Santiago de Compostela

(Parte Dos)
I made it to the bus station in plenty of time, and got to Principe Pío with enough time before my train to stop at that awesome Chinese restaurant for dinner. Super tasty! Kind of expensive though, will maybe stick with the 2€ rice in the future. Hopped on the metro, wandered around the train station awhile trying to figure out where in the heck I needed to catch my train, and eventually got it all figured out.

Let me say this though: I should've taken a freakin' plane or the bus. The train was *not* more comfortable than a bus--less so. It was absolutely freezing, I had just as much leg room, and I couldn't lean back my seat. They kept the lights on past 1am, and there was no helpful signery or announcer saying where we were everytime we stopped, so I was a little panicky. I got some sleep, spoke with nearby passengers, and managed to get off at Santiago. Whew! I got something to drink, then prepared to head out to Santiago.

The problem was, the directions I printed out sent me to my hostel, which I was pretty sure wouldn't be open for checkin at 7:30am. Luckily, there was a giant map near the bus station, and I more or less figured out where to go. I first headed for the Office of Tourism seeking a map, and with the help of a nice policeman found it. Of course, it didn't open until 11, and I was there around 8....so I headed for the cathedral which I knew must be close by because I could see the towers. I wandered around a bit and found it!

It was really pretty. Unfortunately, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get into the darn thing. The gates at the front were all closed, since it was so early. I wandered about the square, saw the crazy flagstone thing being set up (which I didn't figure out until later what exactly that meant), and then wandered off to find something substantial to eat, since the ibuprophen gives me a stomachache ache if I don't eat enough. I wandered until the shops went away, then backtracked up a hill. I ended up in this little plaza, and saw a church with its doors open. I was like heck, might as well stop and see the pretty church...

...and it turns out it was the entrance to the cathedral! I was pretty pumped about that. I looked around for a bit, and it was really pretty. I saw a sign that I thought said no photos (it's was a picture of a camera with a line going through it, don't look at me like that), so I only wandered. There was like no one there, so it was really cool to have the place practically to myself. Have I mentioned I really like churches? They're just so peaceful. I sat for a bit too, cuz I was kinda tired.

Then I got up and trudged on in search of breakfast. I stopped at a few places, but they pretty much only served pastries and such. Then, I made it to another plaza and there was a little pub right on the corner. And lo and behold, it served eggs and french fries (okay, sounds weird but was awesome)! So, I went in and had a very lovely breakfast. I somehow managed to get a free churro and tarta de Santiago, which I guess must just come with all the breakfasts? I'm still not sure how that happened. The pub was warm though, so I stayed and read for a couple hours so that everything would be nice and open by the time I left, and hopefully a little warmer.

....It wasn't. Warm that is, was open. Did I mention that it had been misting since I set foot? And there I was, in a tank top and shorts. Sigh. I would've been fine if it weren't for all the wet. So, I walked along the street back towards the Office of Tourism and saw a rain coat in one of the windows!! I immediately went in and bought it (5€) and was sooo much more comfortable after that :D I made my way to the Office of Tourism, stood in line in the tiny office for awhile (and suddenly had no problems being cold), and finally got my map, along with a list of suggested places to visit. Ahhhh, success! I immediately set off for the one located furthest away, intending to hit other things on my way back.

So, I have I mentioned that the streets in Santiago are absolutely insane? Spain has no never heard of right angles or a grid. Finding the first museum was intense, and I got turned around in this one little square for a good five minutes, walking back and forth across it until I finally figured out where I was. Whew! Also, maps really don't take into account elevation, which can be really mind-boggling when your'e lost and trying to get somewhere. Maybe I'm just too used to flat Central Indiana...Luckily, Santiago is pretty small (at least the center is), and even with all my walking in circles it didn't take too long to get to the first stop: Museo de Pobo Galego.

When I got to the Museo de Pobo Galego, the receptionist was really nice and helpful (yay discounts for students!) and gave me a map, explained where everything was, then gave me a key and took my backpack. The whole museum was in Gallego with papers in English on the exhibit, but I wasn't in the mood to read that much, so I just did a lot of looking. I think Pobo Galego must translate to something like the Gallego People or something, because it was dedicated to basically various aspects of life in Galicia. The first floor was kinda boring, because was mostly how everyone worked and made a living way back when (sorry, old farm equipment just isn't exciting). The upper levels were pretty cool though, especially the spiral staircase!! They had exhibits for clothing, musical instruments, art, all sorts of things. The museum was also connected to this really old church as well, which was pretty, but kinda of in a former way. Like, you knew it used to be gorgeous once, but had now fallen into disrepair. I don't think they even hold mass there anymore.

Right next to the Museo de Pobo Galego was the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, the contemporary art museum. This one I enjoyed much less, probably because I'm not a huge art or old TV fan. Because that's what a lot of the museum seemed to be dedicated to--TV. I just don't do black and white. They did have some other contemporary art, and all of it was pretty weird to say the least, and kinda disturbing at times. One that stood out to me was a series of photographs of little girls posed in "sex kitten" outfits. Very unsettling. I didn't stay long, and headed back out to Santiago.

By this time, it was getting to be lunch time (by Spanish standards), so I headed in the direction of my hostel, with the intention to stop at a yummy-looking restaurant on the way. I didn't find one until I was back to the neighborhood around the cathedral, but I'm so glad I stopped there. The food was phenomenal. I had the menu of the day and chose a house salad, chicken with cream sauce, and water. The service was almost morbidly slow, but the woman serving me was really nice and I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't mind. The house salad had tomatoes, lettuce, AVOCADO (*insert rapturous face here*), and what I think was squid, some sort of shellfish anyway and an oil dressing. The shellfish was easy to pick out though (I don't do creepy seafood), and did I mention it had avocado? I also had a nice basket of super tasty bread to go with it, was delicious. Have I described the bread I encountered in Santiago yet? No? Well, it was amazing. Most of the bread I'd had up to that point was typical french bread, like what you put bruschetta on. This was...different. In a way I can't really put into words, because I'm not even sure how to describe it. It was darker, and the bottom was all super floury. And totally tastier. Anyways. The chicken was in a mushroom cream sauce, which was perfectly supplemented by the tasty tasty bread. Finally, I chose my dessert--flan. It was...nothing like I expected. Imagine if pudding and jello had a baby--it'd taste like flan. It was topped with chocolate syrup, surrounded in whipped cream, and was pretty tasty.

By this time, I was all sorts of full and getting to be a bit tired. I walked the last several blocks to my hostel and found it without much issue. Got checked in without issue as well, and then climbed two giant flights of stairs to my room (*pantpant*). Got settled in, then laid down to take a nice little nap before exploring the rest of the items on my list (since they close for siesta anyway).

...uhm, maybe slept a little longer than anticipated. Not super long though, so no big deal. I dragged myself from the (sorta) comfy bed and ventured back out into Segovia. First stop: Igrexa de San Martiño Pinario.

Heh, heh. So, about that. I couldn't figure out how to get into the freaking building. The guy in the Office of Tourism put an arrow on my map telling me how, but he either put it in the wrong place or the map was just that confusing. I finally gave up since I thought the list said it closed at 6 and it was after 5:30. So, I went to the next stop, Museo Sacro, which was much easier to find. It was in this really pretty church, and had a whole bunch of art and "articles of mass" (dunno what else to call them as a group--vestaments, chalices, the thingy they use for Adoration, etc). No pictures, and it wasn't super exciting, but was neat enough.

Next, I set off for the Museo das Peregrinacións e de Santiago. This one was tucked away a little, but I managed to find it okay because it was pretty close to the main plaza I'd been visiting. Once again, not overly exciting. Was pretty neat though. My favorite was an exhibit at the top that had a bunch of different pilgrim's notebooks...I think there must've been some sort of contest, because they had first and second place marked. They were all pretty cool, and really creative.

As I was leaving, I decided to take a different way back, and guess what I stumbled upon? The entrance to the Ingrexa de San Martiño Pinario!! The entrance was really pretty, and I made it with just enough time before they closed :D It opens into a church, which is absolutely beautiful, with little capillas on the side. And then off to one side of the church, it opened up into the museum aspect of the monastery. There were all kinds of neat exhibits, and the rooms were all situated at various levels, so it was an interesting journey. One of the coolest exhibits was an old laboratory from way back when. I really like the idea of science and religion coexisting peacefully :) There was also an animal exhibit which was honestly kinda random, a bunch of paintings of cardinals and popes (I really enjoy Pope Portraits, dunno why), and then it went across to the choir that looked over the church. It was so elegant and beautiful.

After visiting San Martiño, I decided to stop by the cathedral again on my way back to the hostel to see when mass would be held the next day. As I was reading the signs posted, I noticed something--everyone else was taking pictures! I looked at the sign more carefully and realized that it showed a camera with its flash lit up, most likely indicating that pictures must be taken sin flash. So, I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures of the beautiful cathedral :D One of the most interesting thing about it was all the confessionals. There were these little wooden boxes along the sides of the cathedral, some of them occupied by priests. Confessors could either kneel in front or sit beside to receive Reconciliation, and priests unoccupied sat serenely reading their Bibles. It was pretty cool, if a little odd. The cathedral was filled with people though, so after walking around a bit, I left for my hostel.

Back at the hostel, I got online to say hi and check my email. Unfortunately, it didn't last too long--in the middle of a sentence, it died and never came back. I was tired and it wasn't time to eat yet, so I decided to rest a bit and read.

Once it got to be about dinner time (by Spanish standards), I headed out seeking food. I stopped by the plaza in front of the cathedral, and saw that the flagstone competition was just wrapping up. It was kinda crazy, cuz I had seen them earlier in the day, 24 stonemasons chipping away at 24 giant slabs of rock (flagstones), and wasn't sure what they were doing. I'd had a sneaking suspicion though, and it turned out I was right. Were they sculpting it into anything cool or interesting? Nope. The goal seemed to be simply to make the very top all smooth and level. They even had prizes, though I couldn't have told you had they decided that. They all looked pretty smooth and level to me!

I set off for a restaurant, and was majorly craving some tortilla española, so I stopped at every restaurant along the way to see if their menú del día included a tortilla española. Found one, and immediately went in, which was blessedly warm. I wasn't feeling super hungry, so I chose a hamburguesa to go with it. The tortilla was everything I'd hoped it would be, but I was pretty dang surprised by the hamburguesa. I'm not entirely sure what it was to be honest, because it tasted kinda like chicken (before you freak, one of my classmates had mentioned earlier that week that hamburguesas were weird in Spain, and that she'd had one made from chicken with her host family...so this is apparently a normal occurrence in Spain, not a freak out they're a yucky restaurant occurrence) and was definitely not beef. Didn't have a bun, just lettuce, tomato, and onion off to the side with some french fries. Was tasty enough though. For dessert, I decided to chance the tarta de Santiago, figuring it was only appropriate that I try the city's dessert. Took one bite, discovered the cake was absolutely FULL of some sort of chopped nut, and didn't eat the rest. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

Went back to my hostel and upon discovering my internet was still out, decided to go to bed a little early so I could get up early and see a really pretty park which is apparently amazing for taking pictures of the cathedral from. The bed wasn't very comfortable, though luckily they provided nice heavy blankets to keep warm :) Yeah, totally didn't get up as early as I'd wanted, so pretty much had to go straight to the cathedral for mass. I was worried it would be crowded, so I got there fairly early...I definitely needn't have worried. Maybe 10am is just too early, but there was hardly anyone there, given that it was this giant cathedral. A nun led a bunch of the singing, and let me tell you, cathedrals are meant for singing. No musical accompaniment, but it was really pretty. One thing that struck me as pretty odd and that I have yet to figure out, is that mass was not presided over by a bishop, just a regular priest (well, and like 6 others, a few who did small translations during the Consecration). Towards the end of mass, tourists just walked in and out, taking pictures, which was thoroughly unsettling and a little upsetting. They were generally hushed by the guardians of the cathedral, priests dressed in blue and gold (no idea what order they're from though). Was a nice mass though, overall.

After mass, I walked around the shops near the cathedral and did a bunch of souvenir shopping. I started looking for one particular gift, and was helped by the woman who had sold me the raincoat the day before :D Found something for everyone on my list, though I think some people are gonna be surprised. Is a secret though! :D Afterwards, I stopped back at the pub that I'd had breakfast in the previous day because I really enjoyed the place and the servers, and had myself another tortilla española. Was divine :D Oddly though, no churros and cake. Wasn't bothered though, tortillas make every situation happier :D I left for the station afterwards, because I was maybe paranoid about missing my train. Got there with plenty of time though, then had a nice freezing cold ride back to Segovia. Sigh. Never taking the train again, unless it's the Ave!! All in all, a wonderful visit to Santiago, easily my second favorite city in Spain (is hard to beat Segovia)! :)