Santiago de Compostela

About 3 hours or so from Oviedo sits the city of Santiago de Compostela in the province of Galicia. It is in this famous site where, as legend and history dictate, the remains of the Apostle James lay in rest. James was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus and considered one of the favored among them. Before heading out on our excursion, all the students learned a bit about the importance of this site for the thousands of pilgrims that decide to journey on what is known as El Camino. The Cathedral of Santiago marks kilometer 0 for all travelers, signaling the end of their long journeys.

We arrived in Santiago in time for lunch in el Parque de Alameda, also known as el Parque de las Marias. From there we had our first sightings of la Catedral and her newly finished façade. After some time in the park, we made our way through the streets to come upon the grandeur of the Cathedral. As we came upon the side of the Cathedral, the most common phrases were “¡Oh!” “¡Dios mío!” “¡Madre mía!”. We made it to the front of the Cathedral in the Plaza del Obradoiro where groups and groups of pilgrims were singing with joy at finally arriving after their long journeys. Some groups came in walking and others in bikes! These days, there are various ways that one can complete El Camino.

Ali!

Next, we found ourselves exploring the Cathedral and visiting the tomb of the Apostle St. James. Take a look:

The entrance to the tomb of the Apostle St. James

In our Culture class, we talk about a lot of the significance of Santiago de Compostela and also about one of the most famous sights: the Botafumeiro. It is the thurible that in olden days, when the pilgrims used to sleep in the upper floors of the Cathedral, its practical use was to fill the spaces with a pleasant aroma that masked the smell of the pilgrims. We were very VERY lucky in that we got to see it! At the end of the mass!

After the mass, when all of us met up outside, we were besides ourselves with disbelief at what we just saw. Also a cause of disbelief was that we bumped into the León team after the mass! The students talked with one another for a short time before we headed on to finish our day with dinner and karaoke. Karaoke was a hoot! Everyone was endlessly singing and dancing and, thankfully, the students tired themselves out. Day 1 of Santiago was an absolute success!

A tradition of ours every year is to have the students look in La Fuente de Caballos, the Horse Fountain, for the culo of the horse in the water for some good luck! But really, it's a fun excuse for us Profe's to splash some water on them ;)

Day 2

After some breakfast and readying our bags, we walked to the Museo do Pobo Galego where we spent our morning.

Blake & Abby matched!

Sasha & Lily matching too! (I'm telling ya, they planned it!)

"Una foto casual"

The students took advantage of some of the time we had in the sun to shoot some Instagram worthy photos.

The most awaited part of the day came after our museum visit when we were taken up to the roof of the Cathedral on our final tour of the day. We rose up to the upper hallway of the Cathedral where the pilgrims used to sleep (waaaayyyyy back when!) and got to see the organ up close. It’s massive! The tour guide informed us that there were over 5,000 pipes in total. It used to be that, before technology allowed for one organist, there needed to be two, one on each side.

We were taken up a bit more and “Woooooah” “Ooooohhh” was heard as we emerged onto the roof. I’ll let the photos speak for this one 😊.

Isabel was a little hesitant to step out on the roof, but with a little help from Julilla she took the step! Her words were (in Spanish) "Wow it's not so bad once you take the first step!"