21st November 2023

Hi,

Saturday 30th September

It was time to hit the last leg of this marvellous tour. We left A Coruna and drove to Santiago de Compostela, which took about an hour. Our Air BnB wasn't ready until 1400 so we got parked underground and started the sightseeing.

After Jerusalem and Rome, Santiago was the third most important place for pilgrims in the Middle Ages. Allegedly the body of James the apostle was discovered there in 813AD and a cathedral built in his honour. Pilgrimages were made to Santiago, with the best known route coming over the Pyrenees and across Spain, known as the Camino de Santiago. We were arriving at the end of the Camino and would travel back up it part of the way across Spain via Leon and back up to Bilbao.

Praza do Obradoiro is the spot in Santiago where the Camino ends. The cathedral is gargantuan and opposite in the square is the Pazo de Raxio which houses the town hall. Loud cheering can be heard repeatedly in the square as groups came into the square to complete the route which could be nearly 500 miles. The mix of groups I observed seemed to be both religious and secular. Possibly 'doing the Camino' for some is the equivalent of 'doing the Inca trail to Machu Picchu?'

As with pretty much all the places we visited on this tour, the main sites area all within a square mile. We visited Museo do Pobo Galego which houses a history of Galicia. If you only do one thing in Santiago, visit this museum. It is well laid out and also has an adjoining courtyard and church. The museum itself is in a former monastery. Two items of special mention in this museum: a unique triple helix staircase and a fantastic flyover photography of areas in Galicia. It was reminiscent of the Flyover Canada film I saw in Vancouver. I photographed the staircase but it's impossible to get the whole thing in. Well worth a look!

We took a walk around the Cathedral. There is a line to see the alleged relics of James and all you get in a view of a box through is smallish window. I got rebuked for having the camera out so no photo of that! The line then goes behind the high altar and the guy in front of me went for a major hug on the silver mantle of the statue of James which faces out into the main body of the cathedral. From a Reformed perspective this all left me cold. I had read over a wide variety of sources prior to the visit regarding the story of the bones of James and outside official RC sources there is little support for the idea that James remains are actually in this spot.

We had tapas and then chilled until the evening. Our dinner spot was out in the street and we were quite pleased with getting what we thought was the last out of door table. However as more people turned up more tables were set up in classic fashion. Our waiter was Paraguayan and very pleasant. I had a nice vegetable broth and spicy pork with chips.

We had a quiet rest day apart from a stroll in a couple of parks which are about 25 minutes' walk from the centre (Parque Alameda and Parque de Galeras). I would say that due to the close proximity of all the sights Santiago is easily doable in a day.

Monday 2nd October

We began our return journey east heading for Leon. This route would take us inland, leaving the coast behind for the rest of the trip. About an hour out of Santiago we stopped in Lugo. Lugo has an old town surrounded by complete city walls built by the Romans in 1st to 2nd Century. We viewed the Catedral de Santa Maria from the outside only as there seemed to be an event on and then walked atop the city walls and took in about half of the circuit, which gives good views over the town. Last stop on the brief visit was the Plaza Major where we had coffee and huge helpings of cake.

Our route to Leon took us through Los Ancares Nature Reserve. This is a mountainous region and could probably take up at least part of a week's holiday. On our limited timescale we reduced our visit to heading up into the hills to a little village called O Cebreiro. The views were stunning and we saw a number of pallozas (dwellings used by pilgrims for shelter). Undoubtedly this would be a great area for hiking.

Next stop on a busy day was Ponferrada. This was a one stop shop to see the Castillos de los Templarios, built by the Templars from 1218 to 1380. This is a majestic fortress, which like most castles we visited seemed to be closed. However the views from the outside are worth checking out in my photos.

Eventually we arrived in Leon. It was 28C at 1700, not bad for early October. As we had a full day coming up we did a whistle stop tour around the sights. Like Santiago, the Cathedral is a huge gothic pile. It was actually a lot plainer than some we had been to and the stained glass on a sunny day is one of the main features. There are 125 large windows and 57 round ones covering a huge range of subjects, not all of which are religious. We took in the Plaza Major and the Palacio de Los Guzmanes (a Renaissance palace built in 1559-66).

Our hotel in Leon was a step up in class for this trip. The Hotel Real Collegiate de San Isidore was previously a monastery which has been converted. The rooms were top quality and modern, whilst the corridors gave the feel of a very old building. There was a lovely courtyard and we had dinner pre-booked. In terms of eating white fish I'm usually a haddock rather than cod man, but I must say that on this trip every time one of us has tried the cod it has been delicious and so it proved to be on this occasion. This was a very busy and fulfilling day.

Tuesday 3rd October

Our last full day. We left our monastery/hotel after a sumptuous breakfast and headed east to Burgos. After a while the countryside became very flat and quite boring to travel through. Beside the road we could see walkers on the Camino Way, no doubt glad of the flat terrain. The huge amount of arable land is quite striking. No wonder we get so much produce from the Iberian Peninsula.

Arriving in Burgos we managed to get free on street parking near the cathedral area: a rare occurrence on this trip. We walked up the hill to the Castillo de Burgos. This wasn't on the 'must visit' list and in fact the walls were crumbling and it was closed. However if you have time I would recommend walking up as the view over the city makes it worthwhile.

We took in the statue of El Cid. Had a nice walk along the river and viewed the Arco de Santa Maria, which is an ornamental gateway into the Old City. It is decorated with statues of local worthies. The Cathedral is the third largest in Spain and unquestionably has some amazing stonework. Possibly its most famous feature however is the tomb of the famous historic figure El Cid in the middle of the Cathedral. The vaulted cloisters around the garden are very beautiful.

After a tapas lunch we had the final drive back to Bilbao where we stayed in a travel lodge type operation near the airport, letting us get our flight the following morning.

A few reflections on the trip:

1. The north of Spain is fab. There are tourists around but it's much more relaxed (apart from Santiago). It's also cheaper than I've experienced in Spain. More like Portugal prices?

2. We could maybe have done about a third of the itinerary and still spent two weeks. In each place we really did a whistle stop tour so a more relaxed two weeks could be done by visiting less places and chilling in a few, taking the area in in more depth. There are also many places you could do a long weekend in. e.g. Santander, A Coruna.

3. A major consideration for the future would be to stay in very small towns or villages on the coast like O Vecido. Very relaxed and Air BnB of good quality.

4. Driving is not that challenging. The major issue is getting parking near city or town centres.

Most people from my part of the world have been to Spain but few have explored the north. If you like to sightsee but get to the beach as well this area is well worth exploring. I would hope to be back abw.

Enjoy the photos, which will hopefully whet your appetite for a visit!

All the best.

Murdo