Santiago de Compostela 10/18/23

Greetings from Santiago de Compostela Spain!  

We are fortunate enough to be staying in the Paradores Reyes Catolicos in Santiago. It is just beautiful.

I spotted my first Saint James on the façade of the building. For those who do not know about the various caminos in Spain, tradition says that after the beheading of Santiago (St. James),  disciples of St. James placed his body in a stone boat and set it adrift in the Mediterranean Sea. Angels guided the boat to the shores of Galicia in Northwestern Spain.  In the 9th century, Pelayo, a hermit who lived in the region of Galicia, was praying when he saw a bright light shining down from the sky. Intrigued by the light, he followed its path until he arrived at a field. Pelayo found a hidden tomb with the remains of the apostle Santiago. The news of the dicovery spread quickly drawing pilgrims far and wide.  Catholic men were required to make one lifetime pilgrimage to Rome, Jerusalem, or Santiago. St. James is the English name  for Santiago. St. James became the patron saint of Spain and his symbol is the scallop shell, which is associated with pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.I have one on my backpack.  He is often depicted as a pilgrim with a staff, a gourd, and a scallop shell. The Santiago Cathedral is built over the body of St James which was moved from its original location.

Dennis and I ate breakfast at the Paradiso.  I had grilled toast and Dennis had a Spanish Omlette.

This restaurant reminded me of the old pharmacies with soda fountains.  It was quite charming.

Our hotel faces the back of the Cathedrale.  I suspect this was the original front but since world terrorism, this entrance is closed to the public. For those of you who have followed my blog, you ave probably seen some of the Cathedrale photos before. 

A side entrance to the Cathedral, also closed to the public.  Notice there are three St James carvings above the gate.

This is the main and only entrance to the Cathedrale.  Not nearly as pretty as the other side.

 No matter how many times I have been here, I am still in awe of how beautiful the main altar is.

This is a close up of St. James who is in the center of the altar.  You can stand in line and enter the area directly behind the altar. Vistors have the oppportunity to hug the likeness of St. James from behind.  Guaranteed extra blessings.

One of the two sets of the organ pipes. Below is the prime area to see the mass.  It is roped off for  pilgrims only, because they have earned step-by-step the best view of the Botafumeiro.  During the mass, six men swing a giant insense filled fumerio most of the width of the Cathedral. They only swing the fumerio on religious holidays or if someone donates a large amount of money.  I'm not sure how much a large amount of money is?  I have been blessed to see the fumerio in action three times.

This is a new statue of St. James that was not here when I last visited.  It is about 20 to 24 inches tall.  I was unable to find out any information about it.

There arae no longer confessional booths in the cathedrale. In almost all of the side chapels there was a sign to enter for confession.  If you look closely, you can see a black priest in a white robe waiting for the next person.  That has to be better for the priests than sitting in those little boxes.

Another depiction of St. James

In the afternoon I decided to explore the hotel gardens.  There are four of these beautiful squares.

The Paradore is also known as Hostal dos Reis Catolicos and was originally a Royal Hospital, dating back to 1499. It provided lodging and shelter for the numerous pilgrims making their way to Santiago.  It is considered to be the oldest hotel in the world. The Parador de Santiago de Compostela was built by order of the Catholic Kings, around 1499. Later it became an orphanage and then was converted to a luxury hotel.

One of many of the gorgeous doors.

We wre strugling to stay awake until at least 8:00 pm, desperately trying to launch ourselves into this time zone.  We went looking for a place for dinner about 5:00 pm.  Most places don't start serving dinner until 7:30 or more likely 8:00.  We found this tapateria.

Look at all of the choices.

We started with peppers padron, little specialty peppers, grilled with olive oil and salt. Then we shared a  fish coqueta, Iberian ham mini sandwiches and potato salad with tuna in it.  Do I need to tell you that we had a little wine?  We are a mixed marriage.  Dennis gets red and I get white.

Every day and all day, there is a piper playing a bagpipe, known here as the gaita. This is the first woman piper I have seen on my many trips to Santiago.  Famous bagpipers from all over the world have come to Galicia to learn and study the bagpipe. Muñeira is the type of Galician music that features the bagpipe. Bagpipes were first documented in Rome in the 4th century and can be traced to Spain in the 7th century.  They were first known in Scotland/Ireland in the 14th century. 

Dennis treated me to a massage today. Oh, my - just what I needed. What a nice husband.  I think I will keep him.

As we were sitting in our room we could hear this drum and fife corps.  It sounded so military and when I got down to see what was going on, it turned out to be a local group of childen and grown-ups.

Dinner tonight was at the Restaurante dos Reis (Parador de Santiago de Compostela) - a temple of culinary pilgrimage.  Not only was it fine dining at its best, it was a gorgeous restaurant.

A most taleted pianist played beautiful music as we dined.

Our amuse-bouche was a mousse of pulpo and various herbs topped with cavier. For those of you who know the pulpo story, I was not thrilled when I heard the word pulpo but I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite good.

My first course was white beans, pig mask, and milk caps (mushrooms).  I do love me some beans and these did not disappoint.  The Spanish make such beautiful broths.  It was a large bowl of beans with an assortment of wild mushrooms.  I did my best to finish it but I could only eat a little over half.  Such a shame to leave even one of these flavor rich beans.

My second course was sautéed artichokes with hazlenut cream y sesame oil.  I had three of these artichokes and they made me smile inside and outside. I got a box for part of it.  Truthfully, I was stuffed before my main course even arrived and yet, it was still delicious.  

So I have a long first day tomorrow and I ned sleep and to finish packing,  Sweet dreams.

Rome 9/1/23

  For all of the people that tease me about being on time/early, it certainly paid off yesterday.  The day before, I scouted out where the train station was, and how long it would take me to walk there pulling my suitcase.  So I left in time to get there an hour early and discovered that the train station had moved to a remote location.  I raced back to the hotel to ask for a taxi but there were none working.  My very gracious hotel manager/owner drove me to the new train station in the boonies and I made the train.  He wouldn't take any money either. Another Camino angel!  Had I not been uber early, I would probably still be trying to get out of Aulla.  I had to change trains two times but I managed that part with ease. 

What is not to like about wandering Rome.  I am not going to post a lot of dialogue but I am going to post some photos.  This is The Basilica of Saint Mary Major, or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.  It is the largest church in the world dedicated to Saint Mary.

Upon eterering the Basilica, I realized that the main hall was nearly as long as a football field. It is breath-takingly beautiful.

One of my favorite stained glass windows that I have seen.  

 

After touring the basilica and saying my prayers, I heard out to see more of Roma.  I have not stayed in this part of Rome for a number of years.  Usually I stay closer to the Vatican.

For lunch, I stopped at one of the sidewalk cafes and ordered a greek salad.  Not my favorite lunch that I have eaten, but I think I have had such incredible food that I am getting picky.

The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument is also known as "Mole del Vittoriano" or simply "Vittoriano", and "Altare della Patria", which are now the most commonly used names for it. 

In 1878, a few years after the unification of Italy, the Italian Parliament decided to dedicate a monument to the King Vittorio Emanuele II, who had recently passed away, and to the entire Risorgimento period. It is one of the most recognized monuments in Rome.

From the outside, it doesn't look all that impressive but the Basilica San Marco is all that. Fabulous  San Marco is a minor basilica in Rome dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist located in the small Piazza di San Marco adjoining Piazza Venezia. It was first built in 336 by Pope Mark, whose remains are in an urn located below the main altar. The basilica is the national church of Venice in Rome.

Every inch of this Basilica was decorated to the hilt.

Tese two photos are for my Mom (Sylvia Garmon) and all the people who love blue.  I know they are a little hard to see because I had to take them through a window but every appliance is in this gorgeous blue willow type pattern.

This was an even bigger refridgrator in the blue pattern.  I wanted to bring them all home for my Mom, but they wouldn't fit in my luggage.  Sorry Mom.  

Every time I visit Rome, it is like visiting a new place. Every day they find new evidence of the city below the current city of Rome. Excavations have been going on for years, and will continue for several lifetimes.

I walked past the Vespa Museum. These were from 1972.  

Evidently, this is a famous pub in Rome.  I don't know about the pub, but I thought the name and the sign were so cute.

There is an advantage to getting gelato and eating it in the restaurant.  Today, I chose banana and straciatella.  It cooled me off in a hurry and was so tasty. This disadvantage is that it is way more expensive to eat the gelato in the restaurant but sometimes, it is just worth it.

I ordered gnocchi fattti in casa cacio e pepe con turfufo negro which is gnocchi with black truffles.  YUM!  As crazy as it sounds, I ordered the ensalada mixta just for the olive oil and balsamic.  See that brown bag.  It was filled with various types of amazing bread.  The Italians don't eat butter with the evening meal so I get the salad, which is in itself wonderful, but it also gives me olive oil and balsamic.  One of the premier meals I have had in Italy.  The hotel recommended this little restaurant and it was a good recommendation.  I sat outside and totally enjoyed the experience.

So tomorrow at 0-dark-30, I head out to catch the first flight of many that will lead me home.

Thank you for flying along with me on this journey of triumph and near tragedy! Alls well that ends well.  God be with you today and always. 

Until the next journeey - Buen Camino!