May 9, 2010 - Santiago de Compostela, Spain

On Sunday, we head out of Ponte de Lima,

northwards into Spain.

It is rainy and windy there, too, but we make the most of it.

We're greeted by a small city with big churches

and a large square.

This is what we came to see - Santiago de Compestela (sp 269-270 in 1000 Places to See Before You Die).

Inside is that of a huge gothic cathedral.

The organ pipes are horizontal and in a crown-array.

The altar is more gold than is typical in Europe. It is much more Latin American.

Ella's enjoying the tour - and staying warm and dry.

Afterwards, we head around the corner to find lunch.

After at least two kinds of squid, octopus, empanadas, and more, Abs realizes she's quadruple-fisting with wine, water, Diet Coke, and coffee.

Group photos in front of the cathedral before moving on.

The other two flags are the flag of Galicia - the group of Spanish provinces (left) and the city of Santiago (right).

Ella sleeps through part of the reason for going to Spain...

Chocolate con churros!

Then, both girls sleep on the way back.
(Jill and I are glad that it is so hard to say who adores who more.)

When we get back to Portugal, we go straight to the 'friends villa' - a.k.a. "the monkey house," paying homage to the arguably crazier of the two houses in Brazil.
(For reference, we're staying at the bride's family villa.)

After a few bottles of wine (which is how we measure time on these sorts of vacations), Kevin, Brooke, Rich, Katherine, and Beth arrived (though Brooke went straight to bed and I literally didn't see her until late the next day).
By this time, not everyone has arrived (and, sadly, Larry and Casey never did), but the three villas are starting to fill up.