Spain one: Santiago de Compostela

25/7/13

Before beginning...I have photos of Santiago on my iPhone, and getting them onto the blog is just too hard given the primitive nature of the wifi. So the pictures here are of the beaches, not the town or the food.

On the 22nd we arrived in Santiago de Compostela, an ancient city famous for being the destination on the famous pilgrim trail. The region, Galicia, was settled by the celts in ancient times. The Celtic influence can be seen everywhere including the architecture, language, knot-work designs, wine (traditionally drunk from the barrel in earthenware bowls), and the people generally. They are decidedly fairer on the whole than their fellow countrymen from the south. It is cooler here as well...I had to buy a doona...and the weather has been cloudy. Santiago has been in a thick pea soup fog at times. The seafood here is supposed to be the best in the world. They haven't been to mooloolaba obviously, but the stuff is varied and plentiful to be sure. There are creatures I have never seen before being consumed in bucket loads. Barnacles and razor clams...shell fish that look like intestinal parasites in a long cigar shaped shell, prawns, fish, and of course big fat octopus (pulpo) are what make the place famous. The pulperias are pulpo restaurants and are ubiquitous. Sorting the hay from the chaff took some local knowledge, but by that time, I was so over pulpo, it wasn't funny. Even tony has had enough of it. ( But not squids). I feel sorry for the poor creatures draped over bowls in the windows of restaurants in the old town. On our first night, we arrived at the camp ground starving and weary after driving all day from Portugal. We were told the old city...where all the action is...was a 2 km walk from the campground. 5 km later and starving, we arrived in the main square in front of the magnificent cathedral to find it crowded with people and about to be lit up with fireworks. It was day one of the yearly festival of st. James. Another bloody feast!

We wandered into the restaurant street...a narrow little street packed with people and restaurants...including pulperias. We went into the first one before even looking further on as it was11 pm and we hadn't eaten since lunch time. Needless to say it was absolute garbage and I won't even bother to elaborate. We got wiser.

The next day we decided to explore the coast around Santiago. We found some gorgeous beaches and quiet little fishing villages. The sun even came out for us. The water was devine. We ended up at finnesterra...at point at the far west of the peninsular where the sun was setting and we watched from the craggy cliff tops. We drove the hour and a half back to Santiago and decided to stay another night and enjoy the festival. We went out and had a meal at a busy tapas bar with fantastic seafood and wine. We stood huddled at the bar to eat and it was worth standing. The chiperones...tiny battered deep fried squid was mind blowing and the garlic scallops in shells with prawns was out of this world. Another regional dish we can't get enough of is the garlic mushrooms in olive oil cooked and served in an earthenware dish and brought to the table sizzling. We started talking to a couple who were almost as bad with english as we are at spanish, but we miraculously were able to communicate quite well. We had been drinking the regional wine, Albariño, who our soon to be new friends told us they reserved for the tourists! They introduced us to the Godello...and we were instant converts. We sent suzy and daph home in a taxi, and after consuming a bellyful of the stuff we proceeded to be lead by our friends to a bar the locals go to. The rest is history.

The following day was the day daphne was leaving for Barcelona. I was feeling sad to say goodbye to her again. Even sadder for Suzy who was going to be left alone with us. Her original flight was at 2.30, but there was a mix up with time zones coming out of portugal...long story...and she missed her flight. She was able to book another one for ten pm...ka-ching. At 8.30 we left for the airport. At the campground, the police helicopter was circling overhead and the sound of sirens rang out from all over the city. We were up high on the hill so we could hear the festival and loud noises in the city. I didn't think anything of it as it was the big day for the festival and a lot was happening. We dropped Daphne off at the airport one last time and headed back for the campground with heavy hearts. We talked about treating ourselves to a "comfort sandwich" ...something nice to ease the pain of saying goodbye. We decided to head back into town to have a meal and watch the pyrotechnic show at the famous cathedral at 1130. It was very busy, people everywhere, and we noticed a crowd huddled outside a bar peering in at the television. The was footage of a train crash on the screen. On closer inspection it was evident the crash was in Santiago and it was a big one. We settled ourselves in another crowded bar and watched the news on the flat screen. The tragedy unfolded and the town was in shock. I will never forget sitting in that bar, missing Daphne, watching the sadness, listening to Dire Straits and wishing I was home.

We have moved on up the coast to chill out for a while...get away from cities. We are at a beautiful beach near Cediera in the north west called Praia de Pantin. Tony just had his first surf of the trip. It's so bloody cold in the water...there is no way I'm going in!

We will wild camp here tonight. Someone just told us there is a festival on in the town. 😳