Wednesday 10.27.2010



Santiago de Compostela


There is something unique about all of the cities we have visited and we tend to concentrate on those things that define their personality. In reality most of these places are real live towns and probably much larger than we let on. Arles and Carcassonne are both in the 50,000 range, San Sebastian is over 200,000 and Santiago is almost 100,000. The big deal here though is the devotion of the pilgrims, the Cathedral and the other religious facilities designed to welcome them.

We have another sunny day when we venture forth this morning. Our hotel, the Costa Vella, is attached to the old town wall and we have a nice room with a sitting area overlooking the courtyard garden, the convent and hillside beyond. It is about a ten-minute walk over the old cobblestone streets to the Cathedral and square.


Workers are busy this morning with the construction of a large covered stage and grandstand area for the visit of the Pope on November 6th. This is obviously a big deal in a town bubbling over with religious zeal. When the feast day of St. James falls on a Sunday it is deemed to be a “Holy Year” and there are special events and considerations that occur during the year. 2010 is a Holy Year and the Pope’s visit is the culmination of the yearlong event. Because of leap years the next Holy Year will not be for another decade.


There are a few pilgrims milling around but not much else going on so we hike across town to the market. This one has a strong fish representation with the Atlantic coast about 80 miles away and we see a lot of octopi (whole), lobsters, crabs, cockles, barnacles and a vast array of fish-like creatures. Again, the pig is a big deal and in addition to the hams we see ears, feet, snouts and various combinations of body parts.


John is starving and we finally find a little shop selling cookies and some other sweets where he opts for some chocolate pastry thing that stems the tide. We walk for a while and then return to the Cathedral for the noon mass. This takes place every day to welcome the pilgrims who have arrived in the last 24 hours and the Cathedral (which is huge) is packed. There are six priests in attendance (one American) to preside and all are probably beside themselves thinking about the upcoming Papal visit.

After mass we remain in the church to poke around all the nooks and crannies with artwork and carvings everywhere. There are several large carvings of St. James on the altar as the Apostle, the Pilgrim and the Slayer of the Moors. The last representation is not endearing to the Muslim population around the world and security is tight as the authorities fear this is a possible terrorist target. When we leave the Cathedral there are a dozen official looking types coming out of a building across the square, some in uniform, who we think are there to tidy up security plans for the Pope. When you consider the St. James legend combined with the Papal visit, this would seem to be an area that would need a great deal of security next week.


There are tour groups everywhere, costumed pilgrims, bagpipe players, guitar pickers, young twenty-somethings laying on the square trying to find themselves, beggars with their cups in front of them and us. It is now almost 2:00 so we go back to our hotel for lunch where the pickins’ are slim. John has the ever popular ham and cheese sandwich and Mary gets the cheese plate with a basket of bread and we both have big coffees. We are in the courtyard, the day is warming up, so everything is ok.

After a break Mary goes out to explore shops around town, while John plugs away on the computer and eventually ventures out to make a dinner reservation for tonight. We get an 8:00 reservation at Bierzo Enxebre and score a nice table near the window. We are in the Galatian Region of Spain and, yes, they too have their own traditional language, hence the name of the restaurant. We repeat last night’s concept and have a bleu cheese-apple-walnut-tomato salad that is very good, pork empanadas and a pork platter that comes with fries and more salad. Bueno!

We go for a walk after dinner and there are some musicians in the square. We watch an energetic string octet for a while and just look at the lit Cathedral against the black night sky. Very nice.


Back on the road tomorrow so home to bed.

Today’s weather: Sunny and cool. Low 40, high 65.