Santiago de Compostela

The last days of our vacations are always great but sad. Running all over to make sure we get that one last gift, one last photo and one last look. We always leave something behind for next time.
Santiago de Compostela is extra special. Everywhere you turn your head you see a view that's amazing! Its hard to imagine a city of all hand cut stone and because of that, You will need to see it in person. Its waiting for you.
Our trip was a total success. Every day was the total adventure we had expected. Hard riding, great food and wonderful, friendly people. I can't remember one sour puss, but we tend to forget those folks anyway.
The tandem is such an attract for meeting new people. Most could not believe that anyone would attempt this route of the Camino de Santiago on such a beast. At stops we started people smiling. The Women especially as if they were imagining themselves on the back whizzing through the countryside. Whenever they would ask anything, I would say, "Yes!", not being really sure what they were asking most of the time, but it always seemed to work.

One of our all time favorite things to do in Santiago is to go listen to a guitarist by the name of "The Jazz Man of Santiago" We tell him that's its the only reason we come there. All though its partly true, It always gets a smile from his mask. His mask keeps him somewhat anonymous and has you listening to the music instead trying to figure out the man by his age, eyes and face. It also makes it fun to watch people walk by with their mouths open when they see such a sight.

This year the Cathedral's main 2 towers were in scaffolding. covered with cloth, they had taken the time to paint in mural form what they sort of looked like underneath. The inside of the Cathedral also was filled with scaffolding. It was hard to see mostly anything without seeing the massive work project going on. We were never told that it was being worked on, and only discovered it when we rolled into town.
The photos below of the Cathedral were taken on our trip in 2008. I thought it would be best to have in this blog photos to show how beautiful and grand the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela really is.

The photos of the big guy and his wife with the tandem were taken on our last afternoon. We found them in the little square pictured. They had just finished the Southern Camino known as the Via Della Plata. A super hard and poorly marked route with lots of bicycle walking. She was disabled and there rig with the trailer must have weighed over 300 pounds. He helped her walk when they went off to shop. Just when you think that things are tough, there is always someone who has it tougher! We are sure he is a true saint capable miracles!