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 mÃo!” “¡Madre mÃa!”. 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!"
Day 2 ended with some free time to eat, shop, and relax.
Everyone was so tired out that our drive back to Oviedo was a quiet one.
Till the next one,
Los Profes
Comments
Post a Comment