Sunday, January 08, 2012

France/Spain 2011 - Day 12, Part 1 - Santiago de Compostela

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." - Anatole France

***

France/Spain 2011
Day 12 - 28th March - Santiago de Compostela
(Part 1)

We set off in the morning for some sights in the north.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
We stopped at a bakery for directions (and breakfast): the biggest croissants and pains au chocolat I'd ever seen (0,65€ and 0,75€ respectively). The pain au chocolat was good and had a lot of chocolate. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for the croissant; for some reason there was more butter in the pain than the croissant.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
A house we were forced to drive 5km back so I could take a picture of it. Note the lack of crispness despite it being taken at ISO 100.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Some tower somewhere

We had wanted to see some sites like what one guidebook called the highest cliffs in Europe (San Andres de Teixido). Apparently they're only the highest in continental Europe. In any event we realised we had tarried too long in the morning and would end up returning the car late so we turned back halfway (we would've had to leave at 6 to do everything). Here is a picture of San Andres de Teixido:



According to the Rough Guide, everything in Santiago was closed, except the Cathedral, because it was a Monday. This was mostly alright since I wouldn't have had time to do the other things anyway (I was flying off the next morning) - but I missed out on a treat in a Michelin-starred restaurant because of that.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Carpark with the most confusing parking rates I'd ever seen: the first to fifth minutes were charged at 0,045764€/min and there were different rates for each of the next 5 bands. This carpark also had the smallest lots ever.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Weird Hello Kitty drink. It was super sweet (saccharinely sweet and so suitable for Hello Kitty) and didn't seem to have any real strawberry inside.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Customer feedback forms are available on request"
In other words, you can complain!

We then checked into the hotel.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Paths of St James in Europe

The city was interesting as every now and then, one would run into:

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Pilgrim. Note the scallop shell


I was quite fascinated by this piece of furniture: a stool which could transform into a (short) ladder. More than meets the eye, indeed!

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Lamprey tank. The bottom one was thrashing as I came by.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Menu of one place. This was the first Spanish city I'd been to with restaurants with photos (this was related to it being the most touristy town/city I'd been to, beating even Santillana del Mar). It also had the second and third kebab shops I'd seen.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Rainy street

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another rainy street

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Seafood in a fridge, just like a Chinese zichar

We then had lunch.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Meatballs with squid. The texture was like hainan curry.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Potatoes with 3 cheeses. The shadow is, I was told, because I was too close.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Bread with tomato

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Bread with pork loin and roquefort

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Tortilla with bacalao and peppers

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Stuffed squid

There was a sample platter with 6.5 cakes we should've gotten - I didn't know each would be so small.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Cake of Three Chocolates

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Coconut cake

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Ripoff T-shirts: 'No Pain No Glory', 'You'll never walk alone'

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Santiago marker

Since everything was closed, we went back for a siesta. Later, I found that local tourist information said a few things were open, though they might've been the minor ones - and the cathedral roof was open till 4:20pm. Ah well, I should just have struck out on my own.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Rua de Entremurallas

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Hall

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
There was strange drink pricing: there was a Coke premium; a can of Coke costs 0,52€ but Pepsi is 0,39€

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
"Premium Onion Experience"

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Pop culture T-shirts

Then, I came upon one magnificent Cathedral:

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Fountain and Cathedral

It kept raining and according to a sign, humidity was 95%. No wonder the cathedrals here and in Leon, and in Lugos were mossy.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Corner

The first version of the Cathedral of Santiago dates from the 12th century and was built in the Burgundian style. The French influence is apparent, no wonder it's so nice.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Corner Tower

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Praza das Praterias

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Fountain

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Side of one building

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Side entrance to cathedral

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Plaza

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Plaque about something to do with the Peninsular War (with Napoleon)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Quintana de Mortos

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another entrance to cathedral

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Some bui

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Smart beggar

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
People ignoring smart beggar

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Grand (if pitted and mossy) facade of cathedral

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Monolingual UNESCO sign

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Camera stitches of cathedral's main facade (it's the West Facade, but it sure is built to look like the main one)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Manual stitch

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Hotel with magnificent facade

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Facade from below

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
No I don't know why St James has that hat odd odd

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Through the arch

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Facade from side

The cathedral museum was split into two, so I entered the much smaller half first (from below the main facade).

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Another building


The road signs indicated picturesque villages all used similar clipart.
blog comments powered by Disqus