So many things to share today!

First, I forgot to mention anything about the trains I rode on… From Barcelona to Madrid I rode a high-speed train (the AVE in Spain) — very similar to the Acela at home. From Madrid to Santiago there are no high-speed trains, so I rode the slow train. I believe that out of the 16-17 cars of the train there were four engines — one at each end (pointing different directions) and two facing each other in the middle. When we pulled out of Madrid we were travelling “backwards” and kept up that way for about and hour or a bit more. Then the train stopped and all the power went out (there was some explanation, but it was in rapid Spanish over an extremely poor audio system that was barely intelligible anyway). After a bit, we started up again, but in the other direction. At that moment, the engines pointing in opposite directions made sense! We must have been waiting for the tracks to be switched and the control of the engines to the two facing the other direction. Kinda cool.

The landscape of Spain (at least the part that I traveled — Barcelona-Madrid-Santiago) was largely dry rolling hills covered with small desert-like plants changing over to more mountainous tree-filled area in the north. I was surprised at how uncultivated or unmanaged most of the land was. There were some farms (particularly north of Madrid), but lots of the land seemed unpopulated. I’ll have to look up the population density of Spain, but it must be much lower than what I’m used to.

Last night when I got into Santiago de Compostela, I checked into my dorm room in Fonseca Hall about 9:30p and then went out to explore a bit. The Festival of St. James (the Apostle not the brother of Jesus, btw) is July 25 and things are already in full swing. There is a carnival just up the hill from my dorm that starts up about 9p and goes until after I’m in bed. Carnival apparently means the same here as at home — there are games, and rides (bumper cars and round and round things), cotton candy, roasted nuts, churros and lots of cheap goods for sale. Down in the old city there are tons of people walking around, eating, chatting and buying stuff in the stores that are open late for the festival. Apparently last night there was a free symphony, but I missed it. There are more concerts throughout the week, but I think most of the rest of them cost money.

This morning I went out again to find a market, the classrooms where my program will be held and the place where we will meet tomorrow. On my way, I ran into traditional Galician performers getting ready for a parade. If you’ve ever been to the Renaissance Faire, it’s a lot like that. Galicia (the part of Spain where Santiago is located) was populated by Celtic folks way back when and is very much influenced by their culture. The traditional music features bagpipes, tambourines and drums and dances that look extremely Celtic (think Riverdance, but in an old fashioned way). A lot of the architecture is also very Celtic and Gothic, which is an interesting combination.

This evening I wandered around a bit more and then got a snack at the carnival and headed back to my room. When I got to my room, there was a note from Jackie (who was another grad student at VCU), so I went to chat with her. Jackie completed the Camino (the pilgrimage to Santiago) a few days ago and had some great stories of her experiences.

And now, I must be off to bed. My program begins tomorrow morning, so I need to be fresh.

Photos from today are here. Enjoy!