Feb
19
Top 10 places to eat, pray and shop in Galicia
Filed Under EN
1. St. James’s Way
The Camino de Santiago or St. James way is a spiritual journey that pilgrims of all faiths and backgrounds have traversed for over a thousand years.
St. James’s Way (El Camino de Santiago) is the name of any of the pilgrimage routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, (Spain), where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried.
It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem. Today it has surged back as an important tourist route. The vieira (scallop) is the symbol of the pilgrim and it is reproduced in every way possible along the way, in walls, doors, as signs, t-shirts, jewelry, etc.
2. The Cathedral of Santiago
The Cathedral of Santiago is massive and impressive.
The Cathedral of Santiago attracts thousands of pilgrims every year, the catholic church is not keeping up with the repairs and the building is in dire need of some major restoration, especially after the last substantial winter rains in Galicia. The cathedral is in the list of the World Heritage Sites and the building is a Romanesque structure with Gothic and Baroque additions.
3. El Ferrol
The quiet town of Ferrol is another must see place in Galicia.
El Ferrol, another quite town in Galicia, is the home of this other outdoor café. Turn a corner and there it is. The most marvelous place with a little table where a hot coffee is waiting for you to comfort your most deepest worries.
4. El Pazo de Mariñan
Spain’s most beautiful gardens, El Pazo de Mariñan.
Pazos are the country houses of Galicia. Many of them are beautiful hotels now. Most were built by “indianos”, Galicians that made big fortunes in America and returned to their homeland to buy land and built impressive homes to basically show off. They also brought with them all kinds of tropical flora that adapted very well, creating striking gardens. Galicia has the biggest variety of gardenias of all Europe. They also shaped sophisticated French grounds, following the fashion of their times.
5. Ermita de Santa Comba
Travel to Ermita de Santa Comba.
Before the Catholics, much, much, earlier, Galicia was a Celtic redoubt. Most of the Catholic hermitages are built on the same grounds as the Celtic sanctuaries once stood, the Celts believed that the souls leave the body and joins with the Sun.
The Celts also believed that the souls had to travel faraway, so the souls “jumped” to the sanctuary and from there, very easily, the souls “jumped” again towards the Sun.
Sanctuaries like Santa Comba are known as “lanzaderas de almas” or “the shuttles for the souls.”
6. Percebes
Percebes are tube-shaped crustaceans that cling to the granite rocks of the storm-bashed Galician coastline.
“Percebes” the weird and “I cannot have enough” seafood is typically Galician.They taste like you are putting the whole ocean on your mouth. Goose barnacles are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. Very difficult to harvest they have to be picked by hand and Galicia is one of the few locations of the world where it is still done. There is a simple yet precise way to open it for consumption so be sure that a local teach how to do it. Enjoy!!!
7. Queimada
According to an ancient Celtic rite, you have to drink a “queimada” at the end of a meal.
To end a meal in style you have to have “queimada.” Queimada is a punch made from Galician aguardiente (Orujo Gallego) – a spirit distilled and sometimes flavored with special herbs or coffee, plus sugar, lemon peel, coffee beans and cinnamon. While preparing the punch a spell or incantation is recited, so that special powers are conferred to the queimada and those drinking it. Then the queimada is set alight, and slowly burns.
8. El Roscon
The roscon is a delicious sweet bread sprinkled with powdered sugar.
9. Chocolates with different flavors!
Chocolates filled with liquor.
Bonbons and chocolates filled with liquor, will make you salivate all along your stroll in the cobbled stoned streets of Santiago de Compostela as you look at the windows of the pastry shops.
10. Beautiful pottery from Sargadellos
Ceramics from Sargadellos.
Our last item in the shopping list is a ceramic from Sargadellos a local firm that used local white clay to create beautiful pottery. The designs are striking, modern and slick. The factory hired well known artists to design the pieces. There are pieces in all the price ranges, from a charm to a salt and pepper combo, figurines, chess boards or a tableware with service for twelve. Naturally occurring white clay is only available in a few places in the world, so do not miss this one.
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