Travels in Spain 2010

(Note: newer posts are at the end of the this entry)


Your intrepid pilgrim has reached the one of the three major holy sites of Christiandom: Santiago de Compostela. For over 1000 years, pilgrims have made their way from all over Europe to the purported resting spot of the bones of St. James (aka San Tiago). Much like Muslims going to Mecca or the Hindus going to the Ganges, Christians have made their way here, and to Jerusalem and to Rome to honor their great spiritual leaders.

Jack and I left Phoenix yesterday morning and flew to Atlanta; then on to Madrid and then on to Santiago where we finally arrived 17 hours later. We were met by my brother Skip and sister-in-law Linda who will be our hosts on their infamous boat, Windhorse. They left Windhorse in a marina about 70 km away and came to explore Santiago with us. Our travel adventures continued as we tried to find our parador, the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos. This is supposedly the oldest hotel in the world! It was built in 1499 by Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand as a hospital to help the pilgrims who arrived in Santiago de Compostela after hundreds of miles on foot, weary and often sick. In the 1954 this building was converted into one of many “paradors” around Spain-from a hospital to a hotel in 9 months! We stayed in one at the Alhambra in Granada a few years back. These historic buildings (or now called Hotel/Museums in a few cases) have been largely preserved by being converted into traveler lodging. However, our pilgrimage was extended as we had trouble finding the entrance to the hotel since streets were blocked off for construction and tourism.
Mermaid Fountain in a Hostal Courtyard


The hotel sits cattycorner from the Cathedral on Plaza do Obradoiro which is an expansive square named after the workshops set up there during the construction of the cathedral in the 11th century. In the north–east corner, the twin towers of the baroque facade reach 76m into the sky, their sheer scale in keeping with the role religion has played in the establishment and growth of the city.

Administrative Building for the region

Arranged around the other three sides are monuments to the lesser driving forces behind Santiago's development: royal patronage, civic duty and the thirst for knowledge. On the south side of the square stands the Colexio de San Xerome, witness to Santiago's status as a seat of learning since the late middle ages. (we saw a sign carved into a wall indicating it’s creation at 1666). To the west, the Paxo de Raxoi – an elegant neoclassical palace and former seminary – which is home today to the regional government of Galicia, where civil servants turning up for work are greeted by a bust of Archbishop Bartolomé de Raxoi, and his motto: "Live as if you had to die tonight, work as if you had to remain forever in this world." In the 1980s, Santiago became the capital of Galicia.

Front Door of Hostal
The square is closed on the north side by the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, a Renaissance building commissioned by Isabella and Ferdinand, as mentioned before. This square is the center of the historic and tourist activity for the city and thus, most auto traffic is banned. We finally found our way to the front of the hotel and turned over our car to the staff. As we trudged out of the car we were greeted by the sound of bagpipes and host of flags. Wait! Where are we? Is this Scotland where we met Skip and Linda last year? No, as we will learn more about later, Galicia has ancient Celtic ties including the influence on culture and language.

While you might expect that the high point of the trip was the Cathedral, for our intrepid pilgrims, the elegance of this 500 year old building, with its conversion to an elegant hotel, was the top of our list! We got to live in this building; while just visiting the Cathedral.

One of the Hotel Courtyards
After dropping our things off in our rooms and taking some photos of this magnificent building, we headed across the square to the cathedral, only to be interrupted by the sight of a café which reminded us that we were hungry and thirsty. We watched pilgrims with their walking sticks (many that had gourds and scallop shells adorning them) and other visitors, wandering minstrels stopping to play for coins, and garden variety tourists moving through the streets at what would traditionally be siesta time.
Linda and Jack during our walk

After lunch we alas headed for the massive building that has in its basement a stone box that supposedly has the bones of St. James that were found in the vicinity of this town. So here is the story as I read about it:

It all began with a star. Early in the 9th century a hermit called Paio is said to have seen a particularly bright one shining over the spot where the city now stands. He reported his vision to the local bishop, who saw the star for himself and – according to a 12th-century manuscript called the Historia Compostelana – "found among the undergrowth and bushes below a small marble tomb". The bishop declared it to contain the remains of St James the Apostle, and a local king, King Alonso II of neighbouring Asturias, "overflowing with joy at such important news," commissioned a shrine to be built.

St James's connections with Iberia are a matter of conjecture but most accounts contain two central ideas: that he preached the gospel on the peninsula as well as in Galilee, and that after he was martyred at the hands of Herod in AD44, his body was carried to Padrón, some 20km from Santiago, where his disciples took it inland for safe burial. We past by Padrón on our way to the coast later Wednesday.

Some people claim that the tomb does not contain the remains of St James at all, but rather those of Priscillian, an ascetic bishop who mixed his newly learned Christian faith with his traditional Celtic beliefs. He built up a substantial following in the region during his lifetime, until, in 345, he became one of the first Christians to be executed for heresy. Over the next decades and centuries his popularity continued to grow, prompting some to suggest the story of St James was superimposed in an attempt to counter Priscillian's influence.

In any event, the legend of St James became a rallying point for Christian Spain. Perhaps conscious of its significance, Abu Amir al–Mansur, the military commander of the caliphate of Córdoba (where we also visited in 06), mounted a devastating raid in 997, razing the city and transporting the church's bells on the backs of Christian prisoners to be installed as lamps in the Great Mosque. Had his ruthlessness been absolute, Santiago's story might have been very different. But al–Mansur left the tomb intact and with it the seed of a new city.


Santiago is still the major attraction in the 21st century. In years that have July 25 landing on a Sunday, a major festival occurs in and around Santiago: 2010 is just one of those years. So, for most of July, there will be special cultural events and extra tourism in celebration of the Jubilee.

pilgrim badges seen in the museum in st. andrews, scotland

The scallop that was seen on the walking staffs and on tin pins worn by ancient pilgrims of the past, is the symbol of St. James and the pilgrimage. This is because of a legend that he rescued a drowning knight who emerged from the sea covered in them. The symbol of the scallop shell, carved into fence posts and milestones, fashioned in ceramics and stained glass, now marks the way along all four main routes of the most important Christian pilgrimage after Rome and the Holy Land itself. I have a photo of the badges used by pilgrims in the 1500s (St. Andrews and St. James) that we saw in the museum at St. Andrews.



Jesse Column at the "pilgrim's entrance" to the Santiago Cathedral
The Cathedral has many layers to it as its construction and renovations have occurred over the centuries. While we were there the famous “Glory Doorway” of the pilgrims was closed off due to restoration work on the great columns and sculptures by Master Mateo. However, we could look closely at the columns and see how worn they were in spots where pilgrims would alas come, touch and kiss their patron saint at his “final” resting place. Other items of interest were a huge ornate organ; and the main altar is gilded and gorgeous. There is an interesting balance sought between maintaining the sacred nature of this building along with its historic and touristic significance. We never did see the crypt with the remains of St. James which is beneath the main alter.

Hotel Doorhandles









We wound our way around the small streets lined with shops and covered walkways and made our way back to the hotel by 6PM for a short time to refresh before having a traditional dinner in the hotel including dishes such as scallops (Coquille St. Jacque, of course) local bread (wheat and raisins), veal chop with Galician potatoes, salad with nuts and cheese. We spent a short while sitting on the steps of the hotel after dinner watching the glow of the 10PM sunset illuminating the cathedral.






Skip,my much older brother.






Wednesday, June 23, 2010 En board the Windhorse in SanXenxo, Spain
We are sitting on Windhorse in the bright sunlight and it is 7:15 PM. It feels like about 3PM at home. It doesn’t get dark here till after 10 PM. The boat is tied up at the RCNS Real Calixa Nautique SanXenxo (the local yacht club). Jack is reading his kindle and I am typing away on my notes while Linda is putting away the groceries we just bought and Skip is touching up his hull. At some point, we will cook dinner and eat-but in Spanish style—not for a couple of hours yet!

After failing to fall asleep till after midnight last night, we managed to sleep till 8:45 am-a feat for Jack and me! We went to the morning dining room at the Hostal for a buffet breakfast of cheeses, dried meats, torta espanol, pastries and breads, fruit. We headed across the square to find out what contemporary art is like in this community and took about an hour to make what was supposed to be a 10 minute walk. Of course, that was due to photographic delays, stops in churches, exploring alleys, etc. The concierge told us that the museum was already open when we left the hotel, but we found that it wasn’t open till noon, so we explored the neighborhood and waited for it to open.
There were two exhibits that were both rather bizarre for our tastes. The second one was by and about an artist from Holland who did graduate work at Claremont Graduate school and while teaching at U.C. Irvine, did some multimedia exhibits, part of which was to include his experience of single-handedly sailing across the Atlantic in a 14 foot boat. He never made it, but his boat was found in the British Isles a year later.
We did make it back to the hotel in about 10 minutes and packed up to head west to the ocean.

Our drive took us through small towns, many homes with small vineyards, storage bins for grains high above the ground to avoid critters getting into the wheat and corn. We joined the toll-way and completed the ride on a 4-lane highway by-passing towns, but going through groves of pine and eucalyptus trees. As we arrived in Sanxenxo, we found ourselves in a beach community with the usual hotels along the water, white sand beaches with colorful umbrellas and ice cream stands. We moved through the village figuring out where we would go to shop for food, where the rental car place was and how to get into the marina. Voila! We found our way to the yacht club and dropped off our stuff.
After a delicious lunch of vegetables, cheese and local bread and Ribeira wine, we headed out to do our errands. Linda and I walked to the super-mercado we passed earlier only to find it was closed and under construction. So we walked up hill for a while and found a smaller merado and loaded up our backpack and bags and walked back a mile or two to the boat. Meanwhile, the boys dropped off the rental car and walked back. Everyone was happy to be back on the boat and our home-away-from home. We have had beautiful sunny weather so far on the trip and we are watching a fog creep into our world from the west as we visit Sanxenxo.

24 June 2010 en route to Bayona (Baiona), Spain

Last evening on board Windhorse was quiet-lovely dinner, puttering around. However the night outside was quite loud---there were festivals in the vicinity with loud firecrackers going off till 2 or 3 a.m. If it weren’t for an attack of a mosquito who seemed to have a thing for me, I wouldn’t have noticed the noise all night…but the darn bug kept nibbling at my back for hours!

This morning we left Sanxenxo and headed to Combarro, an interesting little town that Skip and Linda had visited already. We headed up the Rio de Pontevedra for about an hour past a Naval Academy and a paper manufacturing plant. We anchored off Combarro and took the dingy ashore. We visited folks from Holland on a neighbor boat whom Skip and Linda had met before.


Combarro is a fishing village famous for its fishing and muscles. It has a quaint old town with granite-block buildings and stone streets. There is also much farming in the area and they speak of the fishermen’s houses facing the sea and the farmers’ houses facing inland. There is a lore about witches here and the transition from traditional Celtic pagan practices to Christian religious beliefs. There are posts throughout the village with images of Christ and Mary carved in them where previously witches had practiced their magic. It is rumored that farmers still consult witches today when they have concerns about crops and some folks still seek out witches to help cure illnesses. Consequently, all the little gift shops have witch dolls and toys.

The other interesting architectural detail you see in this old village are the “horreos“. These are small buildings on granite stilts that are used to store corn or other grains up off the ground so as to keep mice or other pests away from them and to keep it dry.
(We saw some of them as we drove down to Sanxenxo). The town is very colorful and most old homes were occupied, had flowers growing on the balconies and were built on rock outcroppings. The “new” town was less interesting, other than the great, traditional bakery!

Off we go now toward an island with a bird sanctuary close to Baiona. Baiona is the first mainland landfall in 1493 after returning from the “New World.”. This bay (Vigo Bay) also was the site of a significant loss of ships carrying gold and silver (tons!) that was immortalized by Jules Verne in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” We stopped en route at the little islands with rock outcroppings and forests covering them. We hung out on the boat with Skip working on a new boat design, Linda ironing and reading and cooking; Jack reading and I am finally learning how to use my new camera properly!


Very few boats around us here. One sailboat was here when we arrived and left; another boat has arrived and anchored; a police cruiser came by, circled us and left. I think they were just intrigued by the unusual design of this boat...looks almost paramilitary! Later, a military helicopter came by and circled us, taking pictures as well. Then, around 10:30 PM, a rubber bottom customs boat came and boarded us and asked for all the information Skip and Linda had given twice before since being in Spain! It turns out that this area is a major entry point for drug smugglers from Columbia. They distribute drugs all over Europe from here. The very nice agent told us that we wouldn’t be bothered again in this part of Spain, but we might be in other parts. He said there would not be as many agents in the other part of Spain as most of the drug trade was in the NorthWest.

25 June 2010 Departing Illa de San Martino or Isle do Sur
Linda and I took a walk on one of the little islands in the Cies Archipelago which is at the mouth of the Vigo River. There are 3 little islands here and we anchored here last night. There were several little buildings on this island (Illa de San Martino) that looked abandoned as opposed to the larger island where there were more people and apparently a visitor center. We enjoyed walking, picking up trash and putting it in a bag and even bringing home a little rock as a momento. There were pretty shells, but Linda read a pamphlet that said not to pick them up, so we didn’t.
Because we had to get out of the dinghy in the water, I didn’t bring my camera which was a shame as there were some beautiful rock formations and wildflowers. I did capture a couple of shots from the boat. There were hundreds of seagulls and a few European Shags (black duck-like bird) on the island. We didn’t see any other types of wildlife. Now off for Bayona.

26 June 2010 Bayona Spain
This is a little town of about 11,000 people and a “bedroom community” for Vigo, Spain. It was founded in 140 B.C. so there are supposedly Roman ruins here!
We are docked at the major yacht club here in town that is at the foot of the Monterreal
Fortress that now houses another beautiful Parador. According to a royal warrant issued by king Alfonso XI the wall was built around 1337. Notwithstanding, evidence confirms that the castle did already exist in the 10th century. The fortress represents the visible consequence of king Alfonso XI's disagreements with the king of Portugal.

We arrived mid-afternoon and found our way to the dock and tied up.
What an amazing site to see a fort from the 10th century behind the Monte Real yacht club de Bayone. This town is most famous for having been the first spot where Columbus stopped (March, 1493) when returning from discovering the “New World.” We saw several monuments to this visit throughout the town.
We also found the most important resource, the “supermercado” where Linda could restock the boat with everything from “natural” products to wine and beer. It’s hard to find “additive-free” products as you travel from port to port. Linda has had to learn how to read food labels in many languages. We explored the “old town” but most everything was closed since it was during “siesta time.” The old town is mostly residential plus hotels and restaurants.

We saw very few signs of art galleries or stores of interest (other than a few marine produce stores that were of interest to Skip who needed to fix an antenna). We stopped for a cup of coffee and stayed to watch a World Cup game (Brazil and Portugal). We returned to the boat refreshed then went for a walk all the way around the fortification of the city. The sunset was spectacular! It’s still hard to fathom that the sunset is at 10:30 PM!

We slept in this morning and played with our cameras, photos and computers. Took a walk through town again and then returned to get ready to come to the yacht club to watch the World Cup and have dinner…This time we are watching US and Ghana….We were surrounded by Spaniards who had a keen interest in the sport, if not these two teams. We moved to another part of the room after US was down 2-1 and had various versions of paella for dinner to drown our sorrows since the US never came back. Beautiful day, otherwise, balmy weather, nice breeze and good company. We had dinner with a couple of other crusing types—from Holland. As we spoke about Santiago de Compostela, Gerard reminded us that those who make the pilgrimage to Santiago during the "Holy Year" (this year!)are absolved of all sins! Good news for us!!!