Transito Dos Gramaticos Hotel Santiago De Compostela

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 ...

... wildest part was at teh end of Mass when a 6 ft incensor is lowered from high above the altar. It is set on fire and incense thrown on it, then 5 or 6 men start yanking on pulleys that make that baby swing way up into the air. I tried to get some photos of it, but without flash most are a bit "shakey", but you'll get the idea. The next was the tour of the palace and the cathedral roof. Mass was going on down stairs and the<br>organ ...

... 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!<br><br>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 ...

... la Alameda, a 5 minute walk from the Cathedral, where we got an amazing panoramic view over the city and of the cathedral. We then hurried back to the cathedral for a tour of the bishop's palace and cathedral roof, which are attached to the Cathedral proper. The palace was not particularly interesting, as far as palaces go, because it was mostly empty. But it was totally worth the climb when we got to the roof of the Cathedral. From there, we had amazing views of the entire ...

... and then attended Pilgrims Mass at noon. Each day they have visiting priests help with Mass. . . there were probably 10 different priests there today. They help give communion to the crowd that attended. Cathy wrote a synopsis of the message. . . since the mass was in Spanish. It was basically a message for all denominations not only Catholic about unity, peace, all walking to find our way in the world and living in harmony ...

... all of these false impressions of America based on living in Kansas. We finally asked him if he traveled anywhere else. He proudly told us Oklahoma! We asked, "Como say dice armpit en Espanol?" He just laughed. We told him he needed to come visit other parts of the country to get a broader perspective of the U.S. Juan does a great job of helping us increase our oral language ability. We play charades, "Simon Dice" and ...

0 km. We travelled back to Santiago by bus from Finisterre. As we had plenty of extra time, we ate lots of Nutella, döner, and baguettes. We also bought a 1000-piece puzzle &amp; cheap speakers at the Oriental Bazar in honour of our tenure in China. We did the puzzle as we listened to great music on ****** speakers. If ...

... spanish is good enough to describe what a single event waterski bag is and that you lost it" present! Oh, I also got a phone today. That was quite the experice as well, the lady gave me a free vodafone tee-shirt, I think it's because she felt sorry for me. Things are very different here, the restaurant dinner rushes aren't until 11:00 and that's not even a rush. They sit and sit and talk and drink ...

... that I have been to the most western point in Europe. And I understand why the coast is named as it is - the highway winds through the hills very close to the edge with little guard rail help...in the fog that normally fills the region it would be impossible. After the cape, we continued on to La Coruna where we encountered amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean. That night, as we wandered looking for a destination, we walked right into a huge fiesta for ...