Santiago de Compostela

A big hello to our blog fans from Santiago de Compostela, capital city of the Galician region and named after St James the Apostle - Santiago is Spanish for James and Compostela is derived from the Latin for 'star'.  The story goes that the town acquired it's name when a religious hermit found Santiago's tomb in 814AD by following a guided star.  Santiago preached in Galicia and died whilst in Palestine, being returned home by stone boat and buried in the Cathedral - where we visited his tomb.

Thereafter, King Alfonso II of neighbouring Asturias had a church erected over the apostle's remains and the pilgrimage started then and continues today - some 150,000 pilgrims and countless thousands of tourists visit Santiago de Compostela each year.  In 11thC Santiago achieved Archbishop status and further churches were added to the original cathedral.

Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, in background

A slightly closer shot

We wandered the cold & damp Medieval streets (Galicia receives twice the national average in rainfall and they have nearly 100 words for different types of rain) and it reminded us a bit of Dickensian Canterbury.  Saying that, we've been pretty lucky with the weather - only one rainy period overnight.  Locals say there are two seasons: summer (3 months) and a watery winter!

You could easily get lost here as many of the tiny streets look the same to the unfamiliar eye.  At this relatively late time of year there are still many pilgrims/walkers reaching the end point of their journey.   There are six routes all starting at different points in Spain, Portugal, France and UK.  In fact, we met a Scotsman who had completed 5 of the routes. Unwittingly, from Paris onwards we have followed parts of each of the caminos (paths) by boat, train, foot, car and coach. 

We have mixed feelings about the pilgrim story: Mick thinks it's really interesting - not least as our journey has pretty much tracked the routes.  Plus he's done a few walking holidays before and decided to visit the Pilgrims Museum to find out more.  For me, I don't really buy into the pilgrim thing as it has become a tourist attraction - for many it is a walking adventure - for others they really do walk the path of St James.  Naturally, there is a huge tourist industry built around the camino and its various symbols (scallop shells, jet stone - to ward of evil spirits - staffs/walking sticks, gourds, hats, cafes/restaurants selling pilgrims menus) but, for me, our time here has been about the Cathedral.  There is definitely something special about the place even though it is filled with tourists much of the time (even during Mass).  Maybe it's strong feeling of goodwill and the priests going about their business of teaching and making sense of the world through the teachings of the bible - or something more profound and spiritual.  It certainly had a profound effect on me and other friends I've met along the way. 

Sunday 27 October 
On Sunday we arrived just in time for High Mass - we hadn't planned to stay but it was so moving: sung and spoken (in Spanish) - the priest had an amazing operatic voice.  At the end of Mass the priests swung the botafumeiro (the incense carrier) - 100kg of silver plating filled with coal & incense swinging overhead, reaching speeds of 68kmph and an 82 degree angle (stats from Lonely Planet).  Traditionally it was swung to kill the smell of well-travelled pilgrims.  Today it is swung on certain feast days and when a group of pilgrims pays euros 300!  To date, it has fallen only twice - a comforting thought!

The enormous botafumeiro swinging overhead

Galicia is also known for amazing seafood, some of which we've sampled: gambas a la plancha (grilled prawns with lemon juice - really sweet!); mejillones (huge, juicy steamed mussels with lemon juice; pulpo gallego (octopus with olive oil, salt and paprika); sopa de mariscos (shellfish soup); caldo (a delicious Galician soup of cabbage, beans, ham & potato); lots of delicious Galician white wine (albarinho and ribeiro) and their local beer - Estrella Galicia.  We've also had another artisan churros con chocolate - home made and without flour to thicken the chocolate - lush!

A few Galician seafood delights!

So, that's the end of stay in Santiago - we've been here for a week during which we'd planned to visit a few nearby towns but I've been pretty unwell (needed antibiotics which, for those of you that know me, is a rarity!) and so we've only managed one day trip to A Coruna which I'll update you about in a separate post.  Feeling better now though and we're off to Madrid tomorrow for a month - and, hopefully, some sun!  Hasta pronto!