December 3rd, A Visit to Santiago de Compostela

I took the train from Vigo to Santiago on Saturday morning - about 1 1/2 hours - and met Jenn, another teacher in our program who lives outside of Madrid.  Brian, another teacher who resides in Barcelona, flew in about 2 PM.  We played tourist and saw the beautiful old cathedral and other historic buildings while constantly checking out the endless array of shops.  I bought a Spanish flag and another "nacimiento" or nativity scene.  Before our evening entertainment, we sought out some tapas and wine or beer.  As the picture indicates, we did well!  They count your wooden sticks at the end of the evening and you pay based on the number and the shape of the sticks.  Basically an honor system that we never saw abused.  Our best find was a shop that exhibited women's crafts and had a traditional folk music show in the evening if 10 people signed up for it.  They did and we did!  The music was a young man playing the bagpipes which are the Galician folk music instrument of choice.  He also demonstrated his abilities on the tambourine and a small drum.  Part of the celebration was a traditional "quemada" or burning, in this case of a brandylike liquor which had sugar and various spices added.  Before we tasted the drink, we went around and read in Galician (interesting!) a chant to expel all the witches from the drink.  After flaming for a while, we all got a warm glass of this concoction - whatever it was, it warmed you up from the inside!  It was accompanied by sugar cookies made by a local convent.  Brian had booked us a cozy hostel called Casa Felisa (Happy House) where we spent the night.  The next morning after good coffee and wonderful large slices of pan tostado, we set out in our rental car for the Galician coast.

Bagpiper !

Jenn on the left and owner on the right during Quemada

Cathedral

Tapas Spanish style

We headed north from Santiago along the coast with the ultimate destination of Cabo Fisterra (The End of the Earth !)  My friends in Vigo had given me the details on where we should stop along the way to see certain sights and Brian was an excellent driver in our SEAT car model called 'Leon".  The more he and Jenn exclaimed at the beauty of the coast, the more I realized how lucky I was to be in Galicia and even starting acting like a proud native...hopefully not too obnoxiously!  After driving a bit, we decided food was needed so we picked a bar in a small town we drove through and entered.

As the picture shows, it was hopping on a soggy Sunday and mainly with men....we had an incredible platter of grilled shrimp and clams along with the usual free "appetizers"....in this case, cold boiled shrimp and 'callos', a seasoned (they use intestines of some sort?)garbanzo bean stew...yummy!  After our stop we resumed our journey north and found the 'horreo" or granary that is supposed to be the biggest in Spain.  There are many dotting the countryside and though not now used for grain storage, they are still used for general storage because they are solidly built of Galician stone and raised up in the air.  This one was located next to a gorgeous old church.

Horreo de Lira

After checking out these sights, we continued on our way to Cabo Fisterra with several picturesque stops along the way.  After several hours of our journey, we arrived at what was once thought to be the end of the earth.  Of course, we had to stop for coffee/tea and to check out the local crafts fair located in the lighthouse.

Cabo Fisterra

Finally, we headed back to the Santiago airport to drop off Jenn for her flight back to Madrid.  Of course, Brian and Jenn needed one more food stop!  I was so full that I just watched them enjoy a wonderful meal of pulpo (octopus) with clams soup - and tasted as well!- and a plate of chipurones (small squid )cooked in sherry - delicious as well!  See picture below!

After the airport stop about 9 PM, Brian, who had a long weekend, and I headed for Vigo - an hour's drive.  He stayed with me for 2 nights as he went to work with me on Monday and visited my school.  In his hometown of Calgary, Canada, he teaches math and science but in Barcelona he is teaching primary school - and loving it, he says.  Monday afternoon, my teacher friend, Felipe, drove us around the beaches of Vigo so Brian could see them and he even showed me some I had not seen.
We returned to my apartment and then set out after dark to see the city of Vigo including Christmas lights.  I made some spicy chili from the seasonings stash my mother and father have sent me and we both enjoyed some picante in our meal!  Tuesday morning, Brian left for a visit to Pontevedra on his way back to the Santiago airport and home to Barcelona.  He was my first guest and a very gracious one - loved having his company here!