Santiago de Compostela,
Galicia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Oh man, the bus ride to Santiago was not fun but it had to be done. couldnt find any towns or cities that I wanted to stop at along the way but the scenery was definitely beautiful. So I had never heard of El Camino before I got to the north of Spain but Santiago is full of backpackers pilgri,s that hike for over two months from France to Santiago, pretty crazy and Im still not ompletely sure why. Obvously there are people that do it for religous reasons but I met some people that were not religous...plus there is a whole Pagan history to it and I assumed that the pilgrimage was for Catholics because of the giant Catedral de Santiago Compostela which houses the remains of St. James )whoever he was). Whatever the reason, I can see why millions of people flock here, the cathedral is so impressive and the old city is a great place just to get lost in the alleys. Had a pretty nice experience at the hostel as well, met some nice backpackers and a couple buskers (street musicians) that came to Santiago years ago and have yet to leave. The whole feel of the place is very peaceful despite the amazing amount of tourists so I ended up staying for three days even though I covered all of the sites the first day. Next is the 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Porto in Portugal which I am VERY excited about, I have very high hopes for Portugal and hopefully can figure out for myself the seperation and differences between the Spanish and Portuguese cultures.
Comments
St.James
St. James is one of the apostles of Jesus. In Galicia,Spain the name James is translated to Iago therefore St.Iago in Spanish is Sant-iago. After the death of Christ, St.James together with some disciples travelled to the Iberian peninsula to preach the gospel. when he went back to Jerusalem he was beheaded.His disciples took his body back to Spain, buried it somewhere in Galicia where it was left forgotten for hundreds of years. In the 9th century,a shepherd,guided by a field of stars(Compostella in latin) discovered the holy body. Inscribed in the stone coffin was james'name,apostle of Lord Jesus.Son of Zebeedee. Many miracles were attributed to James specially in Spain's struggle against the moors. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain.