Santiago de Compostela...where everything is green, the food is amazing, and old men work out like it's their job

Ah, Galicia. Lush, green, rainy, full of hikers. When I first got to Spain and was starting to plan my trips, everyone told me to "go to Galicia! It's so different!" Geographically, that is. So, we planned a weekend to the northwest of Spain, to a lovely little city called Santiago de Compostela. Ever hear of it? It's supposed to be a pretty big deal in the Catholic world these days, especially since it houses St. James' remains. Either way, I can describe it in one word: mystical.

Yes, Santiago has a strange effect on people. Apparently Christian pilgrims have been trekking there for more than a thousands years to be healed of diseases, find salvation in God, or just pay homage to St. James' shrine. Thus, the walk, or "Camino de Santiago" was born, the common route stretching from southern France all they way through Galicia. The walk ends at the cathedral, the main site in the city. And let me tell you, it must be worth it for them. Covered in moss, and chiming old bells, it really draws you in. I even found myself dazzled by it all, and during a mass on Saturday which contained a GIANT swinging incense burner, I actually broke down and completely bawled. Granted, I'm much more sensitive than the average person, but there was just something about that church, with all the old townspeople and the pilgrims there, I don't know really. But anyway, good experience. :)

Well, the weekend started out for us on Thursday night actually, as we took an overnight train. We thought this could save us some money on a hostel (as we planned to take it Saturday night home as well), and it's got to be pretty comfortable too, right? Wrong. It was pretty much like spending 7 hours on a plane, though you could walk around on the train more, so that was a plus. Still, we got there quite early Friday so we had the whole day! And, it was SUNNY! What a change compared to Toledo! So, after dropping our junk off at our hotel (yes, hotel---Santiago is super cheap, so we could afford it!) we walked to the old part of town, and stumbled on a very pretty park...it was so green!! Real grass! I love grass. Anyway, we snapped a couple of photos and then spotted some old guys on a playground. We were pretty confused, until we realized it was actually outdoor workout equipment! So cool! There was one like an elliptical, a weights one, a bunch of them! Not sure why they would put outdoor equipment in a city that rains pretty much all year round, but hey, I think it's a great idea! After creeping on the 60-70 year old men who were working out (in slacks and sweaters mind you), we of course tried them out as well. FUN.

Next we went over to the cathedral to take some pictures and see the pilgrims, and later we met up with one of Amy's friends from high school who was studying there. That's pretty intense, considering it's pretty far out there for Spain....it would be hard to get anywhere else. Still, she loved it, and I'm sure it would be an awesome city to get to know. She showed us around a bit, and we went out for dinner. By the way, I love all the seafood there...it's close to the sea so they have pretty much any kind of weird sea creature you want, and they're usually proudly displayed in windows of every restaurant. Bacalou, octopus, shrimp still twitching, you name it. Yum.

The next day was not the most beautiful weatherwise...rain, rain, and more rain. I tried to continue to sing "Raindrops are falling on my head" for the day since I don't generally mind the rain that much if I'm prepared for it, but even I was starting to feel down. That is, once I could feel my feet squish every time I stepped...they were quite soaked. Still, we attended mass at the cathedral (yes, the emotional part) which was incredible. The church was PACKED, and there was a giant incense burner that swung from literally one end of the cathedral to the other. There's no chance at all that that thing has never hit anyone before...it swung like it was its job. We also got to see the shrine/burial of St. James, as this is a holy year. Other than holy years, the special room isn't open, so it was special to see it. :) Also, Erin went to confession after church...in Spanish! There were tons of little portable wooden booths for confession, so Erin went up to one and gave her confession. The priest was very nice about it and apparently even chatter with her a little about the city and mass, etc. What a champ.

Well, at this point, the rain was getting pretty annoying, so what did we all do? Bought new boots of course! My first stylish pair! Woo! haha although, the owner really wanted to close for siesta (and you know how Spaniards are about their siestas!), so the pair I got are a size too small, but no pasa nada. They work. And they're cute hehe. So, after our boot shopping escapades, we went out for lunch to change our shoes and eat some tasty Galician food. And OMG...yum, freaking yum. I had some incredible soup, fish, and the traditional cake for lunch, and it was all DELICIOUS. So fresh and tasty, I could have eaten there every day of my life! No joke. Let's just say it significantly boosted my spirits!

Lol unfortunately though, our lucky didn't quite last. We received some weather warnings that heavy rains and high winds were expected for the rest of the day, so we were kind of confused on what to do. But did that stop us from sight seeing? Heck no! Only the city of Santiago did....we walked all the way to 2 different museums, only to find signs posted on the doors saying that they were closed temporarily due to the weather! Plus, every other store and restaurant was closing because of the "storm" too! Was it that bad? OK, it was rainy, and a bit windy, and most of our umbrellas broke from being blown inside out, but isn't that what Galicia is used to? Either way, it was windy, but not dangerous. Of course I didn't feel that way then (I'm a wimp, get over it), but I really don't think the whole city needed to shut down. So, we made our way back to the hotel to get our stuff and just head to the train station early, so we wouldn't get caught in this supposed upcoming storm. Here's where the real fun starts.

After waiting for the train for an hour, sipping on some Cola Cao (hot chocolate--their Nestle or Swiss Miss) and munching on some bocadillos, we find out that our train was actually cancelled due to the weather. They tell us a bus is coming to pick us up and bring us to another city, so after a half hour later than our train was going to leave, the bus comes, and drives for over an hour and a half to some other town (who knows where? lol) and we get on a train there. 2 1/2 hours later, we're FINALLY off. Luckily for us, we planned on getting into Madrid in the morning, since this new detour route got us in over 2 hours later than we planned. So by the time we got to our host houses, it was about 1 pm. Yup. Rough day for traveling, but good story for the grandkids.

Although we had a few bumps in the road, I really LOVED Santiago and would definitely go back...but would recommend staying there for more than 1 full day...the hassle of getting there and back is not ideal. :)

Spanish Men, Dressed as Russian Men, Dancing to "Boom Boom Pow"----Carnival

Hola todos,

Alright, so let's just not even talk about my absence from this blog, it'll just make me feel more guilty. But hey, I'm in Spain, I'm just enjoying it and keep forgetting to write...ok, I'll stop making excuses now. :)

Anyway, so the weekend of February 12-14 was this great thing called....Carnaval!! My host mom loved telling me all about it. :) Apparently it's been around for a VERY long time, and it's just supposed to be this big week (the weekend is the big deal though) of parties and drinking and dancing and all that jazz. Kind of like a mix between Mardi Gras and Halloween. Why do they have it you may ask? Well, I guess it's supposed to be your last chance to have fun and go crazy before Lent starts. Yup, that's why it always ends on Ash Wednesday. My host mom asked me if we celebrated it in the states, and I told her no, because I thought it'd be a little difficult for me to explain Mardi Gras in Spanish, plus it's not really celebrated up in the midwest. ;)

So, the start of my weekend took me to El Escorial, which actually had nothing to do with Carnaval/Carnival. It's a bit north of Madrid, and it's this palace where a bunch of dead kings are buried. Cool, I know. The only problem is, they're seriously running out of room...I predict difficulties in the future. But really, it was a pretty nice place; other than the areas where they bury the kings, one part is a monastery and another part is an elementary school. They actually live there, which kind of stinks because it was very cold there---very near to the mountains, and the building is obviously made all out of stone. Still, it had a sort of Hogwarts feel to it so I'm sure I could deal with it if I went there. :)

Well, Saturday was the real start of our shenanigans. After heading to the Nun Bakery (as we call it --really it's "El Cafe de las Monjas") for some delicious churros con chocolate (deep fried pastry, dipped in chocolate), we shopped around for a little bit in the old Jewish Quarter. Amy made friends with an old man at a shop, and afterwards we went to our houses for lunch and a little siesta (it was going to be a late night). We then came back to the Fund to chat, and headed out to the super long parade they had...3 hours long!! It consisted of different groups dressing up (usually like different ethnic groups---let me tell you, most of it would not be considerd "politically correct" in the usa lol, but the theme was "around the world" so no pasa nada) and dancing down the street. It was really sweet to see all of the costumes, but it was very cold!! I have to say though, that my favorite floats/performances have to be these "fat" costumes...there were tons of people in all different kinds of fat suits, from the Mona Lisa to Mario & Luigi. Also, there was a group of costumes where the head (each showing a person of a different nationality) was huge, and the bodies was tiny. It's hard to explain but it was hilarious. There were some really interesting costumes as well, like people in dresses made entirely of wrappers (or one example---all made out of yogurt containers). However, one thing I found strange was that most of the groups were dancing to American music. Yes, there was even a group portraying Russia, so we watched Spanish men, dressed up like Russians, dancing to Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow." Weird. But all in all, a good time.

Well, after the parade we got all dressed up in our awesome costumes....or more like awesomely cheap costumes...we had a pretty strict less-than-10 euro code we tried to stick to. So Megumi and I were fairies, though my costume looked more like a butterfly, so I just went with it. Anna was a cat, and Amy and Erin were angels, though Erin didn't think she was dressed properly, so she called herself a fallen angel and took many a pictures lying on the ground...falling. We tried to follow a sort of theme, because apparently here when they dress up, the whole group usually goes as the same thing. For instance, we saw a group of about 7 girls all dressed up like Snow White, and another 6 girls dressed up like Minnie Mouse. Hmm. Also, the big costume for this year was chickens. There were SO MANY chickens! But it was cool, I learned the Spanish version of "The Chicken Dance" during a concert that night...I'll have to teach it to my grandma, she's pretty into it at home. Any party, wedding, or reunion, the chicken dance comes on, she's up there. :) Next, we went over to the cathedral to watch 5 minutes of a spectacular fireworks show...it was like a grand finale the whole time! Plus they gave us free hot chocolate! Good thing too, cause it was a COLD night, and I was wearing a dress...I did have tights and leggings on, and a long sleeved under my dress with a sweater and coat, but hey I'm a wimp!! haha. Anyway, we grabbed dinner out at a restaurant nearby, then headed over the main plaza, Zocodover. It was PACKED. Seriously, tons of people, all in these crazy costumes, drinking beer, and listening to a concert. Oh, just to mention, I saw some people dressed up like Sims...all they had was normal clothes (some were more extravagant) and the headbands with the green diamond on top...genius! I'm stealing this for Halloween.

So during the concert, we happened upon an unfortunate Fund girl who had a little too much too drink, so we took her to O' Briens for some water, and Amy took care of her til she felt better. Oh, and guess who we met there again? Mr. Dean of course! haha...anway...After sending her home Erin and Amy split up with me Megumi and Anna (with a few other girls), and they stayed at that bar while we went to another one, "Camelot." I know, I was really into Spanish bars...anyway, Anna decided not to go actually but we went and met up with some more friends. An guess what? People were actually dancing there! Strange for here (they just don't dance at bars/clubs). Lots of fun. I finally took the bus home and got to my house around 4:30 am, which I was told was early by my host parents the next day....I'm certainly not cut out for Spanish night-life. :)

Sunday was a pretty lax day, since I don't think any of us got up before 1pm. We did go out to dinner though for Valentine's Day (all the girls here have boyfriends at home...so we were going so they could try and forget about it). And Monday was a pretty sweet night--Anna's birthday. We had a lovely dinner at McDonald's (birthday girl's choice...did I mention there's one right on the main plaza? Oh yes.) and an amazing chocolate cake from Santo Tomé ---a pretty big deal when it comes to desserts. We then headed out to O' Briens for a few celebratory drinks (most everywhere else was closed since it was a Monday night), though I headed home a little earlier than the rest to catch my bus home. Still, it was a very good night. :D