Eurostars Palace La Coruña

The other two tours in Madeira and Lanzzarrotte we planned well in advance, but the trip to Santiago de Compostela was a last minute decision based on the recommendation of the two couples who we had the pleasure of dining with on the cruise. I'm glad we decided to go. It was quite a long drive, but well worth the effort. We walked around the oldest part of the town where the ...

... of young people around. The cathedral is surrounded by the old city with its small streets and medieval feel about it. It is supposed to rain all day today so we've got a late start.....but no rush. Enjoy the photos. Today's goal is portraits......



October 22, 2009

Made it to Barcelona late last night (well after
midnight). We had a slightly
delayed flight out of Santiago--raining ...

... the city which contains all the old buildings and churches is pedestrianised and huddles round the grand cathedral. The Cathedral is vast and very ornate. The guide books say that is best seen in the rain so that all the lichens and mosses are highlighted. The weather duly obliged!

The car has decided to have a sick day and has gone to the Ford dealer to recuperate! We collect it tonight and move on to Portugal in the morning.

A slow morning saw us arrive in A caruna around 2:30p for a quick tour. A beautiful city where we had an excellent lunch (more kids running through the streets while we devoured raciones and wine. Yum!!) A 6ish departure for our long drive to Llanes in Astoria. We finally ...

... Then, after his run, he wanted to have a drink with us... but we left before he got back from his shower. Unfortunately, Saturday night... he recognized us. He brought us cava and sangria and then came and sat down with us, saying nothing and jumping up every few minutes to check on other tables. He again brought us a big plate of food, and more drinks when we finished the first ones. After about 45 minutes, we had found out only that he was from Brazil but was ...

... sunrise yoga. We later planned to go into a caruna for a day trip but thought better of it when we learned of the "end of summer" fiesta being held at the campground from 10-3am. And when I say, held at the campground I mean, held directly in front of our camper ...

... including real "pilgrims") we were back on the road to A Caruna where Ev had found a seaside campground. Back on Spanish time we had an delightful meal of Spanish tortilla (potato omlette) around 9:30 and the kids were in bed by 10:45. Yikes!!

                     

... were actually wearing the shell. It was traditional for pilgrims to put the shell either around their neck or on their pack to identify themselves as a religious pilgrim, so I was intrigued by how few people seemed to have done the pilgrimage for purely religious reasons. Our guide told us that now, the pilgrimage is just at common among outdoor enthusiasts as it is among religious Catholics.

Since the cathedral was filling up for mass, we left to walk to the Parque ...

... could have also visited from this port - however we chose to stay and see the city - We did some window shopping and everything looked so nice here so what a disappointment - fortunately the restaurants and cafes were open so after doing a bit of sightseeing in the city - checking out the churches and government buildings - we found ...

... svipptursekk - og vi kaller de selvsagt caminolight pilgrimmer. Det vet de selvsagt ingenting om - og vi har litt daarlig samvittighet for vaar overbarenhet, men hvordan skal vi unngaa aa vare litt ovenpaa naar til og med to norsk prester langs veien ymter det samme? Vi motte foreleden to prester fra Stavanger - meget hyggelige saadanne - spiste lunsj sammen og hadde noen fine samtaler underveis. Kjempekjekt!! Litt tidligere hadde vi folge av en tysk ...