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Santiago de Chile - Chile

Santiago – Chile

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Santiago del Nuevo Extremo

Just 9 days after returning from out last longer trip in Israel, and only 4 that were spending the weekend in Helsinki; here we were again but this time for a longer period, flying into one of our farthest destinations ever, Chile. Santiago, the capital, would only be the gateway and main base to a much complete program ahead of us for the next 10 days, being the highlight of the trip (and probably of any trip so far to date) reaching the farthest possible place from the nearest mainland, at almost 4000 kilometers well into the Pacific Ocean: Easter Island.

Quite an adventure and great excitement returning to South America where, let’s be honest. It feels to me like going “back” home as Spanish that I am plus I love being able to use my mother tongue in a foreign country. Chileans to our great surprise, are very friendly and welcoming people, yet for some reason, half of my friends and family who have been there before disagree on this. Never mind, I can talk from my own experience, I loved it and I cannot wait to come back hopefully soon! There is way too much more to see, north and south. From the most arid desert on earth, Atacama, to the glaciers and landscapes of Patagonia.

Santiago is a very modern city, one of the largest in South America. And if you excuse me here, one of the wealthiest. Chile is one of the richest countries in Latin America with one of the highest per-capita income. No surprise why many people is choosing to migrate over there including friends of mine, since for example the work situation in Spain (as of April 2015) is not the best after the big crisis.

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Read more about the article Santiago de Compostela – Spain
Santiago de Compostela - Spain

Santiago de Compostela – Spain

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The City of Stone and Way of Saint James

Happy to travel to Santiago de Compostela for a well deserved return to one of the most historical and beautiful cities in Spain, worldwide known especially among the Christian Catholic population. It becomes now quite an oddity to think it took me 13 years to come back and admire this city one more time; but yeah, with an almost infinite choice of destinations for a lifetime, sometimes the ones we have near us are the ones we tend to mistakenly postpone and even forget.

Although this was just a day trip taking as much advantage from a very early flight in the morning and a late at night return, it is more than enough time to visit Santiago de Compostela, the small capital city of the Autonomous Region of Galicia in north west Spain. We can be thankful the weather was not too bad considering it was just January! Yes, this is something you need to be aware of, the weather in this region. It does not matter whether you are coming in the summer months or winter, the chances of rain are one of the highest in Europe, only second after Bergen in Norway. Also a jacket in summer will almost certainly be needed.

So what’s the deal and so special about this city to be so world renown? It is the end point of the Way of Saint James’, the Christian pilgrimage network of routes coming all over Europe onto Northern Spain and on to the Cathedral of Santiago, resting place of the apostle. Quite an epic journey should you wish to do, noticeable the route between Roncevalles (France) and Santiago, covering some 800 km of beautiful northern Spain scenery and historical cities. (more…)

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