Tradition says that if you come to this church in a holy year — a year in which the 25th of July, the date of James' death, falls on a Sunday — you will automatically go to heaven. The last holy year was 2004; the next will be 2010.

I missed those, so I suppose my journey will be longer. But I still can't help but appreciate what this place represents to those faithful pilgrims and others of different faiths who honor James as well.

Nor is it the only delight in Santiago de Compostela.

On one side of the square is the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos, a hospice built in the 16th century to shelter the pilgrims. Now it is a parador, a hotel that does the same. I was one of the lucky ones who stayed there; it was fun to wander the narrow halls, see how every room is different and to think of the long-ago visitors and what is was like for them. It also made it easy to go out at night and see the magic of the lit-up square. And it was a convenient place for exploring the little town around the square, to visit small cafes (a great place to have Santiago cakes with their almond flavor) and wind through narrow shopping streets.

It was interesting to see that many of those shop windows were filled with witches; for some reason witches have come to be a symbol of the city, too.

Bilbao: City of surprises

Bilbao, in the Basque region, has long been billed as an industrial city. Unless you had business, there were few other reasons to go there.

All that changed in 1997 when the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao opened. This "Metallic Flower," as it is sometimes called, built of limestone and space-age titanium and designed by Frank Gehry, was totally different from anything the city, or the world, for that matter, had seen before.

It has contributed to a fresh, invigorating approach to art and culture that permeates the city.

The museum is as amazing on the outside, with bits and pieces going off in every direction, as it is inside, where it houses a variety of revolving as well as permanent exhibits. All very contemporary.

A gigantic dog covered in flowers (the world's largest Chia pet?) guards one entrance. A huge spider sculpture watches over another.

The museum lies at the edge of the Nervion river, across from a section of hills. From the top of those hills, you can get a great view of the museum in the context of the city.

Several blocks from the Guggenheim is the bustling center of town, a square lined with elegant old hotels contrasting with modern banks and businesses.

Take one of the streets that radiates off from the square and you will soon find yourself in a shopping district filled with modern department stores mixed in with quaint cafes and tapas bars. Old and new work very well together in this city.

Segovia: City of poets