The Spain Chronicles - Day 9

The rest of our week’s schedule was pretty flexible, but we had one thing secure on the docket right away: a trip to Santiago de Compostela, a famous destination for pilgrimages and also where María lives and where Enrique went to uni. before coming to Oxford. Even though we had a late night the night before, we all managed to get up pretty early. I think it’s never too easy to sleep in a new bed for the first time (even though this was Enrique’s house, he was sleeping on a mattress on the floor). We were out the door not long after 9, and went out to breakfast so that Justin could experience churros and chocolate. After that, we hopped on a train to Santiago, getting in around 11:30ish.

We met up with the lovely María and headed towards the cathedral, in hopes of getting in before the end of the mass. We hoped to see the famous Botafumeiro, but they were not using it that day. (I think it is only for holy days.) Anyway, after mass we walked around and saw the various chapels and kissed statues and viewed Santiago’s tomb. After the mass we went outside and sat in the plaza for a bit while Enrique told us the story of how Santiago ended up being buried there.

From there we walked through the Plaza de Cervantes, which features a fountain with a bust of Cervantes on top. Local students often tell tourists and new students that they’re supposed to look for Cervantes’ feet at the bottom of the fountain, and when the newbies/tourists get close, they splash them or dunk them in. Justin and I were roped into this (although I was a bit suspicious), and were thoroughly soaked by Enrique and María. After a bit more ambling we ended up at O Dezaseis for lunch. We had all the traditional Galician dishes, including delicious empanadas and boiled octopus. After stuffing ourselves and having a few glasses of wine, we headed up to a field that was once a cemetery for a nice siesta.

We spent a long time siesta-ing, and it was a quality siesta as well – people forgot about their work and everything. After that, we went back into town for a Coke/coffee break in a nice pensión called Casa Felisa, which had a beautiful garden terrace with views of the town buildings peeking out the back. Thoroughly rested and ready to go, we headed back into town to look at some of the University buildings, including the hallowed halls of the History faculty, where Enrique got his undergraduate degree.

Enrique kept saying how weird it was for us to be there – I’m sure I’d agree if I were in his shoes. (In fact, Chrissie said the same thing when I was in San Francisco!) I guess when you have different “parts” of your life and different people you associate with them, it becomes weird to see those people in places you would not normally expect them. He also said it was weird to bring us to these places because it made him see things in a new way. We kept asking him and María to slow down so we could take pictures of things which were probably “everyday life” for them but very exciting for us!

After the History faculty we needed to up our tourist game a bit – Justin and I wanted to do some shopping. Justin bought a present for his girlfriend Darcy and a tshirt for himself (sporting the king’s famous slogan, “¿Por qué no te callas?”), and I bought a huge gaudy watch and a billion postcards. We also bought guidebooks to Galicia, as neither of us had one. Even Enrique did some shopping, finding a men’s store with a 50% off sale and buying lots of shirts. We did one last coffee stop before María had to head home.

When María left, Enrique took us back through a park (I think it was a “Plaza de Something-or-other” but I lost track by that point) so we could have a last good view of the city before we headed back for the train station. There was a carnival going on so it was a bit crowded, but the weather was perfect and the views were lovely.

We got back to the train station a bit early, so we grabbed some sandwiches and sat and caught up on our phone correspondence before heading home. By the time we got back, at about 11:30ish, we watched Casablanca and chatted a bit with Enrique’s mom. We had another late night, about 2 am.

Next up: Baiona, and group bonding by way of haircuts.