Hotel Tryp San Lazaro Santiago de Compostela

... 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.

Liz decided she wanted to hike some of the camino, but Maureen and I were pretty tired from the past few days of traveling, so after Liz left, we went back to sleep for a while. By the time we left the hostel, it was around 1 in the afternoon, so we walked to Plaza Quintana to find a crepe place Maureen had read about. We sat at an outdoor table at this restaurant and ordered, including cafe con leche and cava, because hey, why not. After a salad, we of course needed ...

... 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 ...

... Stanford Travel/Study made a big enough donation that an exception was made and the incense was swung despite not being a Holy Year. On the other hand, all the people who attended the service couldn't buy any souvenirs at all because all the shops were closed after lunch for siesta. This was a big deal as we've hardly had any free time at all scheduled in our tours. That night, Char and I ate at the "Study Leader" table ...

... and toilet. The even better thing is that all of my converters work! The drawback is that the wireless internet is currently not working and I doubt it will be fixed before we leave. The computer lab is quite interesting and definitely not a part of the 21st century. There are only 7 computers for an entire dorm full of students (over 100 of us) so the line gets pretty long at times. It took me a couple of days to make friends with someone who lets me ...

... and a wonderful journey completed. I felt the need for a beer. Grande, por favor. One of the great things about being here is that I know loads of people. Here I am in a strange country, a strange city and yet everywhere I go someone calls out hola! or wants a hug! All those familiar faces, friends and waving aquaintances that I've met along the way are all here. Sam arrived yesterday evening too so we have been going out 'celebrating' and farewelling one and all. Last night was the ...

... definitely going to try and brush up my French and really get a lot more Spanish grammar and vocab so I can talk to more people. I have been really touched by the panache and charm with which people from various countries are able to speak English and am ashamed that I cannot offer them the courtesy of an address in their language. What are my overwhelming impressions from this trip? 1) Water is a precious thing and we are damned lucky to have a ready supply of clean ...

... here is the bagpipe, if you can believe that! Madrid has been fun, we´ve met up with some great people there. My friend Angie´s friend Elia will be taking us out for a traditional night of Spanish revelry for my birthday next weekend, so we are excited. Before that, I´ll send word from Portugal, as we head to Porto bright and early tomorrow.

I'm in a wonderfully beautiful city, Santiago de Compostella. It's a medieval carless town and the terminus of a (very popular) Catholic pilgrimage across the north of Spain-- Camino de Santiago.

The best part about this town is that it's still devoted to the people who live here. In many of these well-preserved towns, the locals don't go into the old-town because it's devoted to tourists.

So, I arrived and it turns out there's a festival, guess I'll be staying a little longer ...