Santiago de Compostela

Perhaps best known for “El Camino de Santiago” in recent decades, I have now been here twice since the early 2000s, neither of which was for the pilgrimage. The first time was to kick off that two-week college tour of Spain that culminated with Granada and this time, which in fact was toward the end of October and when I finally got around to writing “Bologna and Ibiza”, was to accompany my partner, who was visiting for a conference.

While I don’t have any memories in particular of my first visit, my memories of this second visit are still intact. It was a much needed getaway from the thin walls that stood between us and the elements. It took us north, to warmth and quiet and comfort amid rainy days and dark nights, to delicious food and drink, to a space to recharge. We had our first meal at a vegetarian restaurant around the corner from our hotel, where we were introduced to Mencía, now among my favorite types of red wine.

The following morning after breakfast I headed to the University of Santiago de Compostela to visit the Natural History Museum, which was very tastefully laid out. I spent a couple of peaceful hours there wandering around exhibits before I continued on to NuMaru, a fantastic Korean restaurant, before returning to the hotel to rest for the afternoon. That evening I met my partner for glasses of Ribeiro at a local bar, which were served with tasty tortillas de patatas. I would soon learn that in Galicia, drinks are always served with complimentary tapas, something that has fallen out of custom in much of the rest of Spain.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a restaurant just down the street for a dinner of cockles, artichokes, and tarta de Santiago (a local almond cake), which we washed down with glasses of Mencía. While everything was good, it would pale in comparison to our dinner the following evening, which lived up to expectations of excellent Galician fare.

The next morning I stayed at the hotel and wrote “Bologna and Ibiza” as it poured outside. While it would rain every day of the week that we were there, it was welcome after the awful drought that had enveloped much of Spain, and still had not relented in Alicante. Later, as the clouds parted and made way for a few rays of afternoon sun, I headed to a coffee shop before going for a walk in a park on the other side of the city. On my way back, I happened across Xuntanza, or one of the best beer bars I have found outside of the US. Ducking in for a local gose, which was served with a corn cake topped with ham, cheese, and tomato, it hit the spot. I then met my partner for dinner at A Noiesa, where we had the best meal we would have that trip. Sharing their eponymous salad, the sautéed octopus, and the tarta de Santiago, everything was perfectly prepared, and paired well with the Albariño that we also ordered.

The following morning I walked to the Pedagogical Museum of Galicia. Even though I walked through the city and its sprawl on sidewalks, evidently those sidewalks form part of “el camino” because what appeared to be a group of school-aged “pilgrims” passed me, one of whom told me “buen camino”. The camino itself did not seem to be very enjoyable though, since the greater part of it passes along busy pavements. On my way back I stopped by the vegetarian restaurant, and later I would have dinner in the hotel room with a €2 bottle of Mencía from the local market.

The next morning after the conference concluded, I showed my partner where the Natural History Museum is before we had lunch from a menu at a restaurant across the street. We then headed to the Museum of the Galician Community before we made our way to Xuntanza for a couple of beers and their corresponding tapas. We then tried another restaurant that had gotten good ratings, where we had razor clams and a tomato salad before making our way back to the hotel, at which time we spotted O pozo, a local watering hole that hadn’t gotten crowded yet. Taking advantage of our early arrival to chat with the bartender, we learned about how much Santiago had changed in the two decades that had passed since I had last been there, and I nostalgically pondered a past I feel like I missed even though I was present at the time.

While I never plan to do “El Camino de Santiago” or any other culturally-constructed pilgrimage, like any other conscious being brought into existence through no will of my own, I plan to continue on this passage between absences of will for as long as fate forces me. In the meantime, “buen camino”, even though the path is often paved over and it won’t always be good.