Tag Archives: France

Trip to Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Text by Judy J. Pinegar, Pictures by John J. O’Dell

“The Way” or the Camino de Santiago has been used for over 1000 years for pilgrims to get to Santiago de Compostela, the tomb of Saint James the Apostle.  Although there are many “caminos” or paths to get there, the most frequently used is the path from France, 783 Kilometers (486 miles) across all of northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. John and I met one of those people, Cody from Louisiana, and shared several hours (on a train from Santiago to Madrid) talking about his month long experience. He walked the whole way, after training for three months in Colorado, because with this trip you have to cross the Pyrenees Mountains.

A 13th century poet wrote “The door is open to all, sick and healthy, not only to Catholics, but also to pagans, Jews, heretics and vagabonds.” There are many places to stay along the way where people charge 5 or 10 euros for food, a place to stay, a shower and laundry services. Cody said there were often 3 or 4 languages at a table for 12 people! Carrying a walking stick with an attached scallop shell, it is now more popular as a personal or spiritual journey of discovery, rather than one primarily motivated by religion, an average of 150,000 pilgrims a year make the journey today. If you walk at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) you get a ” Compostela” certificate  and there is also a passport in which you put the stickers you accumulate along the way.

Needless to say, John and I have no stickers or certificates, but the church and the city are beautiful and very old. Sometime in the 9th century a religious hermit, following a shining star unearthed the tomb of the Apostle James in the woods, and after it being confirmed by a local Bishop, the Spanish King and eventually the Pope, pilgrimages began, and today a grand Cathedral stands in the spot, built piecemeal over several centuries it is a mix of Romanesque with baroque and Gothic flourishes. The biggest part was built in 1075 to 1211, with the tops and flourishes added later, then an 18th century facade was added (we didn’t see it as it was being refurbished), you may see the netting in some of the pictures of the outside.

After taking the tour of the Cathedral and it’s museums, we also saw a very mysterious street act, where one man appears to be holding another man in the air with his staff, only two (one of each) of their hand are on the staff…. what do you think?? Then a trip on the tourist bus and another day to the huge Ciudad de Cultura de Galicia (the area which contains both this city an A Coruna) which has lots of symbolism: the overall shape resembles a giant stone wave sliced into sections, the footprint in the vague shape of a scallop shell, or the shape of the old city portion of Santiago de Compostella.  On this site, we visited the museum, the largest library I have ever seen, and a display of the architectural designs for the site. Although the project was started in 1991, the first two buildings were opened in 2011, with another added in 2012, and at least three more are planned. Currently work has stopped for lack of money.

Then there are pictures of some of the tapas available for sale, some of the streets and buildings, flowers and a big fruit and vegetable stand in the city… after two days we left for Madrid via the train.

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The Famous Wines of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region

By Judy J. Pinegar

The Abbey from a distance
The Abbey from a distance

The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region is an overlooked region in the Italian tourism scene, but it produces some exceptional wines. The origins of these wines date back to the middle ages (1066 to 1485), when the area was important in the Mediterranean spice route from the Byzantine Empire to the trading center of Venice.  Travelers through the area brought grape vines from Macedonia and Anatolia. Under the Hapsburg reign, the German and French grape varieties were brought in.  Even today, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine region is an area close to Austria and Slovenia. Due to this positioning, the region has a unique blend of Italian, Slavic and Austrian cultures and foods. But the wine, especially the white wine is special.

The Abbey of Rosazzo is located in the Coli Orientali (eastern hills) of Friuli in an isolated area to the northeast of Manzano (famous for the production of chairs), around twenty kilometres from Udine and ten kilometres from the Slovenian border. The origins of the over one thousand year old abbey are still not fully known. Proof to the early origins of winemaking as well as the importance of the craft to the society comes from a document in the abbey dated January 20, 1341 that reads: “The Patriarch Bertrando has threatened the excommunication of several people, who after having occupied a wood belonging to the Abbey of Rosazzo did not want to plant vines”. Shocking!

Looking out from the Abbey Both photos and quote courtesy of The Abbey of Rosazzo http://www.abbaziadirosazzo.it
Looking out from the Abbey
Both photos and quote courtesy of The Abbey of Rosazzo http://www.abbaziadirosazzo.it

In the pictures of the Abbey note the proximity of the vines and roses. Even today in California on a wine tour you often see a single rose planted at the end of each row, traditionally the roses are the grape growers early warning system. Powdery mildew is a fungus affects both plants, but roses are much more sensitive to the disease. So if the roses are infected, it is time to spray the grapes with sulfur or other fungicides that are used today. Roses also warn of other diseases, and harbor beneficial insects that help kill other insects in the grapes. And they are beautiful! The Abbey can be visited, with some limited rooms, but visit the cellar as it is one of the oldest in Friuli, dating back to the end of the thirteenth century with the Benedictine monks.

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