SdeC From Park to University

I've already shown you around Santiago's picturesque core, but what I omitted to show were some of the attractive park-lands embedded in the city and also the parts of the university where my conference was held. You may find both surprising.

On one of my walks I entered the gate of an elderly, but seemingly abandoned, religious institution shown here only to find a landscape of vistas and monuments.

Impressive, eh! I was rather taken by the last of the columns shown and went to read the inscription ... although hardly understanding a word of Spanish. I was taken aback by the reference to Puerto Rico (or rich coast) since that was where I'd be in a little under 2 weeks from the date of the picture. Puerto Rico is, of course, in Central America, sandwiched between Panama and Nicaragua. Apparently this column 'celebrates the centenary of someone's or something's death (centenario da sua morte). Translation anyone?


My conference at the University of Santiago de Compostela commenced the following day and I fronted up expecting to find the usual architecturally sterile accommodation. However, the entrance to the building alerted me to the fact that this place was something special!






































I wasn't expecting the grand opening of the conference to be held in something resembling a throne room in a palace! It had a painted ceiling and oil paintings hung around the walls no doubt celebrating famous academics. And look at the plush seating. I might see if a famous artist could paint a picture of me which I'd then donate to the University of New England. Sorry, I'm only joking.

AS

Santiago

Belatedly, I'm starting on a series of posts  covering my foreign explorations in the late June to early July period this year, covering perhaps 24 days in all. It was a very long journey and involved no less than 11 separate flights with 6 different airlines during which I circumnavigated this planet.

And the journey involved both work and play ... with latter fortunately constituting the majority. My experiences in both domains were fascinating and involved several 'firsts' for me. As my years advance, I don't mind trying new things. Indeed, the thing I fear most is getting into a rut and doing the same boring things over and over. No doubt some of my readers will disagree with this diagnosis, but 'chacun a son choix'.

The trip to my first main destination, Santiago de Compostela in Spain's far north-west Galicia region - bordering on the Bay of Biscay and lying just north of Portugal took 32 hours in all, some ten hours or more of which were on the ground in airports terminals at Sydney, Doha, and Rome. And arrived there at midnight (their time) over 3 hours late. Judging by my trip, el cheapo airlines seem to have trouble keeping to their schedules! I stayed in lovely little hotel close the university campus and met up there with several long-time friends from both Australia and other parts of the world. You've probably guessed that I was in Santiago on business, that being to attend a lovely conference lasting a week. Of that, some 4 days were spent 'on the road' through Galicia seeing some of the territory's lovely sights while looking technically at the problems of rural development in Spain.

Prior to the meeting, however, I allowed myself one day to explore Santiago itself ... one of the world's major tourist destinations, especially for religious reasons. The city is at the terminal end of a series of religious pilgrimage  routes collectively termed the Camino de Santiago, which in recent years has attracted as many as 300,000 people annually.  See the following website for an overview of this massive event: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago.

Well, I wasn't there on a pilgrimage but the city itself is well worth a look as the pictures I present reveal. The central area has a combination of little lane-ways, massive plazas, historic buildings, picturesque vistas, interesting street life, and so on. And the massive cathedral, which is the focus of so much attention, looks to me much more interesting than its more famous counterpart in Rome! I think you'll agree with me that this place is something special! Apologies in advance for the vast number of photos and, by the way, you'll notice the absence of sun! Galicia was quite cloudy during my visit.

 AS

Long Time No Post

Apologies to my readers. I've been remiss in not keeping up to date with all the events taking place in my crowded life. However, this post is a start in recording recent events including my lengthy global trip to Spain, Britain and Costa Rica.

That said, I'm starting with a lovely event last Thursday when I attended the Australian Opera's performance of Madame Butterfly at our university's Lazenby Hall. It's amazing how richly endowed Armidale is with its musical life despite our small size of only 25,000 people. And the house was full for the wonderful performance of Puccini's excellent opera. Included in the performance was a cast of extras recruited from Armidale's schools and other places, although the orchestra and the key singers were all of national repute.

I took a few pictures of the performance, although I was seated a the back of the hall a fair way from the stage. Two are included here, both taken at the final curtain call where the lead performers took their bow. The story of the opera involves the clash of cultures between visiting US naval personnel and Japanese women, and if you look at the pictures carefully you'll see the Japanese attire ot the performers.

 

All up, it was a great evening and the final applause was thunderous.

AS