Santiago De Compostela

The last five kilometers of the Camino were long and seemed to never end. When we arrived in Santiago de Compostela, our energy was low but our spirits were high. Winding through the stone laid corridors past the aged yet stunning architecture, we finally reached our end destination.  The Cathedral of Santiago stood tall and powerful as the sun lit up its many intricate carvings and sculptures. As soon as we witnessed the magnificence of the Cathedral, we felt rejuvenated and ready to continue exploring. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect for us to enjoy all that this amazing city had to offer.

 

Scenes from // The Painted Forest

When we finally we're able to get our van, we were itching to test it out and find an adventure. We heard about a mystical painted forest an hour away, so we decided to go check it out. All is not what it seems in this enchanted land where nature and art collide to blow your mind. What you get out of this experience completely depends on your point of view, figuratively and literally speaking. What seems like random shapes and colors from one spot, will come together to form a spectacular image from another. I don't know if there is another place like this anywhere in the world, so if you find yourself tromping around the hills of Basque Country Spain, put it on your list of places to see; it's definitely worth a visit. But be aware, things can get a little trippy in the painted forest....

Hit the Streets

The walking path along the beach brings out street vendors, performers, artists, musicians and beggars all trying their hands at making a few Euros. We decided get a head start on selling rope sandals on the streets this summer and joined them over the weekend. We asked a few other street sellers if they had permits and no one had any, so we didn't worry about it.

It went surprisingly well. We sold way more than we expected to. Our spirits were up and we took it as a good sign that things were going to work out for us this summer. Then suddenly it all took a turn for the worse. An undercover cop showed up, demanded to see our permit and immediately started confiscating the rest of our sandals when we couldn't produce one. Evidently, the cops don't care as long as no one else cares. Someone had called the police and reported us.  We just couldn't understand why someone would do that. We think that maybe it was a local shoe seller who didn't want the competition, but who knows.

The officer told us once we get the permit to sell on the street we could get our sandals back. So we went down to the city hall Monday morning to apply for a permit.  Whether it's an ill-willed individual trying bring you down, or something else, there will always be opposition in life, but come what may, we will do our best to keep our chins up and stay positive, confident it will all work out in the end.