Way off the beaten path in Spain: Santiago de Compostela

Tucked “over” Portugal in the north-western corner of Spain is the historic town known for its Cathedral, which is the end of the “Camino” (a pilgrimage walk across Spain). We did not walk to Santiago, but did take an extra day off work before the Labor Day weekend to fly to Spain and check out the region. Apparently, plenty of people do walk to Spain from Germany and France, or even further away!

The old town area is a maze of narrow streets, complete with interesting architecture and souvenir vendors. Our walking tour included a number of churches, historical buildings, and interesting anecdotes. The market has live fish and freshly plucked chickens (with heads and feet), along with outstanding cheeses and of course fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

We noticed that in this area of Spain, restaurants understand “vegetarian” to exclude only red meat, not fish. One restaurant provided the vegetable sandwich listed on the menu with tuna mixed between the lettuce and tomato, and another place answered the question “what can we order without meat” to list all the fish dishes. This is not a vegetarian-friendly place, unless you like salad for every meal. Two vegetarian restaurants were closed entirely, another two started serving lunch at 1pm, and the last one we went to twice! That said, the salads with fish on them were outstanding!

The superb shoe stores were a joy. Beach destinations are available by train, to the south, north, and probably in other locations as well. 20 minutes south of town includes a beach made up of naturally crushed seashells, so not very comfortable to walk on barefoot (for city dwellers). It was nice to hear the small wavelets lapping at the shore and discover a plethora of tiny sea shells. A dolphin swam in the cove, along with some hearty locals.

We’d recommend Santiago de Compostela for a few nights, or at the end of your camino pilgrimage.