La Espana - parte tres - Santiago de Compostela - Galicia

After 5 days in Bilbao and Pais Vasco we waved a sad goodbye and headed west to our next destination in the autonomous territory of Galicia, or as Frank refers to it "El Mundo Gallego".

Galicia lies at the northwest corner of Spain with Portugal to the south and the Atlantic to the north and west and the Cantabrian Sea or Bay of Biscay to the north. It is less populated than other regions and tends to have somewhat rainy weather which in turn makes it very green, like Ireland, therefore looking quite different than any place one would associate with Spain. It is very beautiful. Galicians have their own language in addition to speaking the country's official Spanish or castilian; it sounds like Portuguese and I can't understand one single word of it. They also have their own issues with wanting to be on their own that I don't really know much about. I did find them a bit more militant than the Basques which surprised me a bit. They are also stubborn more "country" people and can be rude or appear to be. By virtue of being more country people they are also very conservative; Generalisimo Francisco Franco was from Galicia. Their main industry is fishing which makes sense considering all the water around them and the seafood is outstanding. Some consider theirs the best food in Spain, frankly I find it all delicious so "best" qualifies it all and I won't join this debate. Our journey took six hours driving across the north coast through the territory of Asturias where cider is king but that's for another trip. The views were breathtaking, all of a sudden you came a round a mountain onto a bridge where beautiful red roofed towns cascaded towards the sea. I had to keep quiet with my awe for fear of Frank whipping around and us flying off a bridge and since we were driving along I really couldn't take photos. It was a stunning drive. (note to the USA, spend some money on infrastructure, this country is in a monster recession yet their roads and bridges are in mint condition). Our destination is the jewel in the crown and capital of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, and a jewel it is.

our terrace

the view from our terrace, Plaza San Miguel

La iglesia San Miguel, next door where I actually attended mass!

nooks and crannies

caldo gallego (typical broth with chorizo and kale)

chipirones a la plancha (small squid, grilled)



Merluza a la gallega (hake)

Merluza en cazuela (more hake with clams)

pimientos del piquillo (roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with brandade)

rabo (the most delicious oxtail I've ever had)

pintxos- morcilla - cabrales con cebolla (blood sausage - goat cheese w caramelized onion)

Vale, (OK) I'm really hungry now so I need to stop.