Chapter Two: A Partly Sunny Day in Santiago de Compostela o Abrazar el Santo

 After a few days in Madrid to adjust to the time zone and way of life, we headed north to Galicia. The tour of northwestern Spain began in the sleepy town of Santiago de Compostela. The town is best known for its cathedral which apparently holds the remains of Saint James and is the destination for pilgrims who travel the 500 mile Camino de Santiago. The exterior of the cathedral is worthy of the journey and seeing it on a partly sunny day was excellent. Inside the cathedral swings the Botafumeiro, which is Spanish for "Dispensing incense to the point of suffocating pilgrims." The interior is about as impressive as the exterior and the altar is quite beautiful, but one of the most interesting parts is actually located behind the altar. As it is 2010 and the year of Saint James, the cathedral's special back doors are opened, and all the pilgrims and sinners can enter a room directly behind and above the altar, hug a statue of Saint James, pray at the Saint's remains, and been forgiven of all their sins, although I think the rules said you had to go to mass within two weeks after and I forget if I did that. Whatever, the statue being situated right behind the altar allowed a great view of the cathedral. Apart from the Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela is pretty much a quiet town with a nice park and a culinary specialty of octopus.

After visiting the cathedral and town we walked part of the Camino de Santiago, experiencing some of the excellent downpours that pilgrims experience. Along the way, we saw the scallop shell, the symbol of Saint James and his pilgrims, in many places. Pilgrims wear shells around their neck usually and little metal shells marked the Camino de Santiago. We also took a small trip to a local vineyard where the owners discussed the wines of Galicia, the small operation they run, and how it's not a wine factory. Los Albariños are the most famous Galician wines, a fact that I had to write down for a worksheet we had to fill out that reminds me of something I had to do for a middle school trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Anyway, the Cathedral was quite impressive and the town had some excellent tortilla española and patatas bravas.