Santiago de Compostela

The city of Santiago de Compostela had a very unique charm to it, BUT... I hated it at first!!!  I got lost for about 1.5 hours before finding my hostel.  I must have been really tired or something because instead of looking at my map on my phone, I was looking at the street name list directions.  And for anyone that has been to Spain, they know that not all street names are posted!

Anyways, once I found my hostel I headed straight for the Cathedral of Santiago de Comopstela.  I found, what I at first thought was "the beautiful side" of the exterior.  It was incredible.  After spending some time outside, I decided to take a look at the inside only to find that the inside was even more incredible than the outside.  There was this giant alter made of gold in the middle of the cathedral; but, unfortunately, the picture shown below doesn't look at all what it looks like in person.

If you can ignore the man in the lower right, you can kind of see the ornate detail of the alter... Again, my camera does not do the alter justice

Anyways, I exited the Cathedral in a different way then I came in.  And to my surprise, I ended up in the main plaza (the prettier side of the Cathedral).  This was particularly cool because I was already blown away and to see something even more beautiful than I had already seen was a great treat.

The plaza was full of people that all looked very happy and excited.  Apparently I came at a time when many people were completing the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  This is a sort of pilgrimage that has occurred for over a thousand years where people from all over Europe walk hundreds of miles and finish at the Cathedral.  In fact, the path has a seashell logo because the routes that people take resemble that of a seashell...

Overall, Santiago was incredible, I ended up wandering around the city for the rest of the day.  And, coincidentally enough, to end the night, I found mariachis playing "Cielito Lindo." This was the second time in a month and I couldn't have been happier!