Viva Espana

After our exciting/exhausting week trying to navigate through Paris and the crowds, we were more than excited to escape to the quiet countryside to visit with my father’s family in his hometown of Larino, a tiny fishing village on the west coast of Spain in the Galicia region.

My parents had decided to fly from Florida a week early to spend extra time with the family, so we knew that all would be set up in my cousin’s Airbnb by the time we arrived. Since it takes 2 flights and an hour drive to get to this seaside village we opted to stay the night in Santiago De Compostela and check out Galicia’s capital BEFORE driving to Larino the next day.

And I am SOOOO glad we did because Santiago was truly awe-inspiring with so much history, traditional Spanish cafes and tiny streets and a young student and backpacker vibe that made us quickly forget our week of craziness in France.

Santiago De Compostela is named after St. James.  The legend is that James, one of the 12 apostles, set out for Finisterre the “End of The World” as they knew it back then to spread Christianity.

After returning to Palestine in 44 a.C., he was taken prisoner and tortured to death. The king forbid to bury him, but in the night Jacob’s disciples stole the body and brought him, in a sarcophagus of marble, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove the boat to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province’s capital, Iria Flavia. Here the Apostle was buried at a secret place in a wood.

Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo listened music in that wood and saw a shining. For this shining the place was called, in Latin, “Campus Stellae”, field of the star, name that was later turned into Compostela.

The tomb of the Apostle was discovered there after an investigation by the Bishop and King Alphonse II declared Saint James the patron of his empire and built a chapel at the exact location. It is reported that from then on Saint James did several miracles, even that he fought side to side with King Ramiro I in the decisive battle against the Moors.

More and more pilgrims followed the way of Santiago, the “Way of Saint James”, and the original chapel soon became the cathedral of the new settlement, Santiago de Compostela.

Ever since hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world have done the “Camino de Santiago.” This walk is to honor the pilgrimage to Santiago De Compostela, and when in Santiago you would be hard-pressed to not encounter pilgrims (backpackers) of all ages enjoying the town after their weeks/months of walking from various parts of Spain and even France to this historical city.

Tod, my husband, and I decided it was DEFINITELY going on our bucket list, and we hope the kids will come along too!

Even though we were there for less than 24 hours we packed in a lot!  I was lucky to find a free 2-hour walking tour at the very last minute that took us all around the old city and I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who visits Santiago.  https://freetoursantiago.com/en/homepage/

The tour guide, David, was amazing.  He came to Santiago for college 14 years ago and fell so in love that he stayed.  He told us all about the famous Cathedral that housed the remains of St. James himself, the meaning of the sea shells that are the symbol of the Camino De Santiago and are seen EVERWHERE in town and along the pilgrimage, and even told us some interesting facts about college life and how the freshman are tricked into being pushed into the fountain in the town center by older classmen.

After an amazing visit to Santiago De Compostela we rented our car and headed an hour west for 6 relaxing days with the family.

The town of Larino is, like I said, a TINY fishing community with a tourist season that only lasts a few months in the summer when the weather isn’t rainy.  We visited in September so it was just us and the locals, and the odd pilgrim making their way from Santiago to Finisterre (some people consider Finisterre the end of the Camino and continue on beyond Santiago.)

 

The Airbnb is owned by my cousin who rents it out all summer, but since it sits empty the rest of the year offered it to all of us for the week and it was PERFECT. To check out this amazing place for yourself click here.

Getting to the house was the BEST part.  These old stone homes were obviously built before cars and we narrowly managed to get our rental BMW through the narrow stone streets to get there.  For the rest of the week I would have to direct Tod from outside the car to make sure we didn’t end up with a huge ding on the car, and our credit card upon the return of the car.  😉

 

Down the hill is our family’s bar/restaurant where we enjoyed a late lunch every day of the freshest, and weirdest-looking seafood on the planet. Check out these clams!!

A quick 10 minute walk beyond the bar was the Faro de Larino (Larino lighthouse,) and one of the most gorgeous beaches to watch the sun setting over the Atlantic ocean.  I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen sun sets like this and that means a LOT coming from a girl that worked on cruise ships for years.

 

My cousin was a great tour guide and took time away from the family bar to take us around Larino and to Finisterre.  Finisterre translates to “End of Earth” and that is exactly what it was…until 1492 anyways. This small community is now full of backpackers and “pilgrims” finishing their Camino de Santiago OR the famous Camino de Faros which is a 6 day camino along the water from light house to light house.

 

It’s also home to KM marker 0 and a fabulous lighthouse and restaurant where we enjoyed more local delicacies including the Spanish wine!  Did I mention that yet?  Tod and I are normally white wine drinkers, but the Rioja might have changed the game for us.  Let’s hear it for Resveratrol y’all!

 

Before heading to Madrid for the week, Tod and I decided to hit up the famous Monte Pindo in Carnota (just 15 minutes from Larino.). My cousin had pointed it out to us on one of his tours for us and told us that it gives the most beautiful view of the area. With all the salty foods and wine in Paris we needed a good sweat so we decided the challenge was for us and climbed for 2 hours to reach it’s summit.

 

The view did not disappoint and it was along that “hike” (it was more like mountain climbing if you ask me,) that I had a moment of gratitude that I hadn’t had yet on this trip.  We often are so busy in our daily lives that we never stop to look around and experience what REAL living is.  To me, that day brought me a new sense of peace and that wasn’t even at the summit. Once we got to the top the views were just as promised and worth every sore muscle and strained achilles tendon.

After a week of catching up with family, school, work, nature, and more history we were off to the capital city of Madrid.   More on that next time!

Adios!

Sandra and the World-Traveling Davidson’s