Galicia - Ortigueira

Santiago de Compostela

I took the bus from Porto, Portugal, to Santiago to Compostela, the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwest Spain (directly above Portugal).

The landscape of Galicia is nothing like the rest of Spain. It rains a lot, and it's very green with rolling hills and beautiful coastlines.

Galicia is almost a mix between Portugal and Spain. The landscape is more similar to northern Portugal and the people are similar also. Spanish people in this region speak both Spanish and another language called 'Gallego', or Galician. Gallego is like a mix between Portuguese and Spanish. It's very similar to Spanish and even shares a great deal of vocabulary, but it sounds more like Portuguese.
To go to Santiago I had to go through the largest city in Galicia, which is Vigo. Vigo is a large port city with a large river entering the ocean.


Here I am in Santiago de Compostela. This is the famous Cathedral of Santiago (remember that in Spanish Santiago is St. James the Apostle) where it's said that Santiago is buried. This shrine to St. James the Great has been luring millions of tourists a year for centuries (since medieval times, in fact). It is the final destination of the prestigious Christian pilgrimmage 'Way of St. James', or Camino de Santiago. People from all over the world walk, bike, or drive the trails of this pilgrimmage from its origins in Europe or different points in Spain and follow it until they arrive in Santiago.

Here is Santiago (St. James) slaying the Moors, who controled Spain from the 8th century to nearly the 13th, when the Spanish Catholic Kings expelled them from the country. During a battle between the Christians and Moors in the north of Spain, legends say that the image of St. James the Apostle could suddenly be seen in the midst of the battle on horseback fighting against the North Africans. Hence they've gone crazy for it ever since.

Santiago de Compostela has a wonderfully preserved old part of town. I really liked the whitewashed buildings and box windows.

Here is the altar of grand reverance to Santiago inside the cathedral. There's a lot of gold.




I'd really like to walk the Camino de Santiago this summer if I can. Many people do the pilgrimmage in stages, since it's really quite long. From the border of France and Spain, the pilgrimmage is 760 kilometers. To walk this amount, at an average of 30 kilometers a day, it would take you about 26 days to reach Santiago.

You would go through famous northern Spanish cities like Pamplona, Logrono!!!, Burgos, and Leon on your way. So, it's a month long vacation, and if I end up doing it (because I would want to do the entire way through Spain walking, which would take me a month) I will definitely write a lot more about it.

A Hike Around Logrono...

It was a nice Friday afternoon in Logrono, and so I packed my backpack with water and some snacks and I went down by the Ebro River and hiked up a rocky hill that took me over the highest point of the city. I had lived in Logrono for nearly a year and I had never done this. A friend of mine recommended it to me, actually, and so the very next day I went.

Here's the Stone Bridge that crosses the Ebro River. You can see three churches in the background, all located in the Old Part of the city.

The walk up the hill took me through several vineyards, and just yesterday was the first day of the autumn grape harvest for many farmers. The grapes I came across were definitely ready to be picked; they were deep purple and in big thick clusters, hanging from the scraggly grape vines, covered with green and red and violet leaves.

Here is one of the vineyards with Logrono in the background. Logrono is basically in a large valley, and you can see the hills all around it in the distance.

Nobody was looking, so I snatched some grapes to keep me going on the hike. They were all of the 'tempranillo' varietal, which is probably the most common of grapes from La Rioja and Logrono. They're small, red, and they have several small seeds in each one; so, while they taste good, you have to eliminate the seeds as you go. I prefer drinking wine, as do most Spanierds.

The little unripened green grapes. I don't think these will be ready this year.



Here we have the RiojaForum on the left of the picture (a big concert hall), the Plaza de Toros in the center (the Bullfighting Ring), and the rest of the city behind.

The Ebro River twists a few times and flows beneath four or five bridges within the Logrono city limits. Grassy green parks skirt the river and provide it and the people coverage from most of the regular city life.

Here's one of the peaks I climbed with some other hikers (who probably drove up; ha!).





Two days later I took another trek outside the city to visit the largest park in the area, called la Grajera. La Grajera is also on the route of the famous Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), the Christian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I didn't see any pilgrims walking the path with their giant packs, hiking sticks, and funny accents (many of them are from Germany, Belgium, Norway, France............ so on.) It's a little late in the season to be doing the 'Camino'.

Here is the symbol of the 'Camino', the shell, which I think was used as a rudimentary tool way back in the days of the first pilgrims. Anyways, it's a beautiful walk. Lots of nice Spanish countryside.

There is a big manmade lake at la Grajera. There are many trails around it, and it's a santuary for many breeds of animals and birds.



I hung out at the park for a few hours and then took the bus back into town, walking one way was enough, as it's like an hour's back to the city center where I live. I found a nice tree away from all the other 'campers' and people celebrating their Sunday having barbecues and picnics, and I had myself a nice relaxing read and write session, listening to the birds and the trees and watching couples and families walk past on the dirt trails. Gotta take advantage of the weather, y'know! We'll see if I can get out a few more days this year... it's starting the rainy winter season soon.

Better than all that snow though.

Burgos, Castilla y Leon (Spain)

Abby and I visited nearby Burgos in the neighbor autonomous community (province) of Castilla y Leon--also the largest province in Spain. Burgos is on the east side, however, and so it was only about a two hour train ride from Logroño. We left on Saturday morning, got a hotel, and came back on a late afternoon train on Sunday. It was plenty of time to see the city.

Burgos has around 200,000 people, which is a little more than Logroño. It also has a small river running through it, not unlike Logroño either. The top things to see in Burgos are the Cathedral of Burgos, the Santa Maria Arch, and the Monastery de las Huelgas. We had a tour of the Monastery, which is special because it is actually a royal monastery (there are kings, queens, and other royalty buried there), and it is pictured below.


This monastery is from the 12th century. The inside is very well kept and has got beautiful chapels and altars. It´s called Monastery de las Huelgas because it is located on the outskirts of the city, and because this site used to be where the farmers had their little plots of land, which are called Huelgas.


These cool trees are actually trimmed constantly to look like this. There are really nice pathways on either side of the river there lined with these trees. You walk underneath them and notice how some of their limbs have actually grown together--I don´t know if they were helped to do this or what.



The most famous site of Burgos is its cathedral. It´s a Gothic style cathedral because of the rivoted spires and tall portals. It´s located in the center of the city in a nice plaza surrounded by restaurants, touristy shops, and basically everything else. You can walk up a hill and look down on the cathedral and the rest of Burgos from above. It´s a very cool sight with the cathedral amidst all those red tiled roofs.



The picture above her is of the Santa Maria Arch, a gateway into the city center. Walk through the arch and you´ll be in the plaza with the Cathedral of Burgos. It´s a really pretty little city, and it´s usually a lot colder there than in Logroño. They frequently have snow every winter. Abby and I were lucky to score a few days with hot sunny weather!


Another Menú del Día... the common Spanish restaurant meal for lunch. The ´Menu of the Day´is basically a three course meal with wine and bread. It seriously kicks butt if you find the right place, and it usually costs anywhere between €10 to €15 (Euros), which is $15 to $20. Here I think I have some Lomo a la Riojana (Pork loin with red peppers and potatoes). Abby´s got the chicken and fries.


Burgos, like Logroño, is also on Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James)... the second most famous Christian pilgrimage toward the legendary resting place of St. James (Santiago) in a western Spanish city called Santiago de Compostela. Abby is sitting with a bronze pilgrim who liked Burgos and the cathedral so much he decided he´d rest there for some hundred years or so.
Saludos a todos! (Greetings to everyone!)