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EVERY year, thousands of tourists with plenty of time on their hands and
blisters on their feet set out on a trek to remember.
They walk the Camino de Santiago - the old pilgrim's route from the
Pyrenees across northern Spain to the Galician city of
Santiago de Compostela.
More than 400 miles long, it passes through
Navarra,
La Rioja,
Castilla and
Galicia
before finally cresting the Monte de Gozo for the first sight of Santiago
Cathedral's gleaming spires.
Hordes of Christians in the Middle Ages made the trip from all over
Europe to pay homage at the tomb of Saint James the Apostle, which lay in
state at the cathedral.
On the way they stopped off at inns - many are still standing today - and
bought scallop shells, which were the symbol of their journey and were used
to drink water from streams along the way.
But you don't have to get sore feet to visit one of the most attractive
cities in Spain. I flew to Santiago on a weekend break.
It doesn't have the nightlife of
Barcelona
or Madrid
but it has quaint cobbled streets packed with tapas bars and restaurants,
more churches than you could swing an incense-burner at, hotels converted
from monasteries, convents and pilgrims' hostels, markets and the
magnificent cathedral itself.
It's surrounded by wooded hills and easy to walk around, and it's home to
a large university. Up to 30,000 students bustle between faculty buildings,
giving a fresh, young feel to the place. A bit like Cambridge with calamari.
WHERE IS IT? Barely more than 1hr 30mins by air. Iberia runs a daily
scheduled non-stop service from London Heathrow. Santiago's small, normally
uncrowded, airport at Lavacolla is a e10 (£6) taxi ride into the city.
Unless you are planning on exploring the countryside it really isn't worth
hiring a car.
WHAT TO SEE: The Cathedral (Catedral del Apostol) is the obvious
starting-point. If you are lucky you may catch one of the special High
Masses, when the world's biggest incense burner, the botafumeiro, is swung
on pulleys across the transept by a team of altar lads.
Stairs by the high altar lead down to the tomb of St James. His body is
said to have been brought to Spain from Jerusalem by two early Christians
after the Apostle's execution at the hands of Herod Agrippa.
Outside, nuns sail across broad squares as street vendors offload the
ubiquitous scallop and staff (about £10 the pair). Weary Camino walkers
shuffle the last few yards to the Oficina del Peregrino on the Rua do Vilar
to collect their certificates and book a room for the night.
WHERE TO EAT: Eating out is a delight. Pulpo (octopus) is a staple diet
and some restaurants serve huge platefuls of cigalas (crayfish), almejas
(clams), mejillones (orange mussels) and chinchos, a selection of tiny fried
fish.
Wash this down with a bottle of ribiero, the local Galician wine, and
you've got a great meal at half the price you'd pay in Madrid or Barcelona.
WHEN TO GO: Summer is pleasantly warm but winters can be chilly and damp.
In winter and spring the city organises concerts and art exhibitions.
At Easter during Santa Semana there are street processions and on July 25
the place comes alive with firework displays and sound-and-light shows. |
