Yes, we are not pilgrims: Santiago de Compostela Day 2 (4 Sep 2013)

We did feel a little guilty at swanning into Santiago de Compostela relatively, given our various lurgies, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed without the dust of the camino on our shoes – but not so guilty that we weren’t happy to be there!

Cathedral Santiago de Compostela

The main business of the morning was to visit the Cathedral of Santiago, which is, our notes say, the most outstanding Romanesque-style building in Spain. En route Cyra pointed out other sites, including the markets and some of the significant squares, such as Praza de Quintana and Praza de Prateríus (Silversmith’s Square), and the shells in the paving marking the way of the pilgrim. It was so beautiful and interesting that we all gave our cameras a good workout! (Each night we do a first cut/edit of our images, deleting those that don’t seem worth keeping.)

Our first stop at the cathedral was to see the sacred relics of St. James which are in a very ornate silver coffer beneath the cathedral’s high altar. The lines get long, but Cyra knew her stuff and we got there before any line had developed … 15 minutes or so later, it was a different matter. We then had 30 minutes to wander around the Cathedral before going to its museum. It’s pretty huge, and was busy, with a mass in process when we arrived, a German language confession box running, and tourists (and we suppose pilgrims) everywhere. Somehow Sue got disoriented and couldn’t find the entrance we’d come in when it came time to meet up, but she worked it out just in time, as Len and Lynne came looking for her, and was only a minute or two late for the meet up.

We then went to the original entrance to the cathedral (which is now behind the Facade del Obradoiro). You need a ticket for it, but this was organised by our tour. This entrance is the Pórtico de la Gloria which was carved in 1188 by Maestro Mateo. It’s apparently considered one of the finest works of medieval art, comprising over 200 sculpted figures. The main feature is a central column containing a Christ figure, beneath which is a statue of St. James. Many of you already know this of course, but since the Middle Ages it has been the custom of pilgrims to pray with their fingers pressed into the roots of the Tree of Jesse below Saint James, and five deep indentations have been worn into the marble as a result.

After this we went into the Cathedral Museum which occupies many rooms of the cathedral and tells much of its history, if you can read Spanish, or if you get the audio guide, which we decided not to. We didn’t visit every room but we enjoyed the Library and the art, particularly the sculpture, we did see.

More sightseeing

At this point we started going our separate ways, and Len and I headed off for a restorative coffee before deciding to check out the Monasterio de San Martín Pinario. Its facade, with its huge Doric columns, overlooks the Praza de Inmaculada and faces the Azabachería facade of the cathedral. But you can’t visit the monastery, just the church whose entrance required a bit of alley wandering to find. We enjoyed the church and its amazing altar, but even more the museum which contained evidence of a serious intellectual life … books, anatomical study, pharmaceutical study. The Monastery was originally established in mediaeval times by Benedictine monks who named it from the pines growing at the site, but most of what we saw came from the 16th century and later.

Trying Galician specialties

We love, as most of you know, to try local specialty food and this we did for lunch at a little family run restaurant a few blocks off the main squares:

• Pulpa a la Gallega*: We shared this dish of thinly sliced octopus served with cayenne and olive oil;
• Tripa a la Gallega: Len had this dish of Tripe served in a stew with garbanzos (while Sue had an Asparagus Tortilla).

After a bit of a siesta … During which we did a little hand washing … We set out to find Tarta de Santiago … An almond tart with, usually, a cross delineated from the icing sugar topping. While we found bakeries selling the tart, it was not so easy to find cafes selling coffee and pastries, but we eventually found one in the lively university quarter. We enjoyed the tart, but even more enjoyed being part of the student vibe in such historic surroundings. We were opposite the Philosophy Faculty and just down the road from the more famous Faculty of Geography and History which was built in the 18th century and is supposed to be the most impressive building of the University of Compostela. It is also home to the Institute for Galician Language. And there are linguistic differences here we found … Plazas for example are Praza (which Sue discovered was not a typo on her map as she initially wondered) and Calles (streets) are Ruas.

Oh, and we must comment on the little La Capilla das Ánimas that we wandered past near the university quarter. Completed in 1788 – a memorable year for we Aussies – it has a fascinating bas-relief sculpture on its facade depicting dead souls in purgatory (represented by the flames beneath them).

Dining out

Once again Cyra came up trumps with her dinner suggestion which we all decided to take up. It – the restaurant was O Curro da Parra – was our most expensive meal of the tour, coming to just under €40 per person but it was well worth it. Starters, to share, included Carpaccio of Scallops, Green Salad with local almonds and a caramelised balsamic dressing, croquettes of prawns with bechemel sauce, and a sort of spring roll followed by a choice of main course – black rice with seafood (lovely but very rich) or pig cheeks. Dessert options were Bread Pudding with a Homemade Icecream or Cheesecake. Hard choice as Sue shouldn’t eat (and doesn’t much like) either, but we both opted for the Bread Pudding which turned out to be more like a thick sweet French Toast with a light crispy top like you get on a Creme Brûlée. Sue didn’t eat all hers, but it was very nice. The cheesecake also didn’t look like cheesecake, being served in a glass, but it had crunchy bits in it. We decided it was a deconstructed cheesecake. Those who had it pronounced it good. We also had some lovely wines but didn’t get the name of them unfortunately … how different it is when you don’t order everything yourselves! As a thank-you treat because we were great customers – or, because it’s something they often do for people who spend well! – we were all given a complimentary glass of a liqueur particular to the region, called Ibiza Herb Liqueur. It can apparently have a variety of herb flavours, but the one we had seemed to be thyme. A very lovely night.

Three-words

LEN: Tripe, Garbanzos, Gurgle
SUE: Pilgrims, Shells, Galicia

and the stills…

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* Galician word for Galician!