm. You can just picture them strolling along the Parque thumbing their noses as “convention”.

Take note of the one sister with her hand outstretched and slightly cupped. Rumor has it that she was known to “occasionally reach out and fondly caress the back-ends of the local gentlemen strolling through the Parque, whether they were accompanied by their wives/girlfriends, or not!  You can just feel the irreverence! My kind of girls, those 2 Marias! Check out the outstretched hand!

I took my picture with the Duas standing on the “safe” side of the 2 Marias. Jim was braver and decided to tempt fate. The first picture I captured just before the big GOOSE by Maria #2.  Then Jim got the “goose”  LOL  Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, never trust a woman in a green scarf and pink coat. This color-combo just screams bad juju!

Another interesting statue is of Ramon Maria del Valle-Inclan, a early 20th century novelist, dramatist and political activist. I read a short bio on this guy and found him to be a really interesting character, having fallen in and out of “favor” with the local society hierarchy and the local political party with some regularity. He just couldn’t seem to say or do the right things at the right time. Perhaps I can identify with him? I had to have my picture with him. Jim thinks he resembles John Lennon.  It must be the eyeglasses! I personally like the shoes…

A visit to Padron is next. Before I go, I say, Viva As Dúas Marías!

Fiesta del Pimiento Padron!

There are so many things that I love about the Spanish people. They make great food (tapas, paella, fish stew, grilled polpo, to name a few), they are all about family, they are devoted to their Church and boy, do they love to party! Any excuse will do, too. We stumbled on a big fiesta in the town of Padron. The town is named after the famous and fabulous Galician Padron peppers (or maybe the peppers are named after the town?). Anyway, they are a dish enjoyed throughout this part of Spain. Very simply, you heat a large frying pan with olive oil, throw in the peppers with some tasty sea salt and grill until the peppers start to “pop”. I made some for dinner last night. YUM! is all I can say. The really fun thing about the Padron pepper is they are not hot, unless you find the one in the batch that is and then watch out! It is random so you never know which of your Padron peppers will be a hot Padron! No one seems to know why or what makes the one random pepper in a bunch the hot one but it is fun to watch people eat the peppers and all of the sudden, BAM! the tears start rolling and the cerveza is thrown down the gullet. LOL. I apologize – I have a sick sense of humor.

Anyway, every year, there is the big Fiesta del Pimiento Padron and the entire day is spent celebrating the pepper! There is music, dancing, cerveza, wine, and oh yes, Padron Peppers! Families decorate large floats representative of their love of the pepper and they take this float thing very seriously! Those not in floats line the streets to cheer on their favorite floats and there is Dancin’ in the Streets! Inside the local park, rows of frying pans are set up over charcoal grills and the peppers are grilling. For 7 euros, you get a huge plate of peppers, a few potatoes and the local pan (bread). Muy delicioso! We think. You see, we waited in line for about 30 minutes. We got to the front of the line, right by the grills and the head guy asked for our “billetes”. What??? oh yes, he starts rattling off all of this Spanish, pointing to our hands and then the pans of grilling peppers and somehow we come to figure out we are supposed to have tickets (billetes) to hand over in exchange for a plate of the peppers, potatoes and bread. So, out of the line in search of the billetes. We finally find the ticket booth, with yet another line, and by this time, Himself is not happy at all. I try to get him to dance to the joyful band and lure him with a cerveza but he is having none of my aloha! So, I promise to make the peppers and we head back to Santiago for a cerveza closer to home.

The floats are worth a viewing and you can further see the line of pans grilling the peppers.

             

Tomorrow we will be on the road to visit Fisterra and A Coruna and Hercules Tower. Both of these cities are seaside with their own (we are told) fascinating stories. Peppers tonight and sea food tomorrow; what a bountiful life we lead!

Cape Finisterre and Fisterra

Much of Galicia sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It is very wet and rainy in the winter and the ocean is very, very cold here all year long. I would describe it as rather “wild”.

The part of the world that makes up the northwestern most part of Galicia is the Rias Baixas. The Rias Baixas are a series of 4 estuarial inlets along the rugged Galician coast. Of course, there is no shortage of lovely towns that sit on these coastlines, each of which has a story, something about them that is interesting, particularly beautiful, or both.

Cape Finisterre is a peninsula on the north Rias Baixas estuary inlet. Monte Facho is the “mountain” on Cape Finisterre and is about 800 feet above sea level (not exactly the Dolemites!) and upon it sits a prominent lighthouse that is still in operation. During the time of the Romans, Finisterre was considered to be the end of the world and for many, many years was thought to be the most western point of the Iberian Peninsula (it is now known that this is not true). The coast of Cape Finisterre is known locally as Costa da Morte (the Death Coast). This is not a name that exactly inspires confidence if one is planning to go boating on a given day and for good reason. The coast is rugged with dangerous, jagged and often hidden rocks, making it the site of many shipwrecks through the centuries. These pictures do not come close to capturing the dangerous seas. I assure you that seeing it up front and personal gives you a sense of its danger.

Most of these pictures were taken by Jim as we all know how I feel about mountains and being too close to the edge. I admit to being a bit “edgy” and have often “lived on the edge” in my younger days but only figuratively. I am not a fan of actually being on the edge.

     

The town of Fisterra is close by and has beautiful beaches, framed by very steep cliffs, there is a hearty fishing industry and lovely restaurants where the fresh fish caught here is served. We spent a lovely afternoon lazing away in one of the seaside cafe while munching on Padron peppers and grilled polpo (the local specialty – octopus). This is my kind of coastline; calm, beautiful, sunny and close to the Cathedral, just in case something goes “south”, so to speak!

A Coruña!

We woke up this morning and got the Hades out of “Dodge” (aka, Santiago de Compostela). We pulled out the trusty map, spun it around and around and our pointed fingers landed on A Coruña!

A Coruña is located on the Atlantic Ocean and has a number of “claims to fame”. It is a city of about 250,000 and is pretty dense. Jim and I said over and over that it reminded us of Chicago; in particular, the Chicago Lakefront. Chicago sits on Lake Michigan with a beautiful coastline, tons of beaches, a walking promenade along the Lake, parks, a zoon, tons of high-rise condos along the Lake front and the beautiful Lake Shore Drive, which connects the north and south ends of the City. A Coruña is very similar to Chicago in all of these ways.

The promenade is a fabulous walking trail along the Atlantic. The other remarkable landmark is the Tower of Hercules. This a a lighthouse, one of the oldest and tallest in this part of the world and it is still operational. The paths leading to the Tower are filled with wild flowers, sculptures, hidden beaches and beautiful views all along the way. You can walk to the top of the lighthouse but if you aren’t up for that (it is kind of claustrophobic), you can walk up these pathways to the base of the Tower where the views are spectacular. There is a sundial that is really cool and you can go hang out on it but not sure why – except that it is kind of cool looking.

We spent an afternoon walking through the wild gardens, hiking up to the base of the Tower of Hercules lighthouse and enjoying the spectacular views. It is a large city, crowded and dense. When we had our fill of viewing the beautiful coastline and the gardens, it was time to head back to Santiago. The neighborhood wine bar was calling to us and we owed it a visit as it had been at least 48 hours since we paid attention to it.

Enjoy the view of A Coruña!

          

Lugo

Lugo is a city located about 70 miles from Santiago de Compostela. It is the capital of the Lugo region and sits on the Miño River. It is a fairly large city with about 100,000 inhabitants. Like most of the cities and towns we have seen, Lugo dates back to the very early Roman times and has a rich history of occupiers, all of whom left their “mark” in food, language, architecture and art, as well as the “looks” of its inhabitants.

We wanted to visit this city because it is the only city in the world to be surrounded by a completely intact Roman Wall which reaches a height of about 50 feet and follows along a 2 mile circuit ringed with 71 towers. The walk along the top is continuous round the circuit, and has 10 gates by which to enter the city. The wall was built around 400AD and is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The bridge over the Miño was also built during Roman times although the literature says that years of reconstruction have significantly impacted the “Roman” look. I could not tell the difference as it looks like a really, really old Roman bridge to me!

We were not disappointed that we came to visit Lugo. The Roman Wall is magnificent. It blows your mind to think that you are walking on something built over 1600 years ago! To give you some perspective on these pictures we took, the first one is one of the 10 gates into the city. The 2nd picture is really interesting. You can somewhat see that on either side of the timbers, there are “modern” building walls. The timbers are the skeleton of the framework of a house from the 1700’s. It is in the process of being replaced with a more modern building. It was fascinating to see the “guts” of a building 300+ years old; all wood and miraculously held up walls and a roof overhead! The 3rd picture is taken from the very top of the wall. We walked the circuit of the wall, where the view is pretty terrific. Pictures #4 and 5 are of the wall and the last one is me walking on the pathway atop the wall, trying not to get blown off; the wind was pretty stiff up there.

 

There is also a beautiful Cathedral in Lugo along with a Gothic convent and cloister of St. Francis, both of which were worth the visit. The Cathedral is opulent, as many of them are, and was built around 1100AD, with a few structural and facade updates in the 1700’s. The Cathedral has the distinction of being one of the only churches allowed to have the Blessed Sacrament perpetually exposed for the public to view and honor. This is a really big deal in the Catholic Church and so it was a place I definitely wanted to visit.

The picture shown here is one of a “float” that is used in parades during Holy Week, the week leading up to the death and ultimately, the Resurrection of Jesus. This immense work of art is one of a variety of floats used in the Holy Week processions. It is carved from wood and  contains gold and silver surfaces, with gold flakes in the paint. This particular float represents The Last Supper and just happened to be on display in the Cathedral. It weighs more than a ton! It is hoisted on the shoulders of 20 or more men who carry it through the main streets of the city, to and from the Cathedral. People line the streets to observe the procession, which is made up of many floats, each representing a different event of Holy Week. Every town in Spain and much of Portugal have their own floats that are used during Holy Week.

The men that carry these floats are members of a Catholic brotherhood. They practice very day of the year to get in shape for carrying these enormous floats! I grabbed a picture off the internet of men practicing carrying the float. These are not the guys from Lugo. Just thought you’d be interested in seeing what it looks like underneath the float.

We saw them practicing in Salamanca, Spain when we were there last year. We had no idea what the heck was going on when we saw them running through the streets of Salamanca. Then, we participated in one of the Holy Week processions and witnessed these enormous floats with many feet sticking out from under the float and figured out what it was we saw during the week leading up to the actual processions. In my many years on this earth, I have never seen anything so incredible, so moving and so emotionally consuming.

The convent and remains of the St. Francis cloister have been repurposed and now house a museum with a very cool display of Galician art, which we did not spend a lot of time viewing as it was getting late in the day. We have found in our adventures that many of these very old and now deserted convents are being repurposed into beautiful museums, which preserve the “bones” of the buildings and modernize the interiors for displaying the art, etc.

Speaking of art, our visit happened to coincide with some art on “loan” from Mexico, celebrating El Dia del Muert0s (the Day of the Dead). This holiday is very popular in Mexico and with people of Mexican heritage. It is a Christian holiday and is a heck of a party, held to remember friends and family no longer with us. One of the popular pieces of art that are representative of the holiday are sugar candy skulls, brightly decorated and often telling a fun story about the diseased. These larger than life size skulls are on display in the large plaza in the center of the city. There were a total of 10 on display – these are a few pictures of the skulls, each one telling a story.  The last picture is just a random shot of 2 bronze statues on the main plaza.

It was a beautiful day in Lugo and time well-spent. We both agreed that our next visit to Galicia will include a longer stay in Lugo. The restaurants and wine scene looked to be worthy of a longer stay.

Santo Domingo da Bonaval

This definitely falls under the category of “who knew”. Go for a morning walk, take a turn you normally don’t take and bam! There in the middle of the city is another beautiful park! Santiago de Compostela has lots of green space; part of its many charms. We have spent most of our time exploring the Alameda. Today, we decided to take a different route on our walk and so glad we did. We discovered another popular park in Santiago de Compostela named Santo Domingo da Bonaval Parque. It is a large park filled with huge, mature trees (many of which look like old river birch or eucalyptus trees). On the grounds of the park is the Santo Domingo Church and cloister which is no longer operational as a church or convent. The entire property is now a museum, the Museo do Pobo Galego. The museum was founded in 1977 and since its inception, it has been charged with researching and promoting the history, culture and traditions of Galicia. There are several floors to the museum, each with a number of rooms. Each room is a different theme depicting the history of the area, including architecture, dress of the day, pottery, the seas and trades and music throughout the history, up to more modern times. I am not a “big museum kinda gal” but this was really fun and interesting, offering a chronological insight into the region and its people. We actually spent over an hour in the museum, which is about 55 minutes longer than you will typically find me strolling a museum. It was also pretty cool that they incorporated the church and the cloister into the museum exhibits!

One of the coolest exhibits in the museum is a staircase, a triple helix spiral staircase. You can see from this picture that it runs the height of the museum and visual effect is awesome.

You just never know what you are going to find around the corner!

Tomorrow, we are going to take yet a different path on our morning walk. We heard about Belvis Parque here in Santiago and so we intend to see what it’s all about, Alfie. Bet you are wondering what that’s all about! Anyone recognize “what’s it all about Alfie”?

Just never know what you are going to find with aloha on the move!

xoxoxoxo – until manana, kidz.

Parque de Belvis

Parque de Belvís is another beautiful park located right in the heart of Santiago de Compostela. At one time, the park was the grounds of a stately mansion. It was eventually acquired by Santiago de Compostela and turned into an urban oasis of gardens, sculptures, fountains, ponds and a host of walking trails and other delights. We were told that Spring is the best time of year to visit the park. The hundreds of rose bushes planted are in full bloom and the park is lit up with bees, color and the beautiful smell of roses.

Like many things in the beautiful country of Spain, there is a legend associated with the park. There is an enchanted fountain in the park which according to local legend, a beautiful princess enchanted by an evil spell is confined to the fountain. I am not sure what this princess did that was so egregious as to warrant a lifetime of imprisonment in stone, constantly being “rained upon” by water, pigeons and the like. Perhaps she got sideways with the As Dúas Marías!

I digress…just for a bit

If you have been to Europe or the UK, you have probably noticed that doorknobs are often in the middle of the door. Ever wondered why? Well, yours truly has been fascinated with my wanting to understand why in the middle of the door. I have read articles that claim it is just a quirkiness thing. Other articles claim it to be a matter of security and still others opine that it is aesthetics that drives the tendency to install the door know in the center of the door. Whatever the reason, it is maddening. I have been here for almost 4 months now and I still reach for the door knob on the far side of the door, where the lock sits. It is like driving on the “wrong” side of the road and the “wrong” side of the car.  Why, I ask you?? Well, I do not have an answer. But, when we get home, we are installing this on our door….

We spent an afternoon strolling through the local premium outlet mall and saw some of the coolest art work I’ve yet to see in a mall. The mall is in a huge building with “glass” roof letting in tons of light. From the rafters, there hang “noodles” (the kind you use to float on in a pool), watering cans, funnels and a few other fun items. here are pictures of the noodles, funnels and watering cans. It is a really nice effect although Himself advises we will not be installing noodles, funnels or watering cans from our ceiling at home. He is such a buzz kill, that Jimmy Flynn. I am definitely holding out for the doorknob in the middle of the door!

Cidade da Cultura

The “City of Culture” is an enormous complex of buildings meant to be a center of culture, art center and music center. construction started in 2003 and in 2013, the city called a stop to the construction which had exceeded budget by millions of dollars and was still not done. Needless to say, it is not particularly popular with the taxpayers of Galicia.

The design of the buildings is meant to have them resemble rolling hills. We read that every window, of which there are thousands (!) meant to make the buildings look like rolling hills. Nearly every window of the thousands that are part of the external façade has its own custom has its own custom shape and there are no right angles anywhere in the buildings. Sounds like a rather unnecessarily complex design. However, it does look pretty cool from the outside. We went to visit the monument to taxpayer-lynching on a Saturday afternoon. There was an art exhibit showing of several modern-day women artists which we wanted to see and admittedly, we were very curious about this complex of buildings which can be seen from almost any point of the city and beyond. We were 2 of 10 people in the entire complex! And it was free admission!

The exhibit was very interesting as was the wonderous and monstrous complex. It was really sad to see the parking lot completely empty. I am guessing it is the next “repurposing” project in the making.

We are approaching our final days in Spain. We plan on visiting the Sil Canyon this week, celebrate a birthday and pack before heading out of town on Saturday morning. On our way to Portugal, we will take the scenic route and visit the Ezaro river, the dam and one of the few rivers in Europe that end in a waterfall into the Atlantic Ocean. Stay tuned for the final chapter in Aloha Spain!

Sil Canyon

 

   

 

There is a beautiful beach at the point the river dumps into the Atlantic but it was too cold to even consider walking all the way down to the beach. Thankfully, Jim took more good pictures.