Santiago Compostela, Galicia

The reason why I put 'Galicia' after Santiago Compostela is that I wish to distinguish it. Galicia is so different to what I experienced in central Spain. As the bus left the hot plains from Salamanca mountains began to rise from the horizon, the mercury slid down the thermometer a few notches (I presume this, I'm not some sort of thermometer carrying nut) and the clouds took on a darker, more threatening colour. I decided that it felt distinctly like Scotland. The morning after I arrived, I walked up towards the cathedral to the sound of bagpipes. Galicia has a more Celtic culture. Many people there speak Gallego and they are proud of their differences with the rest of Spain. Santiago itself reminded me of Edinburgh. The buildings are carved from a grey stone and the streets go up. To get somewhere you always have to walk uphill, and to go back down the hill you have to walk uphill. It was tiring.

I decided to head to the market place on the far side of the old town. It was a jovial place with big, fat merchants flaunting their fish and meats. Large women were bragging about their melons while their husbands ensured me that no-one he met could match the size of his carrot. And to not even get started on their plums.

I wandered into a second hand clothes shop and it is here where I met David. David had a long slim body, skinny, dirty jeans and a mass of semi dreaded hair. To describe his face I will send you too Google Images under the search Russell Brand. He was an absolute spit. We hit it off straight away, he gave me a free coffee and half of his croissant, insisting that he didn't even like croissants anyway. I didn't bother asking him why he bought it and ate it anyway. I hung around their for about an hour and we swapped travel stories. He told me he wanted to go Romania to teach English or help people in someway and I told him to go to Albania, because it is my favourite country and that he would love it. After meeting some of his mates and chatting briefly I decided to head off and walk back up the downhill slopes of Santiago.