Day 17 - Final Walk - to Finesterre

5 October 2018

18.8 miles in 7 hours 35 minutes (including breaks)

Today was our final walk of the Camino de Santiago.

Progress Map

We left before daybreak from Muxía and hiked through dense fog, over mountains and through thick coastal forests. We finally reached Finesterre, the place the Romans called the 'end of the earth'. Heading out to sea west from here presents nothing but ocean for thousands of miles.

Our Camino is now done - 220 miles total (355 kilometers). We'll never forget this awesome experience!

After today, we return to Santiago de Compostela for a day of sightseeing, then onto Paris for a day. We then fly to Romania, Moldova, Serbia, and Albania to explore our next possible humanitarian service in managing clean-water well projects.

The Camino de Santiago will live within us for the rest of our lives. What an amazing opportunity we had to experience this pilgrimage firsthand!

Our walk started before daybreak. This is a shot across the bay from our hotel as we walked into the cold to start the walk.

After an hour we had climbed the first mountain. We noticed that thick clouds were blowing over from the other side. Soon we were in fog so thick that we couldn't even see the nearby wind generators, eventhough we could hear their blades spinning.

The fog was so thick at times that I could hardly see Sandy down the road.

We dropped in elevation, and as the day went on, the fog eventually melted away and showed that we were next to gigantic eucalyptus forests.

You meet all kinds of people on the Camino de Santiago. This was a German couple that we ran across who were wearing their traditional outfits for their hike today.

Once the fog lifted, the forest exploded with color.

The walk took us along the rugged seacoast. Occasionally we would pop out of the forest and see the beautiful blue ocean.

Even the ferns were changing color as we moved further into autumn.

We stopped in a little village called Lires to get some hot chocolate and pastry for a late breakfast.

Finally, after many hours of hiking, we reached Finisterre and its cute little bay.

We had to take a photo of our shoes that had carried us so far on the Camino to the 'end of the earth'.

We took one last parting shot from Finisterre before leaving by bus and returning to Muxía.

Once back in Muxía, we went to the pilgrim office and picked up our certificates stating that we had completed the final walk of the Camino. (They are written in Gallego, the half-Spanish and half-Portuguese language of Galicia.)

We were starved, so we picked up a delicious Galician dinner: calamari (squid), raxo (pork), roasted chili peppers, fries and bread. This filled us back up after our final hike of the Camino. 

After dinner, we returned to our favorite place on the edge of town. We could sit for hours watching the breakers on the boulders.

One last moment on the ocean was never enough.

The sun was setting as we walked away from a last view of the church on the rocky coast.

As the sun set one final time over the city of Muxía, we gave thanks for this chance we had to come to Spain and participate in this pilgrimage.

We returned to the rocky point at sunset to watch as the sun dipped below the horizon.

And so our Camino de Santiago is now completed. This was an experience we will never forget. 

(Given that this was such an incredible adventure, we may return again and complete the first part of Camino de Santiago from France to León that we missed this time around!)

Day 16 - Rest day in Muxía by the Sea

4 October 2018

Muxía sits next to the Atlantic coast in a very beautiful and rugged region. We took a bus here from Santiago so we could complete one more stage of the Camino, the portion between Muxía and Finesterre that runs along the coast. (We didn't have the 3 extra days it would have taken to walk the 45 miles to get here, so the bus was the next best option).

With huge waves crashing into giant boulders along its coast, Muxía is one of the most beautiful areas in all of Spain. We were glad we had a day to catch up here and enjoy the beauty of this place. Because we didn't arrive in Muxía until 11 a.m., we took the day as a rest day and will complete the final leg tomorrow.

Muxia was made famous in the final scene of the movie "The Way" because it is the place where Tom scatters the last ashes of his son who died on the Camino de Santiago. It is a heartrending part of the movie that always brings a tear to my eye.

This is the view of the harbor from our hotel. What a sunny, cheery place Muxía is (at least the locals describe it as such when it is not raining).

We walked across the street from the hotel to wet our feet in the Atlantic Ocean and gather a few seashells.

We climbed the hill that overlooks the town and harbor. This is such a picturesque city! 

Waves constantly crash into the rocks at the base of the lighthouse. We sat here for an hour watching the waves crashing into the rocks along this rugged coast.

Near the lighthouse sits this church, Nuestra Señora del Barco. The church is a huge pilgrimage site for a yearly event that takes place here every September.  (The church is also well known from its appearance in the final scene of the movie "The Way").

Unfortunately, the church was struck by lightning on Christmas Day 2013 (photo from town archives). After 5 years of reconstruction, the church is mostly rebuilt, but the altarpiece is still missing.

People gathered on the hilltop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to watch as the sun set. It was almost a mystical event! It's easy to see why the Romans called this place the 'end of the world'. You could sail away from here for thousands of miles to the west without hitting land.

And so tomorrow is our final day on the Camino de Santiago as we hike the last 18 miles from Muxía to Finesterre. We're sad the journey is now coming to an end.

Day 15 - Arrival in Santiago de Compostela

3 October 2018

15.0 miles in 6 hours 18 minutes (with breaks)

After 2 weeks of walking almost 200 miles from León, we finally arrived in Santiago de Compostela.

What a beautiful city with incredible architecture. The cathedral was even more magnificent than any of the photos we had seen.

We walked through the dense forests for half of today's walk until coming to the edge of the city. After a few more hours of walking, we finally reached the center of this densely packed medieval city. Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its ancient and historical significance.

After lunch, we went to the Pilgrim Office and waited in line for 1-1/2 hours with all the other pilgrims in order to receive our 'Compostela', the document that proves we completed the pilgrimage. We had to show our 'Credenciales' (or pilgrim passports) with stamps we received along the way to prove where we had been.

We then visited the huge Santiago Cathedral and went to a Pilgrim Mass in the evening. Later we returned to the monastery (now a hotel) where we are spending the night.

Tomorrow, we head to the Atlantic coast to do one last walk - between Finesterre (called the 'End of the World' by ancient people) and Muxía. This will be 18 miles and it will be the last of our long walks on this trip.

Ah, it is all coming to an end too soon.

The gigantic trees of the forest made our early walk a little eerie. We walked through the forest for some time before the sun came up.

At one point, the trail dipped into a gully and we then hiked below the surface of the surrounding ground for about half a mile. It was like being in an underground tunnel.

As twilight lifted, visibility improved. The signs always pointed the way, including into this highway underpass. 

The sun finally peaked out and lit up the forest. This was our last forest sunrise. How glorious!

Shortly after sunrise we came to the edge of Santiago. We took this shot with our shadows on the stone that showed we were in Santiago.

We came to a place that ancient pilgrims called the Monte de Gozo (or Mount of Joy). After walking many months, this was the spot where the pilgrims caught their first view of Santiago and its cathedral. This statue was erected to commemorate the joy that ancient pilgrims must have felt after surviving their journey. 

After 2 weeks of walking about 200 miles, I felt like celebrating, also.

Shortly after the Mount  of Joy, we crossed this freeway before entering the main part of the city. Seeing this freeway was a shock for us because it had been a few weeks since we had seen civilization on this scale. 

As we approached the oldest part of Santiago, we were struck by how narrow the streets are in this medieval part of town. 

Before approaching the main cathedral, we entered a tunnel with a Galician piper playing for the arriving pilgrims. You could hear his music for a long distance due to the echo from the tunnel. 

We walked into the plaza to visit the Santiago Cathedral. The cathedral was truly massive. This church has stood here for around 800 years. Millions of pilgrims have traveled here since the middle ages, and now it was our turn.

Inside, the cathedral alterpiece was a mass of gold and silver. A life-size statue of St. James sits in the center as shown here. We walked up a staircase behind the statue and gave it a hug, just like all the other pilgrims. We later attended a special pilgrim mass in the cathedral in the evening.

In the basement is where they keep the bones they say are those of St. James. The bones are in a gold and silver coffin.

Next we went to the Pilgrim Office to claim our Compostelas (our proof of completing the journey). We waited in line with a few hundred other pilgrims for 1-1/2 hours.

We presented our 'Credenciales' (or pilgrim passports) with all the stamps we picked up along the way, proving we were actually on the Camino. 

After reviewing our Credenciales, the Pilgrim Office issued our Compostelas (written in Latin).

After completing this pilgrimage, we walked by this statue of St. James outside the cathedral. He actually seemed to be smiling his approval on us!

So our journey is not quite over yet. Tomorrow we travel by bus to the west coast for a few days to hike beyween the cities of Muxía and Fisterra (orFinesterre asthey call it in Spanish). Ancient peoples of this region believed the world ended at that point because they couldn't go any further west (hence Finesterre meant 'finished with earth'). This should be a fun 18-mile coastal hike.

Day 14 - Arzúa to O Pedrouzo

2 October 2018

12.3 miles in 4 hours 14 minutes (including breaks)

Today's journey took us through lush forests and over rolling hills on a short walk of only 12 miles. We are now within a day of completing our journey to Santiago de Compostela. Just one more day and this pilgrimage will become just a memory.

Sandy and I are a little sad that this fun adventure will be ending so soon. We have been on the trail for 2 weeks at this point, and it just went too quickly.

We will have sweet memories of the time we have spent on this 200-mile journey through northern Spain.

We felt dwarfed by the size of the trees in the forest today.

Early morning light is magical as it streams into the forest.

Some parts of the forest have been planted with eucalyptus trees from Australia, like these shown here. Eucalyptus grows fast and can be harvested sooner than most other woods. It is just a little strange to see eucalyptus forests growing in Spain.

Throughout our walks, we see otherwise nice rock houses that have been abandoned as people move on to the big cities.

They are still building new houses in this region out of rock using centuries-old methods.

The modern houses we see here that are built out of rock are gorgeous.

As we walk each day, we come across cafes in tiny villages every few miles. Many of the pilgrims on the trail stop to get breakfast and use the bathrooms. We end up passing many of these pilgrims and moving ahead into less-congested areas of the trail while they take their breakfast breaks.

Water is available in ancient fountains at many places along the way.

Unfortunately, not every fountain works. This one was dry right when we needed a refill.

There are so many interesting things about the private homes in this region. This family's coat of arms in stone was mounted on the side of their home.

We found this shrine out in the forest. There are surprises like this all along the Camino.

We later came across this tavern in the forest, a beer garden with walls made of empty beer bottles.

Our final meal on the trail was at this restaurant where they first seared the meat, then brought out a super-hot stone platter on which we finished cooking the meat on our table. This was a fun last dinner before our final push into Santiago tomorrow. 

Progress Map