Thursday, June 15, 2006
Don’t you love it when un-propitious things happen in the most propitious ways?! I lost (or won depending on your perspective) my argument with myself today about whether to shell out the five euro for the taxi or be my normal obstinate self and walk (40 minutes) through winding streets to the hotel. Remembering the lessons of Cuenca, I flagged down the cab in front of the bus station. (I love when I actually learn from my mistakes.) After my Avila experience, I was extremely hesitant about this hotel and its claim to have wireless internet access. I would be one pissed puppy if I dropped five euro for a taxi this time and still no access.
What a joyous contrast to my awful experience with the El Rastro in Avila! The man at the desk of Rosa Rosae was kind and smiling, he spoke a bit of English, had my room key ready and waiting for me, and put me in the room with the best internet signal in the house when I explained I had work to do. Pointing to the dining room he told me to help myself any time to the FREE coffee, pastries, yogurt, juice, and fruit and suggested I settle in while he finished up my passport information. I dropped my bags off, checked the internet signal – which actually works - WOOHOO! – and just as I was debating between all the work I needed to do and the fact I really should get out and explore it started to rain. How glorious – all afternoon in my own hotel room with my own internet access and endless cups of free coffee and fresh fruit without one smidgen of guilt for the touristing I should be doing. The cost for my lovely attic hotel room with warm wooden floors, flat screen TV, skylight windows in the ceiling, free food, and free internet? 50 euros a night! I’ve already extended for a day (actually by the time I finished this entry, I had extended for two).
I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I was to have an internet connection. There were several things I needed to tend to back in the states that I could handle online and a handful of extended phone issues, like tech support calls, that I would not in a million years do on a cell phone now that there is Skype. I got a cup of coffee and some fruit and settled down at the computer to get caught up on some things. By about 7pm I’d had enough and headed out for an evening walk. I decided to follow the off-the-beaten-path walk that went around the center city, passing through some of the parks and by some of the newer architecture. The rain had stopped around 6pm and the sky cleared in time for the sunset causing a beautiful swirl of clouds and color.
Again I have to say I do love the Spanish love for parks. The Almeda park on the northwest side of town is just lovely, well-landscaped with an array of statues, some amazing views of the Cathedral, and trees that take your breath away. I passed down through the University area, past the Carbelleiras de San Lourenzo, an amazing grove of hundred plus year old oak tress and into what seemed to be a poorer neighborhood, very old and entirely whitewashed with little green doors no more than five feet high. Although it was a bit run down, it was an interesting little area and would be quite charming if it were fixed up a little. Passing through three more parks I came upon the Auditorio de Galicia. They are very proud of this structure designed by Julio Cano Lasso and Diego Cano Pintos and situated in the Parque de Música above a reflective lake and amidst interesting modern art statues. I circled back up to the Avenida e Xoan XXIII – a street that leads down the hill to the historic center next. Alongside the road is what I found to be a fascinating art piece. It is basically a porticoed walkway done in an entirely modern design. It is angled, with mirror-like steel columns on either side and covered with glass plates. The walkway is shaped like a square that has been squashed from the top corner so one side is higher than the other.
If you stand behind one of the steel columns you see this very modern, new millennium, glass/steel structure to your left and to your right ths Convento de San Franisco. It is said that St. Francis of Assisi founded this convent in 1214 when he undertook the pilgrimage to Santiago. The convent and statue dedicated to St. Francis out front is one of my favorites in the city. It is a interesting to say the least to see such antiquity juxtaposed with modernity. Santiago has actually done a wonderful job blending the old and the new. My hotel is about a five minute walk from the old town but I actually like the contrast of the modern, hustle-bustle of cars and people against the quiet, quaint, car-less, cobblestone streets of the old town that fill the air with a sense of days gone by. Throughout the city you see elements of great modern architecture and great classical architecture not side by side, but truly integrated one with the other like the Avenue Xoan and St. Francis’ Convent. It is nice to see a city that does what it does as well as Santiago does.
The last rays of the sun had vanished leaving a deep blue sky as I walked up the Costa Vella and continue my walk along the outer wall of the historic center. Without ever pulling out the map, I somehow magically walked straight back to my hotel from the opposite direction. What glory to check email and work a bit before crawling into my crisp cotton sheets and falling into a blissful deep sleep beneath the stars that shone through my attic skylight above. There is something in the air around Santiago that speaks to me. Cuenca was beautiful, but Santiago speaks to my soul. This is a place I will come back to. I can’t wait to begin exploring tomorrow.
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