An Eating Trip to Spain: Arzak, Etxebarri, Lufthansa 747-8 J, Swiss A220 Y / 777 J

[yflyer]

Our hotel in Santiago de Compostela was the Palacio del Carmen, a Marriott Autograph Collection property...



This hotel, located in the historic part of the city, occupied a building which was formerly a convent. The location of the hotel was great, just a 10 minute walk to the old town and Santiago Cathedral.

The hotel public areas were intimate and elegant...



Some parts of the building retained a rustic, old world charm...



The lobby lounge / bar looked particularly inviting...



A skylit passageway led to the hotel rooms, with rooms on the upper levels connected to the main corridor via individual walkways.

[yflyer]

The rooms were beautifully styled, and very new...



Dark wood tones, with walls painted in a warm shade of yellow...



Plush lounger with foot stool in each room...



LCD TV...



Writing desk...



Ample wardrobe space...



Nespresso machine...

[yflyer]

2 sinks in the bathroom...



Tub with shower...



WC and bidet...



High quality soap, shampoo...



...and amenities...



Overall this was a spacious, beautifully styled room that just felt warm, comfortable and luxurious to stay in.



As the guest limit per room at this property was 2, Miss yflyer no.2 had a similar room all to herself (And Mrs yflyer and I would have a room just to ourselves :-) .

[yflyer]

During our stay, I explored the hotel grounds.

There was a small indoor pool, which I could not resist taking a dip in....



Very refreshing!

There was also small gym...



Hotel guests were also encouraged to explore the gardens in the hotel grounds...



...which I did on several occasions...

[yflyer]

Daily breakfast at the Palacio del Carmen was served in a beautiful hall, which also doubled as a ballroom or event space...



Complimentary breakfast was offered to Marriott Platinum members. The breakfast buffet spread was pretty good...



Cold cuts...



Hot selections...



Cereal, pastries and bakery items...



A selection of bread...



...which tasted great with extra-virgin olive oil, and tomato...



Eggs to order...

[yflyer]

There was an in-house restaurant, El Camelio, which served Spanish and Galician specialities in a beautiful setting...



The menu...



First up, Sangria and a Mojito, meticulously prepared by our excellent waiter, who also double-hatted as the bartender...



Galician octopus on toast...



A delicious Cream of Galician Broth...

[yflyer]

Galician veal steak...


...paired with a glass of Rioja...



Seasonal fish risotto...


...paired with an Casalay Albarino from Galicia...



Overall, a satisfying meal, with cuisine and service a cut above what one would normally find in a hotel restaurant.

[yflyer]

The Palacio del Carmen was located in a quiet neighbourhood...



It was just a 10 minute walk along narrow streets...



...to Santiago Cathedral...



This was the end point of the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage walks whose end point was the shrine of St James in the Cathedral.



There were many routes to take, many starting in other parts of Spain, but some also starting in Portugal, France, the UK or even further afield, and for many of those on these pilgrimage walks, reaching the end point after days, weeks or even months of walking was a very ecstatic, emotional experience.



We saw groups of pilgrims arriving at the end point, giving whoops of joy, hugging each other, and cheering as they entered the square in front of the Cathedral, with others in the square sharing in the celebration with cheers and applause as well.



The interior of the Cathedral was very impressive...



Masses in the Cathedral were conducted in Spanish, and very well attended.

We were there on a Sunday. Rather than attend the Spanish language Mass in the Cathedral, we headed to the nearby Pilgrim's Reception Office, for an English language Mass conducted in the small chapel there.



The chapel in the Pilgrim's Reception Office did not, of course, have the scale and grandeur of Santiago Cathedral, but it was a beautiful and intimate chapel.



I found Mass that day very meaningful because it was among a much smaller group of people, from all over the world, with much more participation, sharing and engagement than in a larger setting.

[yflyer]

We spent time exploring the old town...



The central market was popular with visitors...



When we visited the market in the late afternoon, the stalls selling meat and fish were ending their day...



...but the restaurants in the adjoining aisles were packed with diners...



Thank goodness for Google Maps...it would be possible to navigate the city without it...



We visited the Pilgrimage Museum...



...which talked about the history of the Camino, and also had exhibits about pilgrimages in other faiths.

What happened during COVID19 pandemic years? Physical pilgrimages were impossible, due to lockdowns and travel restrictions, but the spirit of the Camino pilgrimage was kept alive during this period with a backpack, which was passed in a relay from one group to another along the pilgrimage route. This backpack was now on display in the museum.

[yflyer]

We had some difficulty choosing a lunch venue on our last full day in Santiago de Compostela. That day, 19 March, was also Spanish Father's Day, and most restaurants that we had wanted to try were full.

Fellow SQTalker Carbonman suggested lunch at Casa Marcelo, a popular restaurant serving a modern fusion of Galician and Japanese cuisine, and we waited outside till opening time, but they were completely full...



We tried several other places as well, but none had tables.

Eventually we decided to try our luck at Restaurant dos Reis, located near the Cathedral, in the Parador de Santiago.

The entrance to this restaurant was along a nondescript brick wall leading to the Cathedral...



But behind the wall we were stunned to find vast dining space packed with diners...



The restaurant appeared quite full, but we asked the very friendly and welcoming staff if they had a table for 3 available, and somehow they were able to find us a table.

The menu...



Miss yflyer no.2 thought the degustation menu looked interesting, so we ordered one of those, along with several a la carte dishes to share...

Bread and olive oil to start...



A bottle of rosé wine to share...by this point in the trip, Miss yflyer no.2 was for all intents and purposes a full partner in our wine consumption, so ordering wine by the bottle for the 3 of us to consume was now a no-brainer...



Complimentary mushroom soup as an amuse bouche...



Jamon Iberico croquette and leek confit...



Avocado and salmon salad...


Sautéed Galician clams...



A half portion of oven-baked scallops, topped with onion and ham compote...

[yflyer]

A procession of mains followed...

Sea Bass...



Pork tenderloin...



The leg of baby lamb was a speciality...



I could not resist ordering a half bottle red wine to go with the lamb...



And then dessert...

Cheesecake with nut ice cream...



...and finally, crepes with cheese filling, flambéed tableside...



...what a memorable dessert!



Finally, coffee...



An excellent meal! I later learned that this restaurant was part of the Parador de Santiago, a very well known Parador.

Paradores were hotels run by the Spanish state, comprising historic buildings, palaces, forts, monasteries, usually in historically significant places, which had been converted to hotels. This concept of state-run luxury hotels had been in established in Spain since 1928, and there were now almost a hundred paradores across Spain.

[yflyer]

We ended our last day in Santiago de Compostela by taking a walk to a park on a hill near our hotel...



This was a very busy park, filled with both locals and tourists, enjoying a late afternoon stroll, or simply relaxing in the park.

We sat in the park for some time, admiring the view of the city and the Cathedral from the park.

[yflyer]

Early the next morning, we headed to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) for our flight to Madrid. SCQ was a large and impressively modern airport.



The airport was not busy in the morning, with just a handful of flights scheduled...



There was a long check in line for our Iberia Express flight to Madrid...



But thankfully I was still Qantas Gold, i.e. Oneworld Sapphire (Roughly the equivalent of Star Alliance Gold), so we could use the Business Class Line to check in.



Security lines were short and we were through to the large airside area very quickly.



There was some low level fog that morning, but it looked to be clearing up as the sun rose...



While Mrs yflyer did some shopping, I headed to the lounge with Miss yflyer no.2.



This looked to be a shared lounge, used by many airlines.



The lounge was not large, but styling was great, and the airside views were wonderful.



Lounge F&B was decent.



Pastries...



Sandwiches...

[yflyer]

Tortilla and cold cuts...



Cheese...



Yogurt and breakfast snacks / desserts...



The wine and liquor selection...





Soft drinks and beer...



Some very interesting liqueurs...



...which I could not resist sampling...



...rum too...

[yflyer]

I really appreciated the panoramic airside views from this lounge (Ahem, SQ...)...



I watched as the inbound IB flight landed and taxii'ed to the gate...



The lounge also had dedicated restroom facilities.

Overall this was a very pleasant lounge to spend time in prior to the flight.