12th Sept (Sunday) - Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

Although I just reached Barcelona this morning (Monday), I'm missing Santiago already. It's such a tranquil and beautiful town and everyone whom I'd came across while I was there, was simply great! Everything was within walking distance. It took just slightly over 5 mins from my hostel (meiga backpackers) to the old town. As for getting to the cathedral, it probably took about 15 mins.

When I first arrived at Santiago airport, I was quite surprised that it was quite a new and well-managed airport. Had kinda thought it would look somewhat like a make-shift space and super budget looking bcoz it sounded so 'wulu', but I was pleasantly surprised. From right outside the airport, I took the shuttle bus to the main bus station for 3€ and the journey took about 25mins.

Along the way I'd past by very old-looking Spanish houses; with huge cracks across the walls and not very well maintained. And when I saw that, I thought to myself 'what had I gotten myself into'. But as we neared the city centre, I felt relieved. There was a mixture of well-maintained traditional houses plus lots of nice apartments. Yah, I know. I'm superficial. Ha!

Anyways, I kinda got lost and decided to approach an old man who was playing with his grandson at the nearby playground. Although there's the language barrier, he was all smiles when trying to direct me in Spanish and with lots of gesturing. And then I thanked him on my super imperfect Spanish and gradually made my way up the slopes. Yes, there were loads of slopes in Santiago. It's not funny when you have to carry a 13kg backpack and a heavy sling bag up the slope(s).

Eventually, I found it.



After a short rest at the hostel, I took a stroll out to the old town and kinda fell in love with it.









And have I already mentioned that a lot of pilgrims actually go there to end their journey by queuing up under the hot sun, just to get a chance to get inside the Catedral and visit/ touch the tomb? There were the hard core pilgrims who backpacker and hiked around Europe, those who cycled long distances in groups and those who took the easier way by plane and taxi. Of course, there were also a portion of non-pilgrims (like me) who went all the way there just to see the UNESCO site. For me, I was contended to just see the Catedral itself. So I could go by another entrance and didn't have to queue for long.









There was the lady from Poland who had asked me to help her take a pix of her in front of the Catedral because she forgot to bring her camera (and I asked her to help me take one as well), and there was also the young girl who was lying on the floor hyperventilating while her fellow group mates attended to her. She'd belonged to a big group of young backpackers and it seemed that she first got a heat stroke prior to her hyperventilation. Although I was trained in CPR, I wasn't ready and didn't know how to help. But luckily enough, someone who seemed like heir teacher or guide was around to attend to her. Phew!

My one-day stay in the city seemed too short. If you do have a chance, stay for 2 days - like a weekend getaway to relax and wind down. There isn't a lot to do there except go slow and enjoy the beauty of the old town and the surrounding views.

P.s #1: I forgot about my 'allergy' to potatoes. I'd saw the people beside having something that looked really tasty so I pointed that dish to the waiter and then realized very much later that it too contained potatoes. Oh, bugger. But the dish was great, nevertheless.



And here are some pix from around the neighbourhood:









P.s #2: The guy at the hostel told me that the famous local dish is actually pulpo (octopus). But I'm really not a 'octopus' lover so I gave it a miss. But if you can, go give it a try.