Spain - Santiago de Compostela

According to legend, one of the 12 apostles', St. James (Santiago in Spanish), body was brought to Galicia, northern Spain. In AD 813 his supposed relics were found in Santiago, where a cathedral was built in his honor. 

Santiago de Compostela was Christendom's third most important place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, after Jerusalem and Rome. Over half a million persons a year journeyed here from all over Europe. Even today, over 200,000 pilgrims each year travel to Santiago. Many of whom start on the French/Spanish border, taking four weeks to hike the 480 miles across northern Spain following

 the renown El Camino de Santiago (the Road to Santiago).

 These modern pilgrims are coming from all over the world to make the trek. 

In various small villages, we saw solitary pilgrims on the Camino trekking to Santiago. 

Carrying their kit and supplies on their backs.

They come from Germany...

... England...

...from the Philippines.

On the path, water trickles from a pipe in the hillside, pooling in an old fountain where pilgrims could refill their gourds. Though the sign on the fountain stated: "Water not guaranteed to be sanitary"

The traditional method was to carry water in dry gourds tied to their hiking sticks, 

like the sheepherders did. Today they have canteens and plastic water bottles.

s

As one nears the cathedral in Santiago, the stone streets become narrower. 

Many building lining the way have a covered walkway for the pilgrims, as here on Rua Nova.

Over the centuries, numerous small cafes sprouted along the path to feed the pilgrims.  

One can either dine in the bright sun or under the arch covered walkway.

A historic stone fountain in Praza das Praterias 

on the back corner of the cathedral, welcomes the arriving pilgrims.

Today this Praza is the entrance to the cathedral, so is a common location 

for those who have made the trek to regroup before entering the main Praza a block further. After hiking many miles as a group sharing pain, thirst and cold, 

for camaraderie they want to enter the Praza together.

What the pilgrims first see when they turn the corner to enter the Praza do Obradoiro...

One of the finest squares in Europe.

Looming on their right is the impressive cathedral of Santiago (Saint James)...

they know now that their quest to reach the site of his tomb is "fait accompli".

Some pilgrims just want to lay back, relish at the sight of the cathedral, 

others are overwhelmed with emotion, having overcoming many hardships together, 

realizing they have achieved their quest, hug and dance with joy.

Now to enjoy the moment, 

basking in the euphoria of their accomplishment,

hiking boots off, text friends and family of their victory.

For groups that have made the journey together, 

now is a much anticipated time to celebrate 

their incredible achievement

by sharing drink and food.

Others nearing exhaustion, 

but not wanting this special moment to end too soon,  

catnap under a Praza arch. 

For all who have walked or bicycled the 480 miles of El Camino de Santiago, 

over steep frigid mountains, across dusty hot plains, through boring miles of vineyards and grain fields,

for the personal sacrifices made, agony endured, fears overcome, refusing to quit,

my hat is off to you for what you have achieved.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

CCjon

Spain - Valladolid y Rueda

From Venice, we flew to Madrid, Spain, picked up a rental car and headed north to the wine country of central Spain. Destinations: Valladolid and Rueda.

Found a one bedroom Airbnb place on Calle Guzman in the old section of Valladolid. 

 It did not look like much at street level, as one only sees cobblestones and the old stucco walls. 

But behind the gates are newer residential buildings. 

Even had private parking underground. A tight turn to get the car in, but secure.

The Plaza Mayor in Valladolid has shops 

and outdoor seating for a hundred or more diners.

I wander around when there are few people out this early.

There are many Spanish and Moorish designs influences seen here.

Sample of different architecture in Valladolid. 

Nearby is the Iglesia San Pedro with its ornate carved stone facade.

There are many small cafés for your morning coffee or afternoon wine on every street.

We laugh when people here refer to me as "the German". Maybe because our rental car has plates from Germany and not from Spain, or my height (I am taller than everyone we have met so far), 

or my blue eyes. 

When we say we are from Texas, the immediate response is... 

ah, Cowboys, and point their fingers like pistols!

One can find many small tree shaded niches for relaxing and reading. 

The weather is pleasant for being outdoors.

The next day we drove through the many vineyards to reach the small village of Rueda, 

where Amparo's family might have come from when migrating to Colombia. 

Her family name is Rueda. Much like a valley named Napa in California, this Rueda valley is known for its desirable variety of white wine. No red wine is produced here. 

The Rueda village church and nearby restaurant. Little by little we are re-tuning our ears to understand how the Spanish people pronounce their Castilian words and construct their sentences. 

It is different from Colombia or Mexico.

We had a chicken dish lunch in Rueda with a local wine, of course. 

Rueda's main business street

Wine production must be profitable, as the buildings here are new and solid.

As we were packing the suitcases for our last night in Valladolid, we heard flutes and drums outside. Stepping into the street, we encountered a procession on the narrow Calle Guzman.

A serendipitous surprise in our visit here...

 

A local catholic society was carrying a statue of a Saint or the Virgin Mary 

through the neighborhood, stopping periodically for the musicians to play and to change 

who was pulling the cart.

The congregation followed...

We could not decide if this statue was the Virgin Mary or a Saint, as she was not holding a baby. She was holding an open book in her right hand and a feather pen in the other.

We said our goodbyes to Calle Guzman,

we leave for the well-known city of Santiago de Compostela in the northwest corner of Spain.

The journey continues...

CCjon

Venice - Day Two: Final Day in Italy

Today's objective was to find the gondola shipyard I had heard about. I knew it would not be in a high-dollar tourist area, so went walking toward the working-class neighborhoods of Venice.  

Asking directions from people I met. The early morning fisherman hoping for a meal...

...a retired elderly gent taking his morning stroll...

Mom and young son watching Daddy leave for work. 

Most people here have a boat for commuting.

...to this craftsman refinishing a front door. 

He pointed me in the right direction.

Said to turn right at the fruit stand. 

That was easy to find.

The narrow Calle opened up on a canal in front of one of the remaining gondola shipyards. 

From the stacks of rough-cut wood boards, new gondolas are each built by hand. No mass production assembly lines here. Each is carefully crafted based on the customer's preferences. 

Other gondolas are brought in for repairs. Some repairs can be made outdoors, 

others must be done inside under the roof.

Gondola building is another trade slowly disappearing in Italy. What carpenters once carefully carved out of wood by hand is slowly being replaced with fiberglass, even black shiny plastic. 

Did you know all Venetian gondolas are black? 

Only the colors of the upholstery and trim make each unique and personal for the owner. 

Inside the shop, workers handcraft sections and pieces to make repairs.

Canals around the shipyard are busy with working barges. Everything in Venice has to be brought in by small boat with its hand loading and unloading. Which explains why Venice has a higher cost of living. 

We don't think of gondolas as being accident-prone, but Venice does have 

its traffic jams in the narrower waterways. Accidents with larger motorboats are a frequent story with the gondoliers.

Now to locate our second destination for the day, 

the Libreria Acqua Alta (High Water Bookstore).  

Just another one of many small out-of-the-way shops tucked in between large residential buildings on a dark, narrow alley. This funky operation has a great history and following. It's a hole-in-the-wall shop packed from floor to ceiling in every available nook & cranny with used, even abandoned books.

The air inside reeks of moldy papers, ancient dust, and musty canal humidity. The ceilings are low, and books are stacked high. Books overflow from an old gondola down the middle of the main room. Smaller rooms and corridors branch off to the sides with their sagging shelves, overladen with books, looking to fall at the touch, making one hesitant to pull a book. 

In the rear of the shop, abandoned manuscripts, textbooks, and encyclopedias are stacked 

to build a staircase to another level. Hmm, as the bottom level of papers decomposes, are more books

 added on top to maintain the steps? Looks like it.

In a dark recess, I uncovered two interesting books on photography. Though written in Italian, one can study the old black & white photos in them to learn new techniques.

Outdoors, a storm cloud gathers, changing the look and feel of the city.

 Only to disappear without giving any rain.

The rest of the day was lost in wandering the twisting, winding alleyways.

Taking a photo or three of the images that caught my eye.

A corner cafe window displays fresh sandwiches for the noon meal rush. 

Soon they will be gone. Today, life moves on... only to be repeated tomorrow.

Now the final image from Venice, the city that reinvents itself to stay afloat.

Street photography is spontaneous, quickly snapping an image before it disappears. 

Life is in constant motion, either grab what you see fast or are lost forever. 

Nothing is staged, nothing can be planned, and no models are used. Just life as one sees it.

A minute earlier, or a minute later, this image would not be here for you to see.

"Takes Two to Tango" 

 ...and a moment later, the dance is over.

And so, we too are moving on, leaving Italy in the morning.

It was twelve years ago exactly when we were in Italy for our first time.  

Some things have changed, but much is the same. 

We saw many new places, revisited old ones,

 and yet have not seen everything. 

 

Those places will have to wait to be explored on another visit.

Now, on to Spain...

CCjon

Venice - Day One

From Florence, we traveled to Venice. Don't have a lot to say other than we greatly enjoyed our return to this unique city on the water.  Everybody knows Venice has waterways and gondolas instead of streets and taxis. So we'll dispense with those photos to get them out of the way, 

then focus on other images that caught my eye. Enjoy...

A foggy morning along the canal

Fog lifted, leaving the paver stones wet.

Canal view

Of course a photo of gondolas

Were granted access to a special overlook of the Grand Canal

Still a morning mist hanging in the air

Typical little walkway bridges in Venice

When you take a gondola ride, you don't think 

that you might be in someone's backyard, seeing a clothes line.

In every main tourist area, there are street vendors selling 

"Original Italian Art Paintings" ,

printed in China.

Then there is Saint Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco), the heart of Venice.

Caught the afternoon sun casting a shadow 

over the people in the square.

Italians dine late at night, normally around 9 pm.

Many dine with family or friends, 

others dine alone

That wraps up Day One in Venice. Tomorrow we search for a few places 

away from the normal tourist scene.

CCjon