MADRID, GALICIA and NORTHERN PORTUGAL

A selection of photos from a superb trip. Rather than inundate you with hundreds of items, I've tried to include only those emblemmatic of a particular place or of my special interests. If you have been to these spots, I hope this "report" stirs fond memories. If you haven't, I hope you'll be pursuaded to go. You will not be disappointed!

MADRID

As the official symbol of the city, the bear (eating the strawberry tree - and you thought they only grew on the ground) is EVERYWHERE...

The bear is here...

The bear is even here (if you look hard enough inbetween the Ayntamiento de and MADRID)

Hotel Campomanes

"Buster & Bruno" faithfully greated us every day in the lobby, or at least their giant-sized likenesses did.

An extremely helpful concierge

Kevin and his team were a tremendous help to us in Madrid, particularly in retrieving our lost baggage.

Streets in the old section of Madrid are identified with sweet handpainted tiles. As you might deduce, Isabel was queen (although she should not be confused with the Isabel who bankrolled Columbus). This plaza was down the street from our hotel and, more important, not far from the Puerto del Sol, one of the happening places in Madrid.

One is a lonely number

A solo sanitation crew in the Plaza Major about 11:30pm. At this hour - minus the hoards of people who populate it by day - the Plaza is actually quite wonderful. We figured everyone had just left to start dinner.

The Prado was closed the morning we wanted to go, so we popped into the Botanic Gardens. Well worth the diversion!

An intriguing window display near the Sampaka Cacao

Museo de PIGGY

Madrid is filled with JAMONERIAS (as pizzerias are to pizza, Jamonerias are to ham). These owners have taken things a step farther and established a "Museum." Those of you who have eaten the cured jamon serrano will agree that it deserves a museum.

Choco-holic Heaven

Imagine a shop devoted SOLELY to chocolate, in all its forms. You are not dreaming! Visit Sampaka and be sure to have a cup of "liquid gold" in their back room cafe. You will wonder why we haven't discovered this concept in the US.

Decorative Design

The Spanish are tops when it comes to decorative grillwork. I quickly became fascinated with the sheer variety of designs covering windows...

Enclosing balconies...

Battening down steam vents...

Monasterio de las Descalzes

Ah.... the Monastery of the Barefoot Nuns. A wonderful place, filled with religious paintings and sculpture. Along with the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen -Bornemisza museums the Monastary is not to be missed. You must take a guided tour, and thank God our guide spoke Spanish very very slowly, bec. no English tour was available when we arrived and we were leaving Madrid later that day. When it comes to religious art, Spanish pieces sock you with a heavy dose of the pain and sorrow of life. This life sized wooden tableau was fascinating in its realism.

SPAIN, Galicia - Brief Notes

The province of Galicia is located in the northwest corner of the country due north of Portugal. It is picturesque countryside, exceptionally green (unlike the rest of Spain)and punctuated by hundreds of beautiful rias (estuaries or fiords). The deep ravines and long curving beaches make for some dramatic vistas. Galicia was invade by the Celts as early as 1000 AD, so the comparisons to Ireland are understandable. Lace making, brought to Galicia by the Irish, is still very much in evidence along the coast and the traditional Gallegan instrument resembles the bagpipes.

Because of its relationship to the sea, the traditional occupation in Galicia has been fishing. The provence supplies Spain and even Portugal with a multitude of shellfish (many varieties unknown to us here in the US), as well as produce. It seems that every restaurant features the same Galician staples: Caldo Gallego (a broth flavored with Galician greens, fava-type beans and ham hocks, YUMMY), pulpo (octopus), bacalhao (the ever present codfish) and veal cooked in every way imaginable. Chicken was curiously absent and mussels, although advertised, were hard to actually find. The special almond cake, Torta de Santiago, with St. James' sword dusted in powdered sugar on top, is heavenly.

Galicia produces the most wonderful wine and we enjoyed a number of Albarino whites in particular. We also tried Orujo, the traditional afterdinner liquer. It is said to ward off evil spirits and I believe it. Orujo is fire-water of the first degree, like Cointreau on steroids.


The Gallegan language looks very much like Portuguese, although it doesn't sound similar, and public signs are in both Gallegan and Spanish. Galicia's largest cities are Vigo and A Caruna. We thought the most picturesque towns were Pontevedra, Lugo and of course, the most famous city in Galicia, Santiago del Compostella, for centuries the end point of the Christian pilgrimmage route. One can walk around Lugo on top of its medieval walls, which have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Horreos

Galicia is famous for its horreos, a fact I didn't know before we arrived. My obsession with these structures cannot be explained in one caption. More on them later.

GALICIA, Lugo

The medieval walls of Lugo are a World Heritage site. Fine views circumnavigating the city on the top of these walls.

The daily catch

Offloading fish in the port of Luxe.

GALICIA, Santiago del Compostella

This is the most famous place in Galicia and the third most important place in Christendom.

Apparently, St. James (Santiago) came ashore in Galicia and travelled through this part of Spain to preach and convert people to Christianity. After returning to the Holy Land in 44 he was taken prisoner and tortured to death.St James’ disciples stole his body and took it to the Spanish coast. The apostle was buried in secret in a nearby wood. Nearly 800 years later, a hermit called Pelayo heard music coming from that section of the wood and saw something shining intensely. This led to the place being called Campus Stellae, field of the star, a name that in time evolved to Compostela. The local bishop, on receiving notice of this phenomenon, instituted an investigation, and the tomb of St James was discovered. The apostle was declared the patron saint of the kingdom and a chapel was built over his grave.

As a result, Santiago del Compostella has been the end point of a vast Pilgrimmage Route (Camino de Santiago) for over a thousand years. It is still walked by "pilgrims" today accompanied by their symbolic walking sticks and scallop shells hung from their necks. The Camino has one starting point in France and another in Portugal. Reports estimate that between 90,000 and 150,000 people walk the Camino every year.

The once modest Romanesque church erected over St. James' tomb later received a Baroque facelift. The facade soars in florid style as befits a cathedral of its significance. As I stood at the base of the building straining my neck to see the top I could only marvel at how much the Spanish craftsmen had wrought out of granite, a tough material to carve.

NORTHERN PORTUGAL

Previously our only experience with Portugal had been Lisbon, east and south. We were completely smitten by Northern Portugal, the land encompassed by the Minho (which separates Portugal from Spain), the Lima and the Duoro rivers.

Lima River

Our accomodations outside Ponte de Lima (Portugal) were quite nice.

Just a (future) hint of citrus

PORTUGAL, Braga

Bom Jesus do Monte, a truly spectacular religious site, outside the city of Braga. The stairway and church at the top were completed in 1811, although a small shrine had existed since the 15th C. There are 565 steps to the top (we know because we climbed both down and up them) and each landing presents a new (and often unusual) theme to the pilgrim.

A rather large wedding party makes good use of The Church. (They didn't have to climb the stairs.)

PORTUGAL, O! Porto

Enjoying a glass of Port at sunset looking across the Duoro to Porto. Could there be anything nicer?

Porto is filled with secret little alleyways that appear to lead nowhere but always dump you out on a main thoroughfare somewhere.

Caso Do Musica

Rem Koolhaus' Casa do Musica occupies a stunning site along one of Porto's main thoroughfares

I spent a hour lounging in these delightful built-in benches along the sloping hill of the plaza in front of Casa do Musica

PORTUGAL, The Duoro at Pinhao

The upper Duoro is a most blessed place that rivals anything in Italy or France. And, better still, it's more or less off the beaten tourist track. The river, which begins in Spain, cuts its way through a steep ravine by the time it enters Portugal. Out of necessity the mountains have to be terraced in order to support the cultivation of grapes.

From our vantage point at Sr. Manuel de Sampaya's 17th c. house on the edge of this little town on the tippy top of one of the tallest points overlooking the quaint town of Pinhao, all we could see for miles and miles was a crazy patchwork of vineyards. Some of the best wines in the world come from the Duoro, but production can be limited as irrigation is prohibited and much of the wine doesn't doesn't make it out of Portugal. Some of wine is also sent downstream to Porto to be fortified and aged as Port. Thank God for the Duoro!

Sr. de Sampaya's guest house

Oh, and one last thing...

My husband was enamored by the small but roomy Opal we rented. Why don't we make cars like this in US? After all, Opal is a Ford brand. Sigh...

SOMEWHERE ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

A panhandler looking for a handout...actually he's my husband wondering what I've done with the map.