TRIP TO SPAIN 2015 4

 

At last we made our way to Santiago de Compostela, the third most popular focus of pilgrimages after Jerusalem and Rome.  The camp site was a short bus ride from the centre of town and very cramped but it was well worth the effort as we have dreamed of coming here ever since we became aware of it's existence when we visited various towns on the pilgrimage routes.

 

On Saturday morning we caught the bus to town and when we got off, looking a bit puzzled about which direction to take, a very kind lady also on the bus, took us up some steps, past the market and through some narrow streets to show us the way to the cathedral. We stopped for a coffee first and found ourselves surrounded by pilgrims celebrating their arrival and greeting people they had met along the way.  A bit later we saw a group of musicians setting up ready for a concert so we sat and listened for a while before going into the huge cathedral.

 

The interior was amazing, lots of gold decorations and little chapels all around the outer edge with a huge completely gold crypt containing the relics of St James in the centre next to the nave.  The seats were filling up with people, many of them obviously pilgrims with their scallop shells hanging from their bags.  There was a censor hanging on a very long chain suspended from the ceiling which is swung during the masses every day, however we didn't get to see it in action as we didn't stop to partake in the service but we heard about from some people we met on the campsite. 

 

After a delicious tapas lunch in a lively bar we sat on the steps at the back of the cathedral to watch the world go by.  I sat and sketched the view from our seat and listened as people came and went, greeting friends and promising to keep in touch, while Bob chatted to a Frenchman who sat next to us.  I wondered what the crowd of people I had been drawing were doing so we investigated and discovered they were queuing to get their final stamps on their passports for completing the Camino and collect their certificates. 

 

The atmosphere in Santiago is amazing, full of happiness and camaraderie, so many people have made journeys of a lifetime and found new friends as well as discovering themselves spiritually.

For a little while Bob and I considered doing the Camino and even looked at backpacks and walking boots but common sense soon prevailed as we both have rather creaky knees and a 10 kilometre walk is about the best we can achieve these days.  We met a lovely German girl later at Santillana del Mar who was doing the walk alone, with a 15 kilo pack including a tent and had had to break it into 2 or 3 legs with a rest at home in between.  As an extra challenge she was taking the coastal path which is hillier than the path through the centre crossing the plain.

Next time we're back by the sea so I'll see you again in a few days.

TRIP TO SPAIN 1

We are back at last from our summer trip in the camping car.

 

We took the ferry from Roscoff to Bilbao in northern Spain to save ourselves a very long drive through France at the beginning of the holiday.  The crossing took 21 hours including a night on board so I made sure to take my sketchbook and crayons with me to keep myself amused as we went along.  As you can see I started on Bob as he sat reasonably still reading his Kindle book.

We eventually arrived at the tip of Brittany and as the sea was a bit rough the captain had decided to pass down the Chenal de Four in the shelter of Ouessant island.  We have been down this route several times on our own boat and we certainly would not have wanted to do it in a small boat this time as the waves were quite high!

 

 

As we cruised along we were able to spot several of the lighthouses we knew and we soon started to realise that we had passed some of them more than once and we seemed to be going round in circles. We wondered if the captain had lost his way but when I and several other passengers enquired at the desk we were told that the captain had a pilot on board to show him the more difficult way through the rocks so that in future he could do the route alone.  The lady in the perfume shop, who turned out to be a friend of Stephanie my baker friend, joked that it was 'la route dinatoire' in other words a calm way to go so passengers didn't get seasick!

 

After a pleasant evening and a good sleep we drove off at 8 the next morning into a very damp drizzly day.  We had thought to stop at a campsite near Bilbao in order to visit the city and the Guggenheim museum but the camp I had found didn't live up to our expectations so we drove on westwards with the promise that we would do the visit on the return journey.  We stopped at Ribadesella and found an almost empty, very friendly campsite, and only a couple of kilometres walk from the town and beach.

 

The walk into town was downhill all the way along footpaths and roads so on our first walk the next day I collected a lovely bunch of wild flowers from the side of the road to put on the table and to draw of course.  I counted at least 16 species and I hadn't picked everything I saw!

 

The town was very attractive with lots of interesting buildings in the centre as well as a church.  It's on the 'Camino' to Santiago de Compostela and the paths are marked through the town with painted scallop shells.  We saw quite a few pilgrims with their rucksacks decorated with a hanging shell.

 

The campsite was carved in terraces out of the hillside with the mountains in the distance looming above us.  I sat one afternoon on the top terrace to draw this as we had decided to camp at the bottom level, being easier for us to access with our big camper car.

Next time I'll take you to see the beach and tell you about a very interesting encounter.