Thankyou to everyone for all the good wishes!
Santiago de Compostella is a beautiful city of 130,000 people, with about 3.5 million tourist days per year! We are staying in the Centro Historico which you may have guessed is the old city and it is delightful, the buildings (particularly the cathedral at night) are awesome! The Centro Historico is a warren of streets, some of which are just bars/cafes and restaurants. Seafood is the speciality of the region and most restaurants have tanks full of live crabs, langostines, crays etc ( a bit cruel) and you can order many types of fish, mussels, razor clambs, horse barnacles and the most delicious seafood soups .
Santiago was founded by decree in the 11th century, it was basically a propaganda scam organised by the Catholic Church- the whole myth of the body of St James magically arriving in Gallicea (in a stone boat no less!) from the Holy Land and the subsequent pilgimage route Camino de Santiago (the third most important after Juruselem and Rome)- to mobilise support for the struggle to expel the Moors (Islam) from Spain (La Reconquista). Santiago and the Camino became a focus and symbol to the extent that St James was often seen (and is often portrayed) charging the Moors with raised sword! Santiago is now a modern city with a large University but the St James mythology is still strong as it is now a big moneyspinner!
Santiago de Compostella is a beautiful city of 130,000 people, with about 3.5 million tourist days per year! We are staying in the Centro Historico which you may have guessed is the old city and it is delightful, the buildings (particularly the cathedral at night) are awesome! The Centro Historico is a warren of streets, some of which are just bars/cafes and restaurants. Seafood is the speciality of the region and most restaurants have tanks full of live crabs, langostines, crays etc ( a bit cruel) and you can order many types of fish, mussels, razor clambs, horse barnacles and the most delicious seafood soups .
Santiago was founded by decree in the 11th century, it was basically a propaganda scam organised by the Catholic Church- the whole myth of the body of St James magically arriving in Gallicea (in a stone boat no less!) from the Holy Land and the subsequent pilgimage route Camino de Santiago (the third most important after Juruselem and Rome)- to mobilise support for the struggle to expel the Moors (Islam) from Spain (La Reconquista). Santiago and the Camino became a focus and symbol to the extent that St James was often seen (and is often portrayed) charging the Moors with raised sword! Santiago is now a modern city with a large University but the St James mythology is still strong as it is now a big moneyspinner!
Hello again Ruben & Ray enjoy your time is Santiago walking only to see the sights and taste the food of region we are so looking forward to welcoming you home
ReplyDeletelove
travel safe
dad and Sheron
hi dad congrats... geelong won the grand final wich was bad cause i was going for the saints, miss u see you when you get back love Nina... xoxoxo <3
ReplyDeleteHi guys!! well, well, home stretch or a few days to eat, drink and be merry not walking. Expect both of you to be lean, pec'd, bearded, with toughened soles and souls. Coming back to the luxuries of a soft bed, private shower[are those days finished?],a steak or sanger thrown on the bbq with no regard, walk? to the car, 20 emails a day from canadian chemists to block, family guy on wednesday night t.v[t.v is this thing the rest of us do who haven't got a coffee table book of memories to linger over... except a few good parties late 80's early 90's...t.v makes us laugh and cry but mostly glaze over and forget how to talk]you get the picture oh so much to come back to. But hey life is good here. Apparently there may be yellow ribbons around the Big front tree? Go out with a bang not a limp er.
ReplyDeleteSee you guys over a bottle of champagne wednesday. Anabel xx
Woo Hoo fellas. Congratulations for making it. Ray, let me know when you get back to Bundy. Well done, it's been great to travel along with you.
ReplyDeleteCheers guys
Ross Walker