Day 3 - Santiago de Compostela

For our third day we headed to Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is the capital of the Province of Galicia the most northwestern province of Spain. The city and its cathedral are most famous for the being the final destination of a pilgrimage called the Camino de Santigo, or The Way of Saint James.

First and foremost we had to see what all the hub bub was about. So we entered into the cathedral and got a view of ol' James himself, (or at least where he is reputed to be buried). And yes, this is James the apostle of Jesus. The burial site is beneath the main altar in front of the church.

We noticed a line going up and into the altar (see previous picture) so we hopped in to see where it went. It ended up going up and behind the figure of St. James (found in the middle of the altar). Once inside this large gold contraption, it was very clear that pictures were not allowed. I saw a few ladies kissing the back of the figure's golden head but we were not really into that sort of thing. In fact we felt kind of awkward because we did not know what to do once we were inside. I decided on a nice tap on the shoulder and then we were on our way back out the other side. Before exiting I looked back to see the man behind me giving the statue a full on embrace.

We didn't get to see this contraption in action but this gigantic Botafumeiro as they call it is probably the most famous censer in the world. It is filled with burning coals and incense and is swung back and forth at speeds up to 60 km/hr. or 37 mph producing large volumes of smoke along the way.

We were surprised to see such graphic depictions of a certain Spanish legend in the cathedral. The story is that Saint James came back to life to help Spain against the Moors in the Battle of Clavijo in 844. Apparently he came looking a lot like a pirate on a white horse with a white banner and killed a whole lot of Moors, hence the name Matamoros.

After we had fully explored the interior we began our trek around the exterior of the church.

The rain started to come down a little.

And then it came down a lot. We took cover under a small patio with all the other tourists.

When the rained calmed down we checked out some of the other beautiful buildings in the city.

In Sarah's research about the city she found that there is a tour that you can go on that takes you to the rooftop of the cathedral. We finally found the small door to the entrance of the place and signed up for the next time slot. It was a little expensive but we had a hunch that it was going to be good.

Not only was it good it was probably my favorite moment of the whole trip. Normally groups would be 25 people or more but our tour was only 6. Our guide was funny and very easy going so we all had a great time hanging out on top of the cathedral.

Without fail there is always some sort of restoration going on.

Below this cross is where they would burn the clothes and other belonging of people who had died of the plague. Probably stemming from this is the practice that those who complete the Camino de Santiago burn the clothes that they wore after they are finished.

Notice how gigantic the chimney is on the left. It was once a sign of wealth in the city. A big chimney meant that you had a big kitchen and that you and your family ate well.

This was our last day with Alyssa before she took off on a plane to Ireland early the next day.

On the roof looking at the back of the facade.

On the ground looking up at the facade.

Just down the road we found some nice open park area and a school on a hill.

The weather really cleared up!

Then we came back around and got a nice far away view of the cathedral.

I leave you with one of my favorite shots of (once again) the cathedral. You can see a couple pilgrims resting on the steps.

Next up....more good weather and La Coruña!

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Day 1 + 2 - Salamanca

In a high school Spanish class, Sarah was given an assignment to do a report on a city in Spain. After telling Señora Rainbow that she wasn't sure what city to choose, the teacher promptly responded, "You should do Salamanca."

What made this stop even more exciting for us was that we were connected with a friend of a friend who was living in the city as a missionary. We decided to take advantage of the cheap lodging and stay 2 nights while taking our time with the beautiful city.

Looking down the old Roman bridge towards the city.

The clouds and lighting helped us get some nice picture.

We also found this city very tranquil and lacking the busyness that Sevilla tends to have.

Nice view of the Old and New Cathedrals.

Another great photo by Alyssa

Tranquil setting within the city

Convento de San Esteban

Inside the Cathedral

ICE CREAM!!

ASTRONAUT?!?!
(added in 1992 during restoration work to represent the 20th century)
During one of the short periods of rain we ran across this little gem in the middle of a plaza.
Sarah played a game with kitties and puppies and I played Street Fighter.
The 3D is pretty dang cool.

Sarah makes me pose once in awhile.

We found Plaza Mayor in the heart of the city. There was a whole lot going on.
A book fair, a concert, and a wedding. We found a pretty decent Mexican food place nearby to eat some tacos and burritos. Almost....but not quite the same.

Sarah tried to snap some shots of the couple as they were being blasted by confetti and rice.

We talked with this guy to find out how to get in the tower.
Unfortunately it has been closed for years.

The church of La Clerica, next door to La Casa de las Conchas (shells).

Salamanca is most famous for its university. It was founded in 1218 and is the oldest and most important in Spain. Christopher Columbus lectured there on his discoveries. Hernán Cortés took classes there (but didn't finish). Today there are about 36,000 students (2,000 foreign).

Within the carvings of the facade of the university there are lots of things to notice, but the most important to notice is a little frog. It is said that the students who find it themselves will do well in their exams. I didn't get close enough with the camera but in the middle of the picture, on the left side of the pillar, there is one of three skulls and on top of the skull you can find a little frog.
You can see a close up picture HERE.

Our hosts apartment couldn't have been in a better location. We were right on the edge of everything we needed to see. We were in the apartment of those two windows sticking up out of the top of this building. The roof was a little low in some areas (not just for me) but it was a great first couple nights of our trip. Our host really could not have been more hospitable.

So that is Salamanca. We feel fortunate to have experienced it in the way we did.
I'll leave you with the view of the Roman Bridge from the window.

Next up: Santiago de Compostela!

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Day 1 (first stop) - Cáceres

Well finally, here it is. The first post of our long 10 day trip through the North of Spain. I am still not done editing all the pictures but I´ll post them little by little. We have been relaxing at home, recovering from the trip. We bought a small inflatable pool for the roof and had some bbq with the neighbors. But also we have been getting ready for our guests this week. My sister and brother-in-law come tomorrow! Then Sarah´s sister comes on wednesday! We are super excited to have family coming. So it may be another week before there is another post.

But without further ado ....the first town we stopped in was only about 2 hours away from Seville. Cáceres is great to explore because there is a fairly large section of the city with medieval structure that shows no signs of modernity.

Looking across the plaza towards the old part of town.

Looking back at the newer part.

One of our students, Alyssa, rode along with us for the beginning of the trip. It gave Sarah someone to take a picture with and also (as you will see later) someone to take pictures of us.
La Iglesia San Francisco Javier

It was about mid day when we were there and everything was really calm and quiet.

I heard that many movies have been filmed in this area of town because it maintains the time period so well.

Photo by Alyssa

Sarah liked the wall so we shot some senior pics.

At one point there were many different wealthy families trying to control the city so they kept building bigger houses to show that they were the most powerful.

This plaza is one of the bigger nicer ones we have seen

and was recently redone

We only spent about an hour and a half in the city before we were back on the rode towards Salamanca. But we were really glad we stopped there. Salamanca is next!

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