Out and about in the pilgrims’ city

Having got the excitement of Mr Springsteen out of our system, we were at liberty to show our friends the other delights of Santiago de Compostela. It is one of our favourite places; all narrow streets, beautiful squares and magnificent building – in the old quarter that is. It’s just rather a shame that the climate is so awful for much of the year. We were indeed lucky to have fine weather for the few days we were there.

Of course, we had to show them the cathedral and the Plaza do Obradoiro. This square never fails to please me. It must be all the pilgrims who have passed through it but it always seems to be a kind of universal meeting place for all kinds of people, of all ages and nationalities. You see bikes parked there, Girl Guide troupes from Italy, circles of young people picnicking and, on Monday, a woman using her rucksack as a headrest while she spread her arms and was either sleeping or meditating.

Whereas Vigo has had a plague of pig statues and I have seen the Cow Parade in Manchester and Florence (but not the banana-art work in Liverpool), Santiago de Compostela has been infested with strange abstract statues, all on the theme of towers. Done by a sculpture group called Las Torres de la Alhambra, the statues are all over the place: in the historic centre, near the police station and above all along one of the paths of the Alameda, a pleasant park area, ideal for a stroll in the early evening.

On of the best things about Santiago de Compostela is that all the casco viejo is pedestrianised. This makes it a truly pleasant place for sight seeing without traffic, rather like Venice but without the risk of falling into a canal. As a result, people sit and chat on the steps of squares and children can run around freely with minimum supervision.

As we took refreshment in Plaza Quintana one afternoon, I saw one group playing what looked a lot like the game my friends and I used to call Magic Mirror: one child stands facing the wall while the others creep up on him; when the “magic mirror” turns, the rest must freeze as any perceived movement sends you back to the start. Ah, happy days!

Eating facilities are another big plus factor. On Sunday we ate at lunchtime at Casa Manolo, a cheap and cheerful restaurant which offers excellent deals for pilgrims of all kinds. You give the waiter you name, tell him how many people are in your party and wait on the seats provided outside for that purpose. Eventually he comes and calls your name and you go to eat. On the hottest days, they even provide sun umbrellas.

Another eating option, of course, is tapas on Calle Franco, a street that must have the greatest concentration of bars possible on one street anywhere. Having tried a range of tapas, we finished one evening in El Patio, an old favourite of mine. There my friend chose an interesting item: frutas secas con queso. This looked a little like muesli but was whisked away into the microwave, melting the cheese and bringing out the spicy flavour of the dried fruits – a most unusual combination but good.

There we had one of THOSE Spanish moments where you get to hear someone’s life story in a potted version. A group of men asked us to take their photo. We got talking, asking if they came from Santiago de Compostela. It turned out that they all now worked in different places in Galicia but had studied in Santiago de Compostela from 1968 to 1975. At that time, El Patio had been their student bar. Returning from late afternoon or evening classes they went to El Patio to eat and drink most nights. They still returned at regular intervals to their old stamping ground for a reunion. Thirty odd years on the same bar is still there. What memories it must have. What changes it must have seen. What stories it could tell. Oh, the nostalgia!!!!