The journey to Santiago de Compostella was about 2 hours, partly along a motorway that ascended into thick cloud and partly on a good, regional road. As we got closer to the centre of town we assumed that we would have trouble negotiating a maze of back alleys leading to the hotel. But the main road just seemed to funnel down to a narrow, cobbled street that led alongside a building that looked vaguely hotel-like. There were no street marshals, as was mentioned in the guide, although some electrically controlled posts in the street warned that this was not a regular road. We continued very slowly along this passageway, dodging pedestrians until we reached what appeared to be a dead end, then discovered that the roadway opened into a large square, heaving with people, with the hotel on the right. I say that it was on the right, but there was no large hotel sign to mark the spot, just one or two cars parked outside with porters carrying baggage to and fro.
We stopped, locked up and fought our way past tourist groups into the hotel lobby and over to the small reception. We were soon checked in, our baggage offloaded onto a porter’s trolly and our car driven away to the hotel’s underground car park.
Our first floor room was spacious and quiet. We wondered why we had quadruple glazing until we experienced the noise of tourist groups, local musicians and dancers just outside.
One of the pleasures of staying in a 5 star hotel is the little extras, such as being able to escape from the heaving crowds into a quiet coffee lounge where coffee is served with pasties and chocolate biscuits included. Another pleasure was discovering the delights of one of the historically significant Santiago buildings in a perfectly calm and peaceful environment. The four quadrangles inside the hotel were breathtaking.
Our first walk round the town probably introduced us to most of the major places of interest, all within a few minutes’ walk of the hotel. Whether it was due to this being a Sunday we don’t know, but the main square was packed with tourists and walkers all squealing with delight that they had completed the walk to the cathedral. The most common site was of a group of people, all laden down with backpacks, complete with the obligatory shell hanging from a string, taking turns to be photographed in front of the side entrance to the cathedral, grinning widely and arms held aloft. Occasionally a new group would appear, recognise someone from another group and al would rush over to hug and congratulate each other.
Thinking that the hotel restaurant might be busy, and guessing that we might want to enjoy a good quality, peaceful meal away from the throngs outside, we had booked a table in the main hotel restaurant. It turned out to be an excellent choice – fabulous castle dungeon setting, exceptionally well-prepared and tasty food and great service. For the second time we tried what they describe as cheese ice cream, a local speciality, but tasting more like frozen clotted cream. The selection of dessert wines was an added bonus.
Earlier we had been turned away from the cathedral as it was full. We returned in the early evening and got to the top of the queue before finding out that mask wearing was obligatory. Our masks were tucked away in the car, now locked in the hotel garage, so I hurried along to a nearby shop to buy two strangely decorated masks before we were allowed back in at the top of the queue.
The cathedral was notable for several things: being packed with people, either wandering around or sitting while waiting for a service to start; a strong smell of incense; a largely plain interior with only one stained glass window; a hideously gilt decorated centre. We walked around once then went down into the crypt to see the casket supposedly containing the remains of St Paul the Apostle, not a very moving experience for us non-Catholics, especially when we suspected that it could have been any old set of bones.
Outside again there was a huge stage in the square next to the cathedral and an orchestra was just preparing to start a performance. Steel barriers around the square protected a seated area in the middle, only about half full of spectators. Crowds were leaning against the barriers and the steps at the top of the square were full of people watching the show. We noticed that people were just going into the seated area, taking a free programme sheet and sitting down without appearing to pay – so we did the same. The first number was a surprise. At first glance this was a classic orchestra, mostly men in evening suits. As they started to play we noticed that the back line was traditional percussionists in folk outfits. Then some traditional musicians appeared at the front of the stage while two pairs of dancers performed off stage. This should have been an interesting mix of classical and traditional, but it was rather spoilt by the long-winded announcer, who spoke for as long between numbers as the numbers themselves, and the poor quality PA. The system looked good, with line array speakers and a mixing desk set well back from the stage, but the orchestra was rather over amplified, leading to a cacophony of sound.
We listened to almost half the concert before returning to the hotel lounge for our complementary glass of regional wine in the hotel lounge. We managed to watch half a downloaded Netflix film before we gave way to sleep.