Tag Archives: Bilbao

Travel

Trip to Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

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“The Way” or the Camino de Santiago has been used for over 1000 years for pilgrims to get to Santiago de Compostela, the tomb of Saint James the Apostle.  Although there are many “caminos” or paths to get there, the most frequently used is the path from France, 783 Kilometers (486 miles) across all of northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. John and I met one of those people, Cody from Louisiana, and shared several hours (on a train from Santiago to Madrid) talking about his month long experience. He walked the whole way, after training for three months in Colorado, because with this trip you have to cross the Pyrenees Mountains.

A 13th century poet wrote “The door is open to all, sick and healthy, not only to Catholics, but also to pagans, Jews, heretics and vagabonds.” There are many places to stay along the way where people charge 5 or 10 euros for food, a place to stay, a shower and laundry services. Cody said there were often 3 or 4 languages at a table for 12 people! Carrying a walking stick with an attached scallop shell, it is now more popular as a personal or spiritual journey of discovery, rather than one primarily motivated by religion, an average of 150,000 pilgrims a year make the journey today. If you walk at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) you get a ” Compostela” certificate  and there is also a passport in which you put the stickers you accumulate along the way.

Needless to say, John and I have no stickers or certificates, but the church and the city are beautiful and very old. Sometime in the 9th century a religious hermit, following a shining star unearthed the tomb of the Apostle James in the woods, and after it being confirmed by a local Bishop, the Spanish King and eventually the Pope, pilgrimages began, and today a grand Cathedral stands in the spot, built piecemeal over several centuries it is a mix of Romanesque with baroque and Gothic flourishes. The biggest part was built in 1075 to 1211, with the tops and flourishes added later, then an 18th century facade was added (we didn’t see it as it was being refurbished), you may see the netting in some of the pictures of the outside.

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After taking the tour of the Cathedral and it’s museums, we also saw a very mysterious street act, where one man appears to be holding another man in the air with his staff, only two (one of each) of their hand are on the staff…. what do you think?? Then a trip on the tourist bus and another day to the huge Ciudad de Cultura de Galicia (the area which contains both this city an A Coruna) which has lots of symbolism: the overall shape resembles a giant stone wave sliced into sections, the footprint in the vague shape of a scallop shell, or the shape of the old city portion of Santiago de Compostella.  On this site, we visited the museum, the largest library I have ever seen, and a display of the architectural designs for the site. Although the project was started in 1991, the first two buildings were opened in 2011, with another added in 2012, and at least three more are planned. Currently work has stopped for lack of money.

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Then there are pictures of some of the tapas available for sale, some of the streets and buildings, flowers and a big fruit and vegetable stand in the city… after two days we left for Madrid via the train.

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Travel

Three Days of Travel along the Coast of Northern Spain

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Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

After leaving Bilbao  we spent three days getting to A Coruna. Our first stop was Cuervas de Monte Castillo, a site with several caves with prehistoric wall paintings by humans since 150,000 years ago. We had a 45 minute guided tour of the cave which has 275 paintings and engravings of bison, deer, goats mammoths, hand prints, and other mysterious symbols dating from 26,000 to 11,000 BC. Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow pictures so you just have to take our word for it… I did get a picture of John standing outside the entrance, by a big rock, some flowers which appeared to be growing out of pure rock, and the scenery of the area!

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When we stopped at the Villa Rosario hotel in Ribadesella, a beautiful, beachfront hotel, a classic century old mansion built by a returned emigrant from Latin America or the Caribbean (with money), I thought I must have really gone off my budget of 70 euros a night.  But it turned out we were in the newer addition (black glass and grey rock across the street, for only 55 euros)… still very nice, almost luxurious inside, really…. and we had breakfast for only 9 euros each in the all glass beachside restaurant next to the older hotel. The town was nice with lots of boats and a fantastic beach… too cold of course this is the Atlantic. They had our same London plane tree, but cut back like a fruitless mulberry (pollarded I think it is called), with the branched grown together within and between trees. Very interesting.

Cudillero, Spain
Cudillero, Spain

The we were on the way to Ribadeo, stopping first at Cudillero, with streets winding down an impossible steep cliff side to end at a picture perfect harbor, this tiny fishing town now gets many visitors in the summer, luckily we are before tourist season to start in June. However the food here was still about three times the average for a meal an any of the towns we have been visiting so we moved on.

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Then Ribadeo with plenty of time to explore the small town. We visited Santa Clara Convent, built in the Middle ages and still operational now we heard singing from a half open door and the sign said earlier in the day they sell almond cakes to make money. Then the Moreno’s Tower built between 1914 and 1915 following the design of an Argentinean architect, which is now the best known building in Ribadeo. Then down to the port past a tiny staircase path to houses above, and a tiny shop filled to the brim with everything you can imagine! After walking the town for several hours, we had to go back to the hotel and wait because restaurants don’t even open until 8PM. Still at 8:30 we were the only ones there until 9PM. This is true all over Spain on this trip. The waiters tell us most people come to dinner between 10 and 11 PM. People working on roads, parks and in stores start at 9 or 10 until 2 PM then a siesta until 4PM then continue working until 7PM. So dinner is Later!

Next the city of A Coruna and visiting John’s mom’s birth town of Buno!

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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Travel

Travel to Bilbao, Spain

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Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

After leaving San Sebastian by bus, we arrived in Bilbao, famous for the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art.  Again we stayed in the old part of town (Casco Viejo), and after a rest, took the river walk to the Museum.

The first thing we saw was a beautiful red bridge, for cars leaving and entering town, going over some huge towers to mark the beginning of the museum.  Next the huge spider, the dancing women and the tower of silver balls, all famous signs of the Guggenheim Museum. Inside was modern art which didn’t thrill either of us and an interesting temporary exhibit about the sculpture, painting and other art, including a full length movie by Niki de Saint Phale. Very interesting woman, now deceased. In front of the museum is a huge puppy, his body made from flowers planted in turf on a huge mesh statue.

Walking home we see some tapas bars and many narrow streets. The next day we visited a museum of the history of the Basque peoples, along with some maritime exhibits, some churches and other neat buildings.

That day we ate in a typical Basque restaurant with a cideria (a huge barrel of the local apple cider) … to pour a glass you have to start far away from the stream/spigot, and not spill a drop! Ha! that was fun, and tasty too! This area’s documents show that the people were sipping cider as far back as the 8th century. The region churns out 80% of Spanish cider up to 30 million liters a year!

 

Help keep this blog going
Call or write today for all your real estate needs
John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
BRE#00669941

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