Peregrino soy; a Santiago voy.
I am a pilgrim; I'm going to Santiago.
We went on our first excursion this past weekend, leaving Thursday morning and returning Sunday night. Galicia was our destination, and we arrived in Santiago de Compostela, the regional capital, after a short one-hour plane ride. The huge cathedral in Santiago is famous because it is believed to be the final resting place of St. James, and for this reason, the city is the final stop on the famous Camino de Santiago. Pilgrims walk for miles across Spain from France or Portugal to see this incredible place, whether for spiritual or cultural reasons. I too was stunned by its beauty, and I was comforted by the lush green-ness of Galicia in general. It was great to be back in an environment closer to where I come from, because Madrid is farther to the south and much drier. We were also lucky that the days were absolutely beautiful, because Galicia is usually very rainy.
After barhopping that night (during which a bartender told me I don't smile a real smile "showing my teeth," which is NOT TRUE so I spent the rest of the night trying really hard to smile and kind of hurting my face), I woke up early the next morning to go to an open-air market. There were vegetables, fruits, nuts, and huge slabs of fish in these long open hallways. Then, I wandered over to a park by our hotel which had excellent views of the city.
That same day, we left Santiago to go to a "casa del campo", a country house. Again, it was the most pastoral, green, typically-european-countryside type of place, and a beautiful house to boot. We toured a nearby seaside town, Muros, took a boat tour on one of Galicia's "10,000 rivers" to learn about seafood fishing, and traveled to the end of the world--Finisterre. Looking out over the Atlantic ocean, I had plenty of time to philosophize, but all I could come up with was an exhileration mixed with a strange calm. I kept thinking "Oh my God, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here". In some ways, I guess I am sort of a pilgrim, minus the major hike and hardships. My destination is unknown, but I'm definitely heading in the direction of my future. You know, if that wasn't so cheesy.
OH and before I forget, dear God, the food in Galicia. Amazing. In Santiago the dessert was some kind of molecular gastronomy type of thing or something because the flavors were exploding my mouth and so much delicious seafood and empenadas gallegos and literally ENDLESS wine. I would say over that four-day period I (along with all my table-mates) was drunk an average of 2-3 hours per day. Spread over lunch and dinner. EVERY DAY.
I love Galicia. I love Madrid. I just love Spain in general!