Hotel Tryp San Lazaro Santiago de Compostela

... have been gathering for centuries to visit the tomb of St James. The Cathedral itself was magnificent, and the surrounding buildings where also very impressive. Shopping in the narrow flag stoned streets was a delight. We stayed at were given refreshments in a former hospital dating from around 1513 which is a listed building and is now a first class hotel. It was all very grand.

... blast beautiful chords on occasion. We kept reminding ourselves that we were walking on top of a<br>building that has no beams or steal for support&#8230;&#8230;and built sometime in the<br>middle ages. Yikes. I&#8217;m attaching some photos, but don&#8217;t<br>want to miss getting a lay of the land here in Barcelona. Should have some photos of great<br>architecture while here.<br><br>Hasta&#8230;..<br><br><!-- EndFragment--><br><br>

We travelled through thick fog over and through the mountains on typically heroic Spanish roads. They cut through mountains and build viaducts over the valleys. We drove through and around weary looking Pilgrims to our campsite which was on the Camino de Santiago. It was closed. After some interesting encounters with some locals, one old man practically ran away when asked for directions, we found this camp site.<br><br>The centre ...

... dessert crepe, and then naturally, some more coffee.... As we were eating and drinking, there was a street jazz musician sitting in the square playing music. Otherwise, the plaza was completely quiet, there was a gentle breeze, a few puffy clouds in the sky, and a giant, beautiful church presiding over this square. At this moment, we realized... this was about as European Perfect as it gets. <br><br>We finally left the restaurant after about 3 hours and went window ...

... and were able to walk all over the roof and take pictures. After the roof, they took us on a tour of the market of Santiago, where we saw a truly revolting aisle of seafood, mostly still alive, a vegetable aisle, and a cheese aisle. The cheese in Galicia is a special local cheese called "tetilla"-- boob cheese. It comes in the shape of, yes, boobs. The story goes that a bishop commissioned a famous Italian sculptor to make a statue of the Virgin Maria for the entrance to the ...

... each other. <br> <br>Mass ended at 1:00 and then at 1:15, several priests brought out the botafumeiro (google or Wikipedia the term botafumeiro). This is a massive, silver incense burner that is tied to a huge pulley and controlled by 8 men called tiraboleiros. (Thank God they can tie a good knot!) They light the incense and the tiraboleiros pull the botafumeiro up and start it swinging across the pews. This is a ritual that started ...

... games. But, at all of the required cultural events, it is hard core. We have NO idea what is going on and are ecstatic to pick up every 5th word (on a good day). We are begging for some TPR, scaffolding, realia, or any SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English) method known to man. Can you give us an outline in advance so that we can at least translate it and know what we are going to be dealing with ...

... re wanting reflections on the whole trip, well, ok. It was certainly a great experience but I would never want to do it again like many people were. Too many other fun things I want to do in life. Tip #25: Do not plan more than one extra day in Santiago. There isn't really that much to do there. Unless you love to puzz.

... hours. It's a very relaxed atmoshere. The town is amazing though. They have 2 zonas, nueva y vieja (old and new). The cathedral is in the old zone. It's absolutely breath taking. The architecture is so detailed and it's so huge!! Well, that's it for now. We have a placement test in the morning and everyone seems jet lagged still, so I guess I'll just stay in and watch the spanish version of Harry Potter.

... There were street parties all over, with many people in costume. It was so fun to see the whole city coming together to celebrate. Sunday we continued into southern Galicia to Bayona, a small coastal town, and we had hoped to go further along the coast to La Guardia, which is supposed to be one of the hidden gems, but the fog made it not worth it. Instead we headed to Vigo, the biggest city in Galicia, and by far one of the ugliest cities I have ever ...