Songs and parks and stories about them

As you probably know if you've been following this blog, the reason we haven't posted much lately is because we're away on holiday in Galicia, Spain. This past weekend we spent two days in Santiago de Compostela and, as you would expect we did much exploring of the city so I did not have a chance to listen to a lot of new music, nor get very far with the book I'm reading (my first Jane Austen - Emma). We did, however, find this lovely park where we could sit and read and listen to some relaxing music for an hour or so:

As it turns out, the story of the park is quite interesting. The plot originally belonged to the old convent of Santo Domingo de Bonaval (founded circa 1200s!). In 1837 however, a law was passed that caused many properties that belonged to the Catholic Church to be transferred to the state. The land was afterwards used as a cemetery - "the original structure was partly modified by the addition of powerful mortuary pieces - niches - constructed at the turn of the nineteenth century." After the cemetery was closed the property suffered progressive deterioration from 1960 onward. "The abundance of springs ruined the outbuildings, the fountains, the paths, the walls, and the cemetery. The property became a garbage dump, sheds were built for workshops, and overgrown vegetation covered the splendid niche structures." All that until the municipality finally decided to convert it into a public park. It's really a wonderful place, the convent is still there and in one part of the park you can see the niches where the graves used to be, inside the walls surrounding it. We had wonderful spring weather and the whole thing was full of beautiful flowers and trees and lovely shady paths and places where you can sit and relax and read. Here are some more pics:

We also saw a bunch of real pilgrims who, unlike us, did not fly there but actually walked the whole Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James). Pretty neat :) Oh, and, I've been listening to Rio En Medio. It seemed to fit the mood here.

Tiger's Ear (The Bride of Dynamite, 2007)
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Fall Up (Frontier, 2009)
The Light House (Frontier, 2009)
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Pictures of You (Perfect As Cats: A Tribute to The Cure, 2008)