Santiago

After a couple of weeks on the Camino de Santiago, I was hoping not to be disappointed by my destination. I have started to become a little disenchanted with all the hype surrounding various "significant" destinations, like Timbuktu, and was half prepared for a tourist resort full of pilgrim souvenirs and cheap tat. I am staggered; emerging from the shadowy alleyways into the Praça do Obradoiro (Cathedral Square), is quite literally breathtaking. It takes a lot to impress me, but this is amazing; the Cathedral soars upwards to a brilliant blue sky and I am overwhelmed by the monumentality, not just of that one massive building, but the numerous others in the nearby squares. Beyond them the colonnaded streets of the old town with pavements cafes, restaurants and trendy bars. I wonder how pilgrims of old must have felt, arriving after months on the road! Not surprisingly for a thousand year old tourist destination, there are any number of really beautiful places to stay, as well as the usual hostels and cheaper hotels. I decide to reward myself for having completed my pilgrimage and find a lovely hotel just off the square, resisting the temptation of the Parador which I decide to save for another visit when I have more time.

Cathedral	People	Santiago Images	Parador

SGAE Building	Music Studies Centre	Natural History Museum	Centre for Advanced Studies