Santiago de Compostela
- Brooklynn Cooper
- May 1, 2018
- 5 min read
A month later but here I am! My next stop over spring break was Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia, one of the autonomous regions of Spain. A fun fact about Galicia is that they also speak another language in addition to Spanish: Galego. The reason I wanted to visit was because last semester at UNC I took an introductory Galego class and wanted to be able to practice a little. The plan wasn't very practical because I forgot a lot of what I learned, and the language is very similar to Spanish, kind of like a mix between Spanish and Portuguese, so I didn't speak it at all while I was there. However, I was able to recognize a lot of vocabulary while listening to other people! I didn't hear anyone actually speaking pure Galego, it was always a mix of Galego and Spanish.
Unknowingly I picked a great time to visit Santiago because it was during the pilgrimage to the city, which I knew nothing about before I got there. Once every few years pilgrims travel from all around the world specifically to Santiago because it's where James the disciple is buried. "Santiago" is actually" James" Latin. If you're like me, the word "pilgrim" might provoke images of people with big hats and old-fashioned clothes, but today the people that travel to the city are modern-day pilgrims--they wear hiking clothes, carry backpacks and their walking sticks are usually for hiking as well. There are five different caminos, or routes, to the Santiago, and they all meet in the center of the city in front of the Cathedral of Santiago.
I only spent one day in the city, but I woke up around 7 a.m., so I had an full day to explore. Usually the first thing I do in a new place is take a walking tour or bus tour so I can see what's most interesting, but in Santiago the tour was especially helpful because that's where I learned about the history of the pilgrimage. For those who are interested, I would definitely suggest reading up on the history because it's so rich. Honestly I don't remember everything I learned because there was so much to absorb (and also due to the fact that I took a month to post this! Thanks #FinalsSzn) but in the galleries I'll try to put at least one fact in each caption as usual.
This was my view that morning walking to the historic part of town. Santiago de Compostela is sectioned off between the old and modern part of town. There's legislation protecting the old town from corporations such as McDonald's and Starbucks, so all the shops and restaurants there are locally-owned. Consequently, my hostel was in the modern part of town.
I ate breakfast at Blu Café, one of the small restaurants in the old town. It was the first time I had scrambled eggs here that weren't my own! When I saw them on the menu, I had to try them, and they were actually pretty good. I also had salmon, toast with cream cheese and orange juice.
This is what all the streets look like in old town. Walking through the historic district, I really felt like I'd been transported back in time. The cars on some streets ruined the illusion, and they startled me sometimes because none of the streets look like "normal" paved ones, and then all of a sudden a car would be behind me. I'm sure people who live there are used to that, but I didn't have enough time to really adjust.
The steeple in the background belongs to the Cathedral of Santiago. The arches on either side of the street under the buildings were constructed for functionality, although they also look cool. It rains in Galicia as much as it does in Pamplona, so when the old town was built, the arches were made so people didn't have to carry anything to cover themselves while walking the the streets. Also, if you stand under the arches and look up, you'll see a little square-shaped hole that served as a peephole because the dwelling places all started on the second floor while the bottom of the buildings were all shops/restaurants.
After the tour, I went to the Museum of the Pilgrimage to learn more about the pilgrimage. It's the cheapest museum I've been to so far. Normal entry is 2 euros, and with my student card I paid about 1.20! In the basement was a seasonal exhibit of paintings of the city, and on the upper levels were historical artifacts and works of art that stay on display year round. The museum was 4 stories, so I saw a LOT of stuff. These are just a few things I decided to take pictures of.
During the walking tour, our guide showed us the market of old town, which was still set up like in historic times. There were a few different sides--one for meat, one for seafood, and one for handmade goods. Off on the side there were a handful of restaurants, and one that cooked meat and seafood if you bought it fresh from the market. I ate at a restaurant in the market called A Moada: Tradición because our guide told us it was the best place to get octopus, which is what all of Galicia is famous for.
There was also cheese, and I don't know what was in the sauce they made, but it was easily one of the best things I've tasted since being in Spain. It was super busy because all the restaurants in the market were really just one counter with a maybe 10 or so barstools. In this particular restaurant there were about four people working, and I don't know how they did it, but they kept the place moving.
Camellias are the flower of Galicia, and there was an exposition near the cathedral with dresses, suits, scarves inspired by the flowers. They didn't have anything for sale, but I really wish they did because the scarves were beautiful. I also loved the dresses and hats because they reminded me of church ladies.
After walking through the exhibit, I went to a pastry shop called Mercedes Mora for dessert. I don't know exactly what I ordered because I just picked something that looked good through the glass, but to drink I had a gingerbread latte. They were both delicious. I almost ordered a second latte but I didn't want to overdose on sugar.
After dessert I went inside the cathedral. I had already been inside earlier to look around, but I went in again because I wanted to see where the remains of James were. The first time I went there was a huge line, and I was too hungry to wait. So I waited in line for about 20 minutes and after getting to the front I realized that I had not been waiting to see James' remains, but go inside the chamber behind the pulpit, which you're about to see from the congregation's view below. Afterwards I found the line to see James' tomb, which I waited in for maybe 30 seconds.
I ate dinner at Central Restaurante in old town. I actually ordered another octopus dish but what came out had zero octopus in it. I still liked it though because by that time it was raining and pretty chilly out, and what I ate was kind of like a stew, so it was perfect for the weather.
This is a mural I saw while walking back to my hostel. The next day I left for my next stop, Vigo, a city on the coast of Galicia!
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