España – Page 8

After Madrid, we flew into the airport at Santiago de Compostela. A friend met us at the airport and took us to his place, where we stayed.

We walked from his place through the Plaza de Galicia to rent a car. We, of course, stopped for cortados and hot chocolate at Café Bar Bendaña on our way to rent the car for our roadtrip. Apparently everything in Santiago is within walking distance, and the car remained parked for everything except a day trip to Castro de Baroña.

We were on our way to meet our friends for lunch. It was raining just a little, and I held us up taking pictures every ten seconds. Much of the city was built around the fifteenth century, and the architecture was like nothing I have ever encountered outside the movies.

We finally met our friends, only a fifteen minutes late despite my best efforts to photograph the entire city. We met at Casa de Xantar O Dezaseis, named after its street number. I ate my first Galician seafood, and it was every bit as good as I was told to expect. Probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

After lunch, we walked around a little more through the old town. We found an art exhibition at Igrexa da Universidade.

Someone was pretty excited to come back home.

Three consecutive storms brought record downpours to the city, and we came just in time for the second. Catedral de Santiago de Compostela is quite impressive even in the rain, even if the photos didn’t turn out. Apparently construction began on the site in the early 800s and the small celtic chapel still stands today. In the year 1075, construction began on the cathedral as it stands today.

I visited the cathedral and the ancient Celtic chapel, during the rainiest rain to ever hit Santiago.

By the end of the day we were soaked and maybe a little miserable as the temperature dropped. We had to stop to purchase new shoes for the Tiny Grown Up. I think we succumbed to the weather and napped by 7:30 but woke around 10 for drinks and tapas. We went to my favorite place in Santiago. They had toasted goat cheese and peppers to die for.

The next day was still raining, and we took our wet selves shopping and adventuring. We started the day with brunch at San Jaime named for Santiago which, I have learned is the translation for Saint James. I’m not the sort of person to take photos of food, that is my daughter’s job… BUT…

There was a rainy road trip after brunch, to Castro de Baroña, and we returned to Santiago for more shopping and walking. We found this awesome gift shop called Mononoke that was filled with some very cool local art as well as interesting commercial products. We bought a few prints of the city of Santiago, and a hand made miniature Galician Carnival mask. [You find some information about the celtic origins of the mask here.] Apparently a person who creates the large masks for the traditional celebrations also made miniatures for tourists, and we couldn’t resist.

We had tapas, beer and wine at my favorite place in Santiago, O Filandon. They had a large selection of cheese and carapaccio. They brought free tapas with every round of drinks, but we ordered a vegetarian dish of roasted peppers and goat cheese on a loaf of hard crust bread. It literally melted in your mouth. The place was packed shoulder to shoulder with students, and decorated with the napkin art of visitors from all around the world.

I’m not sure what’s up with them, but these cats are everywhere in Spain.

For our last night in Santiago, we listened to some live music by a cuban band, Alejandro Vargas Trio with Mauricio Caruso at the guitar , at a bar called Borriquita de Belén.

After leaving the band, we toured the city by night. The streets were well lit, and safer than any place I have been in the U.S. Women were walking alone here. The streets were still alive with locals and students out for an evening adventure.

We ended the night at Almeda park which offers a stunning view of the entire city of Santiago and the cathedral.

Farewell Santiago de Compostela.

So this time, the destination was “Spain.” No, not just a city in Spain, but “Spain.” We drove to Chicago, flew from Chicago to Madrid, Madrid to Santiago, and took a week long road trip from Santiago de Compostela to Castellon.
We arrived in Madrid around 9AM local time, which was about 3AM Michigan time. We were a little tired, but ready to start the adventure. Our first stop was, of course, coffee and Spanish hot chocolate at La Lonja del Mar. My first cortado was divine, and my Tiny Grown Up was thrilled by what appears to be a hot cup of chocolate pudding with our first ever churros. We also shared a goat cheese salad. Everything was delicious, and even being right in the midst of the tourist district, the prices were very reasonable by American standards. We sat on the patio and watched the magpies and parrots in the Plaza de Oriente.

Our next stop was across the plaza. So we bothered the birds a little as we made our way to the palace. Many rooms were preserved with the period furniture, art, and sculpture. Other rooms were made into a museum hosting reliquaries, intricate tapestries, and religious art. My favorite was the armory. It featured weapons and armor preserved from many generations of kings. The horses had their own, very elaborate, armor, which was displayed on statues throughout the room. Photos weren’t allowed inside, but we did manage to snap a few when it was acceptable.

Next stop was the Parroquia de Santa Maria. Beautiful place, but we didn’t snap too many pictures inside. It always seems strange to take photos while people are actively engaged in worship.

Of course we needed more coffee and hot chocolate to continue on our journey.

We ended the first day with a shopping and dinner at a large market. We avoided most of the tourist shops, and spent our money on local foods and experiences instead. I did come home with a clay bull of course.

We woke up early to avoid the lines at the Museo Nacional del Prado. Again, no photos allowed inside, but I enjoyed not having my camera in front of me for the whole trip. The food inside the museum was a touch pricey, but actually very good. We managed to catch an exhibition of Goya’s sketches while we were there. It was all pretty amazing. I think it would take a couple of days to make it all the way through everything, so I won’t bother listing everything we saw. If you’re interested, details of the collection can be found here.

Immediately behind the Prado was a wonderful park and I cannot wait to visit again in summer. Even in amidst the bare trees of fall, Real Jardin Botanico had some beautiful blooms, citrus trees, begonias, and camellias. There was a rock garden, a wishing path, and some lovely indoor greenhouses filled with water plants, hanging plants, and cacti.

And… more hot chocolate.

We spent our last night adventuring in Malasaña. We went shopping at PopLand and Chopper Monster. And I was somehow inspired to purchase had made one of a kind heels from ioli.

Although I’m mostly a vegetarian, I’m not typically inclined toward vegan foods, and definitely not avocados as anything more than a garnish, but I was genuinely impressed with Avocado Love. The seating was a little cramped where they sat us, but the lighting more than made up for it.