SPAIN: SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA ACCOMMODATIONS, FOOD, AND CITY SITES

 June 29-30, 2022

I. OUR HOTEL

We typically book hotels with high-ish ratings but avoid the five-star hotels that are generally beyond our budget. However, we splurged in Santiago de Compostela and booked a room for two nights in the  five-star Parador Hostal de Los Reyes Católicos, one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the world and supposedly one of the most luxurious hotels in Spain. The big draw for us was not the luxury, but its location on the Obradoiro Plaza and next to the Cathedral.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (yes, the monarchs who financed Columbus's voyages) made their own pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1486, and once there, recognized the need for a hospital and hostel for pilgrims. They funded the building project, which was completed in 1511. Pilgrims could recover in the rooms (three days in summer, five days in winter), and medical care was provided as needed, all at no cost to the pilgrims. It continued as a hostel/hospital for over 400 years. 

In 1953, the hospital, which by now was serving members of the community as well, was moved to another location, and in 1954 the building opened as a hotel. It became part of the Paradores hotel network it in 1986.

The hotel still provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day to the first ten pilgrims who prove they have completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

The front façade is the original from the early 16th century. Think about that. This dates back to the within a decade or two after Columbus made his first voyage.

Our room was spacious and comfortable, but by no means the most luxurious we have stayed in.

However, this might be the largest bathroom we've ever had in a hotel.

Our room was on the ground floor and faced away from the square, which probably made it quieter at night, but it would have been fun to look out over the square and towards the cathedral. That option was probably another $100/night.

The hotel has 122 guest rooms and four courtyards like the one below:

Elegant touches are everywhere.

We ate lunch in the hotel restaurant, a flight of stairs below the check-in desk. It looks like it could have been a wine cellar back in the day.

They specialize in Galician food, a term new to us but which refers to the northwest section of the Iberian peninsula, which is where we were.  Clockwise from top left: bread and dipping oil, borscht topped with sheep cheese and oil, hake (a type of fish) and mussels, and stewed broad beans with octopus and cockles.

The piece de resistance was the baked suckling lamb shoulder with fried peppers. It was so good that we got it again the next time we ate here.

In addition to the lamb, our second meal included what I think is monkfish, a bowl of clams, a roasted suckling pig with mashed potatoes. It was ALL amazing--definitely a restaurant worth seeking out if you find yourself if Santiago de Compostela.

Staying in the absolute heart of the city in this historic building with its beautiful architecture and outstanding food made the visit for us. We would do it again in a heartbeat.

II. OLD TOWN

The Old Town area of Santiago de Compostela, which includes the cathedral and main square and the warren of narrow streets surrounding them, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had a wonderful time strolling through the cobblestone streets and enjoying the unique aspects of the city.

Of course, we had to go inside this shop, with its line-up of legs reminiscent of the lamp in A Christmas Story.

 

Can you see the similarity?

The pork was priced according to the curing process and was not cheap, but that didn't stop Bob. He was like a kid in a candy shop. They packaged up our purchase in a nice container, but it didn't stay there very long. It was amazing, perhaps the best cured pork we've ever had.

There were dolls in traditional Galician dress wearing Covid masks dotted with the cross of St. James.

We saw lots of products and images that referred to the Camino, including a Beatles knock-off and SpongeBob SquarePants the Pilgrim.

There were plenty of souvenirs for the more traditional shopper.

I brought home a scallop shell necklace for myself and a few more for gifts.

One thing I noticed pretty early in our walk is that the locals don't speak Spanish, at least not the Spanish I speak. Most of what we heard was Galician, which looks and sounds more like Portuguese to me than like Spanish. Most of the shops had someone who could speak Spanish, so I got along, but it was disconcerting to be in Spain and unable to understand the language!

However, I knew we were in Spain when I saw this statue of my friend the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in a square named after him.

Bob had scouted out a restaurant for dinner, and we walked away from the traditional Old Town area to find it, but alas, it was booked for a large party and closed to the public. Still, we got to see Santiago de Compostela from a different angle, and in my mind it was worth the extra walking.

Our meanderings took us back to Old town, where we settled for an outdoor dining experience in a wide section of an alley. Restaurante Entre Ruas is Galician for the "Restaurant Between Streets."

Compared to the amazing food in the hotel dining room, this was pretty ho-hum. I ordered a "typical" Portuguese soup that was little more than broth and cabbage with a few white beans and one or two small chunks of carrot. Bob had octopus "medallions" covered in paprika that were also pretty mediocre.

There are gathering places and monuments all over old town, including the one on the far wall in the picture below (left) paying homage to Cardinal Archbishop Martin de Herrera, "the zealous and indefatigable organizer of pilgrimages to this holy apostolic metropolitan basilica."

A fountain of potable water for in-coming pilgrims (and anyone else).

As we meandered, we began to see police officers and vehicles in Old Town . . 

. . . and shortly after we heard shouting and what sounded like guns going off. We didn't see anyone running and the police weren't too bothered, so we stuck around to watch what turned out to be a labor union strike. The signs and chanting are in Galician, but from what I could tell, it was a strike involving several groups from various service industries. They were asking for better wages and working conditions. When I looked up "CCOO Union, Spain," I discovered that the union is aligned with the Communist Party and focuses mostly on labor rights. 

You can tell that it was very loud because as the group draws nearer, the people passing in front of my camera are covering their ears. The amplified voices and shooting off of what we think were the air guns used to frighten storks from agricultural fields added to some hearing damage I already had, and it was several days before I felt like I wasn't trying to hear underwater.

The parade made its way, appropriately, to Obradoiro Square (Worker's Square), which is the plaza in front of the cathedral and our hotel.

They stood with their backs to a government building on the far side of the square from the cathedral, and for the most part, the pilgrims didn't pay too much attention to them.

III. THE CHURCH OF SAN BIEITO DO CAMPO

While cathedral dominates the city, we did stop in to see a couple of other churches. The first was the Church of San Bieito do Campo, built in the 11th century and remodeled in the 12th and 14th centuries, but then demolished in the 18th century and rebuilt. I believe the Galician Bieito is "Benedict" in English. In spite of its rather austere exterior, the interior was full of colorful art.

4. PARISH CHURCH OF SAN FRUCTUOSO

This church can be seen from the cathedral square. In 656 Fructuosus of Braga, a local bishop, founded a monastery on this site. The current church was built between 1754 and 1767. Do you see the four figures flanking the bell tower? They represent the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, strength, and temperance.

It has an unusual wide conical dome rather than the traditional rounded one.

Here is what the dome looks like inside.

There is something just a little creepy about this church that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it is the heavy drapery behind some of the sculptures

In some cases it is the poses and faces of the figures themselves.

Hopefully I don't offend anyone, but it seems like the perfect place to film a scary movie.