The Final Chapter

It is with many mixed emotions that we prepare to go to the airport this afternoon. One cannot put into words the experience of walking the Camino. The sights, sounds, and even smells have been incredible. The times that we walked alone were special as we looked inward and felt the magic of the way. We met many people while walking and staying at the albergues. While we will not see most of them again, they have touched and enriched our lives by just having met them.

We look forward to going home to family and friends but the Camino will always be with us.

Santiago and Finnisterre

WE DID IT!!!!

We arrived in Santiago yesterday morning, a little damp, but with a great sense of satisfaction. We headed straight to the pilgrim office and received our compostelas (certificates of completion). 

We were in time to attend the pilgrim mass at noon. We were lucky to be at a mass where they used the botafumeiro, a giant incense burner that is swung back and forth high in the church. It is quite a sight and requires several men to pull the ropes in order to manipulate the botafumeiro to swing so high. Apparently it was originally used to fumigate the sweaty, and possibly disease-ridden pilgrims. 

In Santiago we met several people who walked with us along the way. A couple who had started with us and who we often ran into on the Camino were staying at the Parador, a ritzy and historical hotel. They invited four wet and slightly stinky pilgrims to join them for wine in the posh bar. We gratefully accepted and enjoyed being warm and cozy in such a delightful place.

We walked out into the rain and ran into more Camino friends who invited us to join them for tapas. It was great to share Camino stories with them.

When we left the tapas bar, the rain began in earnest. It was not a light rain. It was a torrential downpour. We were totally soaked in seconds. When we read this morning's newspaper, there were several pictures of flooding in the streets and in buildings. One picture showed the cathedral in Santiago in the background with men walking in the street. The water came up as high as mid calf as they walked along in the rain.

We had intended to walk to the bus station to catch the 7:00 pm bus to Finnisterre but the rain was too much even for these hardy pilgrims so we took a cab instead.

The bus ride was quite a thrill. The driver almost hit a car on a round-about. Outside it was continuing to chuck buckets with extremely high winds. The driver almost ran into a post. At one point we had to go up on a sidewalk to get around the flooding in the street. The driver rarely used his bright lights in the dark and was constantly driving over the speed limit as we went around big curves and through small villages. We didn't realize that we had taken the slow route with lots of stops so we arrived in Finnisterre at 10:00 pm tired but glad to be safe. We hadn't booked a room so luckily a passenger from the area gave us some names of hostels to stay at.

Today we walked out of Finnisterre to the "End of the world". It was a lovely walk with sunshine and lots of wind. At our destination the sea was on three sides of us. The views were fantastic. We had lunch and walked the 3km back to town. 

Tomorrow morning we will head back to Santiago and explore the city for our final two days.

Some of our pictures may need a little explanation. One shows a helicopter landing on a rock that is sticking out in the ocean. There is also the zero mile marker, although you can't see the number and lettering in the picture. We also ran across these cube buildings on the steep hillside going down to the ocean. They have been abandoned for some time but we have no idea as to their original purpose. Let us know if you have the answer.

Monte do Gozo

We had a very interesting time at our albergue last night. There was quite a commotion at three in the morning. At first we heard loud whispering and much giggling. Then the man next to the window arose from his bed iwearing only his white underwear. He went into the small room adjoining our sleeping quarters and started yelling. Laying in the bed with the best view of the scene, I watched a young woman trying to climb through the open window. A male voice coming from behind the girl and was trying to explain that they were staying at the albergue but had somehow missed the 11 p.m. curfew. The underwear man was having none of it and kept telling the young couple off. He finally let the man in. The man, in turn went to the front door and let in his companions. (There seemed to be more than just the two of them trying to break in.) Things seemed to settle down for a while and as people fell back to sleep, the snoring began. Another commotion occurred when another man got up, yelled, and threw a shoe at the offending snorer. Things settled down after that and we managed to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night. 

This morning we started out by 8:30. It was dark, wet, muddy and raining. It did not take long for there to be enough light to see where the really muddy sections were. The rain stopped and we had a lovely walk to Monte do Gozo. We came upon many friends and fellow peregrinos as we walked. We are now 4.7 km. from the cathedral in Santiago. We will arrive in good time tomorrow so that we can get our certificates of completion and still make the pilgrim mass at noon. 

Ribadiso to O Pedrouzo

We left our albergue in the rain and finished our walk in a downpour but most of our walk was dry. We enjoyed the birdsongs and the lovely smell of eucalyptus and various flowers  that the rain seemed to bring out. It is amazing how many beautiful flowers are still in bloom. We saw many huge fuchsia plants as well as dahlias, lilies, and even some roses.

We feel like quite seasoned walkers now. Fuelled by croissants for breakfast we walked over fourteen km before stopping for lunch. It was a great place to stop as some Camino friends made the same stop as we did. We planned to stay at a small albergue in Santa Irene but it has closed for the season so we moved on almost three more km.. Had it been open we would have arrived dry but instead we had the pleasure of a lovely downpour to keep us alert as we completed today's journey.

As we walked today, our quiet path merged with a busy highway. It was a good reminder that in our lives we can get caught up in the rush and busyness that surrounds us and forget to stop and smell the flowers.

San Xulian to Ribadiso

We almost got to our destination without getting rained on, but since this is Galicia, we received a good soaking as we walked the last few kilometres. We are now happily in our albergue clean and dry.

We had a great time at last night's albergue. Our host was a lovely man who was most helpful and he served a delicious meal. He has completed four caminos. We also had great conversations with our fellow peregrinos, with a fair bit of wine being consumed.

We have just reconnected with a couple who we met back in St. Jean. We often ran across them early on during our journey but we hadn't seen them since Leon. It is great to see them again and trade tales of our experiences on the camino.

We passed the marathon distance of 42.2 km today but decided that we will take our time and walk in rather than run the last bit with backpacks wacking our backsides.

Gonzar to San Xulian

Today was a shorter day. We walked just over 20 km. We left our albergue in the fog which lasted for a couple of hours. As the fog lifted, we enjoyed the return of the sun. 

Our diets are definitely not the same as they are at home. We eat much more bread, cheese, and meat, not to mention fries, chips, nuts, dried fruit, cookies, and desserts in general. We do eat some fruit and veggies when we can but not nearly enough to satisfy Canada's food guide. Then there is the wine. So far none of us has had wine for breakfast. One does wonder how people actually lose weight on the Camino.

We saw some trees today that we could not identify. We wonder if they are eucalyptus as we have read in the Brierley book that we would pass some. We also keep seeing these small buildings on properties and we can't figure out what they are used for. We took pictures of both the trees and the small buildings. Perhaps some of you who have walked the Camino will have answers for us.

The miles are going down and we are still having a great time. Just over 60 km to go.