the Secret of Santiago

In Santiago de Compostela you will find churches, tourist traps and all-things-pilgrim. Most people know where to find the best tapas and the best Pulpo (octopus)... they know where to find a good titty cheese (yes that's actually what its called) and a Tarte de Santiago. But what the average Santiago-goer may NOT know is about a line up that happens in the garage of the grand 5* Parador hotel at 9:00, 12:00 and 7:00 daily. Some people are in on the sweet deal, and others are absolutely clueless. Luckily we are in. Nick and I lined up 3 times in the moldy, damp garage eagerly waiting for our meal to come. For years there has been a Pilgrims ritual at this very spot, where the hotel offers complimentary meals three times a day to the poor pilgrims. The fine print is, however, they only take the first 10 people. So you gotta queue up, sometimes you had to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to insure your spot. So everyone is waiting around in this dirty little garage and a bellman comes down give us a ticket and we have to make our way through the back of the hotel (not allowed to be seen by fancy hotel residents!). We walk through the beautiful gardens catching glimpses of the splendour on the other side of the glass, finally arriving to the humble "Pilgrims Room." We throw our coats down in this tiny closet-of-a-room and head upstairs where they serve us our glorious free meal on cafeteria trays. All of us, with mouths drooling climb back downstairs and cram into our little room and happily eat our prizes. We drank coffee and ate fancy little donuts. We sipped on wine while we slurped back soup and mowed down a french omelette. This is good living, and for once: Free. Oh how we love this Secret of Santiago...