Saturday, September 12, 2026

11 September 2026 Santiago de Compostela: The City of Culture Museum

 


We had a very tasty and economical lunch just 5 minutes from the hotel.  We had the "menu of the day" for lunch which gave us three curses for only 9 euro!  I got the soup and a steak and Leslie got the chicken and fries.  They have really mastered the chicken breast in these parts, tender juicy and delightful.  From the restaurant we called a cab which took us to the City of Culture up on Mount Gaias, on the edge of town.  This  massive complex is intended to mimic the rolling hills of the area.  Construction began in 2001 and by 2011 the problems with cost overruns and delays could no longer be denied.  In 2013 several additional buildings, not yet constructed, were canceled outright.  Almost every window in each building was unique due to the complex shapes of the buildings.   The costs of the buildings that were build over ran estimated by four times.  We were blown away both by the sheer size of the complex and by how few people were in attendance.  We visited an exhibit of art from Oceana cultures.  It featured items from the British Museum and it was superb.  We saw three other folks in the exhibit and an additional four people outside while we were walking the grounds.  Part of the problem with attendance is that is it was hard to get to and there is steep competition from the old town area in Santiago de Compostela;..



At lunch we got to see a dog parade


Tasty soup


Steak for me, chicken for Leslie


Another cute dog


Dessert


We will be back!


Woof!


On the ride to the City of Culture


Great art!


Birds are showcased


On the sides of this underpass


City of Culture


There it is in the distance


Walking in


Glass and steel


Very unique shapes


Modern looking from one angle


Curved and more buildings in the reflection


A sculpture?


The local skateboarders must be hatching plans to sneak in at night


A pair of chimneys?


The scale is hard to imagine if you have not seen it in person


This building is five or six stories tall


The museum we are visiting


The top horizontal line is a home for swifts and swallows


They are all lined up


All the dots are birds, probably 50 or more


An ambitious building project


Ramp rampage


I wonder if the stone was quarried from this site?


My very own pyramid


Huge building face


Curves and glass


Howdy!



  It has been 4 years and 98 days since we began our Migration