We visited Santiago in July, 2001, on our way to Portugal for the Europrez VI meeting. After riding on the coast in the cool marine air we decided that we would not try to stay in Santiago the afternoon that we arrived because the temperature was in the mid thirties, C. So we headed southwest and found a nice hotel in the town of Cambados.

Cambados is a small coastal town that derives most of it’s income from the sea and some from people escaping the inland heat for a bit of cool air along the coast. This entire area of Spain (Galicia) is renowned for its green rural areas and slate roofs and granite (everything is built of granite - houses, fences, walls, and even the enclosures for bus stops). The weather here is often quite inclement (hence all the green) and we are told that July is the only month of the year when the temperatures soar.

Rather than try to navigate an unknown city in extreme heat at the end of the day we had to make a decision. We wanted to tour the city but did not want to stay in the heat. So, we employed a strategy that has served us well. We found a place to stay where the weather was more to our liking and then used public transportation (an air conditioned bus in this case) to get into the city thus avoiding having to ride in the heat or try to navigate were we had no map.

Once in town we only had to ask for directions to a Officina de Turismo Informacion about 4 times before we found the place. Once there we were able to secure a plano de la ciudad (map of the city) and we could now find our way back to the bus station! This also allowed to begin our exploration with a visit to the baroque Cathedral de Apostol whose western facade is pictured at left. The building is huge and covers quite a bit of ground - so much so that it is hard to grasp its size by looking at the picture. You can barely make out the people climbing the stairs toward the front doors.

To the right of the towers standing alone in the blue sky is the clock tower, pictured below. The building continues on to the right of the clock tower. The unique part of the tower, as well as many other buildings in the area are the number of weeds dripping from its numerous niches. One in particular was in full bloom with lovely lavender blossoms, but too small to see from this distance.

If the grandness of the exterior isn’t enough, the alter inside is quite impressive as well, even if difficult to see in this picture (left). The gold and silver statues are competing with each other for space, with each trying to be more grandiose than its neighbor. It’s quite dim inside even on a sunny day - we cannot imagine how dark it would be inside when the sun is not visible.

We had lunch at a nice restaurant that had a beautiful patio in the back of the building. Thanks to our acquaintance Karyn in Madrid we have discovered a favorite dish which we ordered here - Almejas en Salsa Marinara (Clams in Marinara Sauce). This particular invocation was the best we have ever had. We found all of the restaurants to be a bit pricey compared to the rest of Spain (Pamplona, excepted - it’s equally expensive).

We enjoyed our walk about town which included a stop at the Parador Hotel. This particular Parador is the most expensive in the chain and we had heard that it was considered the most beautiful as well. Don’t know if it was us, the late afternoon sun or what, but we we not all that impressed. We have stayed in Paradores in the past when we could use Bancotel Talones to pay for the rooms (significant discount) and were very happy with the facilities and the quality of the staff, the food and the libations. We did not see anything that made this particular Parador better than the others, though it does sit on the same square as the cathedral, so maybe it is the neighborhood. It is rated as a 5 star hotel and perhaps there is something associated with the rooms that we did not see. The other Paradores we have seen are either 3 or 4 start hotels.

The town has numerous cafes/bars and a university. The day we visited was about 30 degrees C but we found the sun to be warm and worked hard at keeping to the shaded parts of the streets in our travels.

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