We stayed in en elegant hotel conveniently located within walking distance of the Cathedral. The city’s hustle and bustle caught some of the pilgrims by surprise. My roommate, for instance, did not expect Santiago to be such a busy city.
Santiago a major university town (the college was founded in 1495, making it the second oldest in Spain after the University of Salamanca, where my mother was born and where my parents met; 30,000 students are enrolled in the University of Santiago de Compostela today) and since it is a Jubilee year, or Xacobeo, (every eleven years), there are more tourists and pilgrims than usual.
The energy on the streets was palpable: students, who are in the middle of exams in Spain right now, were rushing to study sessions with notebooks under their arms; parents were carrying groceries in one hand while holding a child’s hand in another; and business people were swinging briefcases rushing to get home.
After spending so many hours sitting on the bus, my father and I went for a jog in a lovely park with postcard views of the Cathedral two blocks away from the hotel. Jogging past gardens bursting with gigantic roses and aromatic eucalyptus trees, while identifying statues of famous people from Galicia like the poet Rosalia de Castro and the playwright Ramon del Valle-Inclan under a cool misty rain made the experience very enjoyable.
On our way back to the hotel, we couldn’t resist buying a couple of slices of the typical empanada of Galicia filled with tuna or cod. My mother, who rarely eats sweets, opted for the “hojaldre” stuffed with whip cream and topped with meringue.
After dinner we visited the Cathedral at night. White birds circled the watchtower, stars twinkled in the sky and pilgrims with backpacks appeared around corners and under corridors with their walking sticks adorned with the conch shells that are awarded to them for completing their long journey.
Book Recommendation: Walk in a Relaxed Manner, Joyce Rupp
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