tcm
...
The apostle st james was killed by Herod in AD44, and his mates took him back to his favourite place near the end of the earth in north-west spain, and promptly lost him to the dark ages. About 800 years later somebody found a dead body in the same area and the local bishop had a look and said hurrah- it's St James, no question about it. Santiago di Compostella means burial place of St James. Nothing to do with jimi's holding tank.
The done thing is to go on a pilgrimage, and SdC is second most popular pilgrimage spot after Rome and Jerusalem, apparently. From Paris, for example, there is a cafe called "le Depart" which celebrates the departure point for french pilgrims in Boulevarde St Michel. And now i've finally made the trip as well, taking the modern route via Gatwick and Stansted airport. It's not far from L Coruna and renting a car is cheap.
The middle of Santiago is a big square with a fabuloulsy ghastly cathedral. Inside, there's a queue to see the actual no-question-about-it remains of St James. Embracing various statues is conclusively proven to bring good luck to you, another one where apparently you kiss it in order to catch any disease going, and finally you knock your head on the final statue to acquire intelligence. It's a good job that we in the west have these proper sensible religions based on Truth and Fact, i reckon.
Mostly, that's about it. You can wander around the narrrow streets and go to bars the rest of the time. It is fine to nip in, have a bit of food and a glass of wine, and then off to the next. A nice very laid-back bar is the Casino bar in a road called Vilar. Foodwise, "pulpo" is squid which is ok, and "revuelta" (sp) is scrambled eggs.
A fab reaturant walkable just outside the old town is Michelin 1-star and called toni Vicente (toni is not mafia, it's a she) and all very fab food.
The Parador do Reyes Catholicos in the centre of the town is recommended. This is a big brutal building yonks old next to the cathedral in the main square, and you can stay there for about 230euros for a double room a nite. Itis sort-of run by the govt, apparently, but really i reckon they just lease the building, perhaps. Anyway it's quite few stars and properly hotelish.
The hotel looks like a prison from the front cos there are almost no windows on the front but there are a few, with balconies. I also had a swift look at a brochure about the other rooms and thort uh-oh, if swmbo finds about these other rooms later i may have to come back. It seems quite normal to ask about an upgrade at which point you get shown round giant suites with spare rooms and ceilings over 20 feet high, and it costs about double, but all very swish.
The very holiest day is St james birthday on25th July which is also my birthday as well, and if this falls on a suday it's a Holy Year. The next one is 2010. I bet the queue in the cathedral will be massive, tho.
Anyway, good spot to go if you haven't been. Ryanair takes 40 mins to cross the Bay of Biscay, which felt a bit awkwardly sort of cheating really. The ticket costs 20quid. The bloke across the aisle in the plane sed his cost him 2p, git.
The done thing is to go on a pilgrimage, and SdC is second most popular pilgrimage spot after Rome and Jerusalem, apparently. From Paris, for example, there is a cafe called "le Depart" which celebrates the departure point for french pilgrims in Boulevarde St Michel. And now i've finally made the trip as well, taking the modern route via Gatwick and Stansted airport. It's not far from L Coruna and renting a car is cheap.
The middle of Santiago is a big square with a fabuloulsy ghastly cathedral. Inside, there's a queue to see the actual no-question-about-it remains of St James. Embracing various statues is conclusively proven to bring good luck to you, another one where apparently you kiss it in order to catch any disease going, and finally you knock your head on the final statue to acquire intelligence. It's a good job that we in the west have these proper sensible religions based on Truth and Fact, i reckon.
Mostly, that's about it. You can wander around the narrrow streets and go to bars the rest of the time. It is fine to nip in, have a bit of food and a glass of wine, and then off to the next. A nice very laid-back bar is the Casino bar in a road called Vilar. Foodwise, "pulpo" is squid which is ok, and "revuelta" (sp) is scrambled eggs.
A fab reaturant walkable just outside the old town is Michelin 1-star and called toni Vicente (toni is not mafia, it's a she) and all very fab food.
The Parador do Reyes Catholicos in the centre of the town is recommended. This is a big brutal building yonks old next to the cathedral in the main square, and you can stay there for about 230euros for a double room a nite. Itis sort-of run by the govt, apparently, but really i reckon they just lease the building, perhaps. Anyway it's quite few stars and properly hotelish.
The hotel looks like a prison from the front cos there are almost no windows on the front but there are a few, with balconies. I also had a swift look at a brochure about the other rooms and thort uh-oh, if swmbo finds about these other rooms later i may have to come back. It seems quite normal to ask about an upgrade at which point you get shown round giant suites with spare rooms and ceilings over 20 feet high, and it costs about double, but all very swish.
The very holiest day is St james birthday on25th July which is also my birthday as well, and if this falls on a suday it's a Holy Year. The next one is 2010. I bet the queue in the cathedral will be massive, tho.
Anyway, good spot to go if you haven't been. Ryanair takes 40 mins to cross the Bay of Biscay, which felt a bit awkwardly sort of cheating really. The ticket costs 20quid. The bloke across the aisle in the plane sed his cost him 2p, git.
