Santiago de Compostela: Adventure #1
Let's see if I can possibly make a loooong story short.
My fellow companions (5 at the time, 1 more came later on a different bus) joined me in a little celebration and conversation before our departure. I felt it fitting to get a bottle of Cava, which is Spanish sparkling wine, to kick off our first real journey during our semester abroad. Not bad for 3 euros at the grocery store.
Bus was late on Thursday night. We ended up leaving around 2 am from Bilbao, to arrive in Santiago sometime in the early afternoon (I can't remember when). We obtained a map (or 6), and found our way to the city center, by the church, towards the tourist office. Kinda funny that the tourist office was completely empty--not just on siesta, but without offices or employees. So, we managed to find a couple "hospedajes," which I believe are just the Galician word for hostel, and a good one for 14 euros a piece per night. Very close to the Cathedral and in the heart of the city; not a bad choice at all. We dropped the stuff off, ate at a local restaurant, and went off to explore. I had pulpo, one of the main delicacies in the region (octopus), and it was quite good, especially with some local bread and a glass of the local white wine, albarino.
The Cathedral is brilliant. The whole area is teeming with people and history. I can't quite describe how it feels to walk in the footsteps of pilgrims for centuries past, to place your hand on the mark, to pray on the golden shell on which so many others do the same, to attend mass and witness the swinging of the giant incense holder in the company of pilgrims from all over the world. Quite the experience, and I'll leave it for you to imagine.
Friday night, we began the night with some cards and a couple bottles of the wonderful wine of the region, then decided to venture out to explore the city at night. We ran into 4 people at the bottom of the hostel stairs, one women speaking Spanish to us and the rest with thick Central/Eastern European accents in English. The woman told us that they had reservations to stay here for the night but that she could not get in touch with the owner, who did not live in the city. We managed to call him, and he directed us down the street to this apartment building in which a woman was supposed to help us. We finally buzzed the right number, and she told us to find this street where the OTHER hostel that he owned would be situated. On the way over, we found out that they were Czech tourists who had missed their flight. Nice people, and we were glad to help them. Helping each others' Spanish, we were able to get them situated in their residence, and we walked away very happy. Onward ho, we spent the rest of the night havin a blast at multiple sittings, trying a few raciones (tapas in Galicia, evidently), including some awesome mussels, and just generally having a great time together.
Saturday morning, mass in the Cathedral at 12. The pilgrim mass. Definitely crowded; people packed in behind all the pews on available three sides of the cruciform church. It was quite an experience during communion. People were jumping out of the aisles in fear that they would be able to partake, but at the same time there were a suprisingly large number of people remaining in the pews and not partaking in the Eucharist. It was a puzzling mix of pilgrims in the church. But, at the end of Mass, everyone started getting excited, actually with the noise level rising. I didn't quite know what it was, but I saw people moving toward the front of the church, and I looked up and saw the huge botafumeiro (incense burner) that multiple priests were preparing to swing back and forth. So, they light the incense, form a huge cloud of smoke, and hoist it up higher and begin to swing. It almost hits the ceiling on both sides. Incredible event.
Saturday afternoon: interesting period. We went to an open-air market after Mass, and they sold local fruits, vegetables, meats, and SEAFOOD. We partook in some cheap local grilled peppers and wine, some churros (fried-doughey substance), and continued exploring the city. We decided to have a picnic for lunch with a bunch of bread, meat, and cheese, and found a place to chill and consume. However, midway thru our meal, we were confronted with a HORRIBLY drunk man, whose face had caked on blood. He kept mumbling things and reaching for our food, so we gave him some and told him to leave. We tried everything, but he kept being persistent. Finally, when he sat down on our bench, we thought it was probably past time to leave. It was a tough situation, and I felt bad because I was the one who gave him some food to try to placate him to leave. We had a little scare, for a minute, tho. We had purchased a regular, small, serrated knife to cut our bread and cheese. As soon as my friend, Alex, told me to get the knife, he had put his hand on it. As I quickly pulled it away, he cut himself on it. Well, we were happy to get away from that, tho we had to throw away our knife and some of our cheese, which he had touched with his bloody paws.
After finishing our lunch, we went to the pilgrims' museum and then to a "digitial galicia" museum in which we could experience the city and the region digitally. Interesting, somewhat.
Dinner later, coffee at another place, and then we randomly wandered into this park to look at an art exhibit that was displayed. Interestingly enough, it was a knowledge thing financed by some company to decrease ignorance about world events, mainly violence and war. Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Darfur, the Congo, Sarahan conflicts, and others were illustrated through photos. Very moving.
After an hour there, we went back to the hostel to drop some people off while others went out. Fun night. Still love dancing in discos over here; very nice, usually, and it's different when the whole crowd gets really into dancing. We stayed out till 5, but I definitely could've stayed longer--usually I would've been ready for bed much earlier.
Bus ride back was pretty bad--could've been worse, but it was damn long. 12 hours is a long time to be on a bus. We were all a bit delirious, as well, and some of the places we stopped for breaks weren't the best. Oh well; all in an adventure.
Our first Spanish trip went as well as we could've hoped. Lot of fun, lot of laughter, lot of culture. Great people and great times makes for a great experience, and everything along the way is just chalked up to that. Bumps in the road, for sure (plenty on those damn buses), but what's a good trip without stuff like that?
Madrid and Toledo this weekend with the whole CIDE group. Should be an amazing time. We're definitely gonna have a LOT of fun. Hasta pronto--
AMDG,
Antonio
My fellow companions (5 at the time, 1 more came later on a different bus) joined me in a little celebration and conversation before our departure. I felt it fitting to get a bottle of Cava, which is Spanish sparkling wine, to kick off our first real journey during our semester abroad. Not bad for 3 euros at the grocery store.
Bus was late on Thursday night. We ended up leaving around 2 am from Bilbao, to arrive in Santiago sometime in the early afternoon (I can't remember when). We obtained a map (or 6), and found our way to the city center, by the church, towards the tourist office. Kinda funny that the tourist office was completely empty--not just on siesta, but without offices or employees. So, we managed to find a couple "hospedajes," which I believe are just the Galician word for hostel, and a good one for 14 euros a piece per night. Very close to the Cathedral and in the heart of the city; not a bad choice at all. We dropped the stuff off, ate at a local restaurant, and went off to explore. I had pulpo, one of the main delicacies in the region (octopus), and it was quite good, especially with some local bread and a glass of the local white wine, albarino.
The Cathedral is brilliant. The whole area is teeming with people and history. I can't quite describe how it feels to walk in the footsteps of pilgrims for centuries past, to place your hand on the mark, to pray on the golden shell on which so many others do the same, to attend mass and witness the swinging of the giant incense holder in the company of pilgrims from all over the world. Quite the experience, and I'll leave it for you to imagine.
Friday night, we began the night with some cards and a couple bottles of the wonderful wine of the region, then decided to venture out to explore the city at night. We ran into 4 people at the bottom of the hostel stairs, one women speaking Spanish to us and the rest with thick Central/Eastern European accents in English. The woman told us that they had reservations to stay here for the night but that she could not get in touch with the owner, who did not live in the city. We managed to call him, and he directed us down the street to this apartment building in which a woman was supposed to help us. We finally buzzed the right number, and she told us to find this street where the OTHER hostel that he owned would be situated. On the way over, we found out that they were Czech tourists who had missed their flight. Nice people, and we were glad to help them. Helping each others' Spanish, we were able to get them situated in their residence, and we walked away very happy. Onward ho, we spent the rest of the night havin a blast at multiple sittings, trying a few raciones (tapas in Galicia, evidently), including some awesome mussels, and just generally having a great time together.
Saturday morning, mass in the Cathedral at 12. The pilgrim mass. Definitely crowded; people packed in behind all the pews on available three sides of the cruciform church. It was quite an experience during communion. People were jumping out of the aisles in fear that they would be able to partake, but at the same time there were a suprisingly large number of people remaining in the pews and not partaking in the Eucharist. It was a puzzling mix of pilgrims in the church. But, at the end of Mass, everyone started getting excited, actually with the noise level rising. I didn't quite know what it was, but I saw people moving toward the front of the church, and I looked up and saw the huge botafumeiro (incense burner) that multiple priests were preparing to swing back and forth. So, they light the incense, form a huge cloud of smoke, and hoist it up higher and begin to swing. It almost hits the ceiling on both sides. Incredible event.
Saturday afternoon: interesting period. We went to an open-air market after Mass, and they sold local fruits, vegetables, meats, and SEAFOOD. We partook in some cheap local grilled peppers and wine, some churros (fried-doughey substance), and continued exploring the city. We decided to have a picnic for lunch with a bunch of bread, meat, and cheese, and found a place to chill and consume. However, midway thru our meal, we were confronted with a HORRIBLY drunk man, whose face had caked on blood. He kept mumbling things and reaching for our food, so we gave him some and told him to leave. We tried everything, but he kept being persistent. Finally, when he sat down on our bench, we thought it was probably past time to leave. It was a tough situation, and I felt bad because I was the one who gave him some food to try to placate him to leave. We had a little scare, for a minute, tho. We had purchased a regular, small, serrated knife to cut our bread and cheese. As soon as my friend, Alex, told me to get the knife, he had put his hand on it. As I quickly pulled it away, he cut himself on it. Well, we were happy to get away from that, tho we had to throw away our knife and some of our cheese, which he had touched with his bloody paws.
After finishing our lunch, we went to the pilgrims' museum and then to a "digitial galicia" museum in which we could experience the city and the region digitally. Interesting, somewhat.
Dinner later, coffee at another place, and then we randomly wandered into this park to look at an art exhibit that was displayed. Interestingly enough, it was a knowledge thing financed by some company to decrease ignorance about world events, mainly violence and war. Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Darfur, the Congo, Sarahan conflicts, and others were illustrated through photos. Very moving.
After an hour there, we went back to the hostel to drop some people off while others went out. Fun night. Still love dancing in discos over here; very nice, usually, and it's different when the whole crowd gets really into dancing. We stayed out till 5, but I definitely could've stayed longer--usually I would've been ready for bed much earlier.
Bus ride back was pretty bad--could've been worse, but it was damn long. 12 hours is a long time to be on a bus. We were all a bit delirious, as well, and some of the places we stopped for breaks weren't the best. Oh well; all in an adventure.
Our first Spanish trip went as well as we could've hoped. Lot of fun, lot of laughter, lot of culture. Great people and great times makes for a great experience, and everything along the way is just chalked up to that. Bumps in the road, for sure (plenty on those damn buses), but what's a good trip without stuff like that?
Madrid and Toledo this weekend with the whole CIDE group. Should be an amazing time. We're definitely gonna have a LOT of fun. Hasta pronto--
AMDG,
Antonio
posted by Anthony Damelio at 5:52 PM
1 Comments:
one time in 2nd year spanish, mrs barrett told us about toledo. sounds hottt.
ps it seems as though you spend a lot less money on food than i do. therefore, you should buy me a ticket to bilbao next weekend. sound cool?
Post a Comment
<< Home