Finisterre

We couldn't leave this corner of the earth without visiting the end of it Finis Terra.  Only a very small percentage of pilgrims arriving in Santiago continue by foot to the end of the road.  Since we are on a time constraint (I do need to get back to work soon) we elected to take a bus tour.  Prior to leaving I took the picture below of the church and roof tops from our hotel.

We were picked up in front of our hotel this morning at 9am, and heading West in a small white van with two other couples and a three year old.  I know what you're thinking; but the little boy was the best behaved three year old I think I've been around! He caused no problems on the whole 8 1/2 hour tour!  We stopped by several villages on the way West and then stopped by the small fishing village of Muxia where the movie "The Way" with Martin Sheen ended.  The pictures of the rocks and the waves below are from the spot where the Virgin Mary approached Saint James.  The church pictured below is built near the spot and is being rebuilt after being destroyed in a storm a few years back.

The cross on top of the rock below is taken at Finisterre which is about a half hours drive from Muxia.  Today we also visited a waterfall with a hydroelectric plant right next to it.  Had lunch in a small fishing village and had a nice tour around the beaches on the Atlantic Ocean. We hope you enjoy our pictures from today.  Tomorrow is our last sightseeing day in Santiago, we head to Madrid by train on Friday.

Santiago de Compostela

We will be staying 4 nights in our hotel here in Santiago.  We have had to pack up our bags every morning for the past 35 days, now we and our bags get to stay put for a few days. Yeah!  We are staying at the Costa Vella hotel located in the heart of the historical part of town. It is well known for its gardens, which are beautiful now and I can imagine even more beautiful in the Spring & Summer. We slept in to 8am this morning...we never do that back home, but it felt great!  The rooms here all have shutters on the inside of the windows so when you close them up for the night it's pitch black.

This morning after breakfast we went to the church of San Francisco. We found out that it was 800 years ago that Saint Francisco came to Santiago.  This year the church is giving out a special certificate to pilgrims commemorating the anniversary.  Lee and I both received one this morning.  Afterwards we did a little more browsing and shopping before the noon Pilgrims Mass.  I am glad we went today as we were able to sit in the center section facing the alter.  We also got a chance to see some other pilgrims we had walked with at one time or another along the route.  Pictured below is Lee and I with the 20 year old Swiss girl who walked to Santiago all the way from Geneva, Switzerland! Also pictured is Lee and a woman from Japan that we met along the way. The comaraderie is fantastic as we all had something in common and we were all striving for the same goal. "The goal is the journey itself and the journey is the true experience of life". Besides walking, we ate with each other, we helped and cared for each other, we told stories to each other, we learned about each other and we laughed and cried with each other,  We bonded and formed friendships; some of us will keep in touch and some won't. It's all the metifore of life.

We are back at our hotel room now resting, our legs are still tired from walking.  It rained hard, hailed, thundered and lightening this afternoon.  Tomorrow we are taking a bus tour out to Finisterre "The End of the Earth" or so it was known centuries ago before men sailed past the horizon and found the New World. Stay tuned tomorrow!

Arrived drenched in Santiago!

It rained buckets today! We arrived into Santiago right before the noon mass.  We went straight to the Pilgrim office to get our Compostela's.  It's official we are certified "Peligrina's"!  We have been out celebrating with other pilgrims and doing a little souvenir shopping.  We will write more tomorrow.  We just wanted to let you all know that we completed the piligramage and that we didn't quit!

O'Pedrouzo - A rainy day

We left this morning all dressed up in our rain gear.  It started rainy shortly after we left and rained pretty much all day long.  Below is a picture of the town of Arzua taken as we were leaving. We walked about 14.5 miles today from Arzua to O'Pedrouzo and got drenched!  It rained more today here than San Diego has seen in 4 years!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many pictures today because of the rain.  There are "way markers" all along the route pointing us in the direction we are supposed to be heading.  Below is one we came across today carved into a pumpkin.

Tomorrow we will be walking into Santiago with many of the other pilgrims we have been walking with for weeks, like our friends Mary Jane and Amy that we've met along the way. We plan to attend the Pilgrims Mass at noon with everyone.  We are expecting a variety of emotions tomorrow, some happy to be finished, some sad it's over but mostly grateful that we arrived safely.  The Cathedral is where Saint James is entombed. There is a ritual each pilgrim does when they enter the Cathedral. There is a statue of the Apostle on the High Altar that we each will hug, we will then go to his crypt, kneel before the casket containing the relics of the great Saint and offer a prayer.

We are tired, excited, anxious and filled with euphoria! Santiago here we come!

Arzua

Today was the last long mileage day we will have until Santiago.  We walked 18.3 miles...almost 10 hours on the road today including all our rest stops.  Our feet are killing us this evening.  We asked the hotel front desk if we could get a massage this evening, but he said they don't work on the weekends.  We haven't had a massage on this entire trip and Lee's heel and Achilles' tendon have really been bothering her.  We found a mechanical massage machine and we both gave it a try this evening.  See picture below of Lee.

We left Palas de Reis this morning right before sunrise as we knew it was going to be a long day.  It rained last night hard but not today so we really lucked out! Today's walk was once again rolling hills through farm country.  We crossed over 4 rivers, walked through valley's and walked under the shade trees quiet a bit of the day.  We walked through the villages of San Xulian, Casanova and O'Coto in the morning.  Stopped and had lunch in Melide for lunch and kept walking some more. 

For the most part the Spanish people are really nice and helpful.  Yesterday when we got into town, we had a hard time finding our hotel.  When we stopped and woman and asked for directions she went out of her way to walk us to it.  Other times, especially in large cities, if we look lost they just stop and point us in the right direction. It's pretty obvious that we are "pilgrims" and they know we belong on the Camino.

Tonight we are staying in Arzua, population of about 6,300, it's the last large city before we get to Santiago...in just two days!  Can you believe it? We can hardly believe it ourselves!  We have only 42 miles left to walk to Santiago! 

We hope you enjoy the pictures from today. Tomorrow we head to O'Pedrouzo.

Palas de Rei

We left Portomarin this morning and walked 15.4 miles to Palas de Rei.  Up, up, up a mountain climbing the ridge to Sierra Ligonde.  We had a bite to eat in the small village of Eirexe just over the top.  

Today we had a day of varied terrain, the thing that really bothers us both are the rocks on the path.  They have been killing our feet!  We very rarely have a smooth dirt path the walk on.  The rocks are a blessing and curse here on the Camino.  When it rains they keep the path from eroding and turning to mud; but when it's dry all we can do is curse at the rocks as they hurt the bottom of our feet.

Last year Lee did a fundraiser for a group called Family Matters in San Diego.  For her birthday month (October) she walked 290 miles in 30 days.  We all thought she was SuperWoman for doing that.  This year she topped that!  It's the end of the month and this October she has walked 443 miles!  Her personal best!

Palas de Rei has a population of about 3,600 mostly engaged in the dairy industry and the well known Ulloa cheese.  I doubt if we'll get out much tonight to check out the town, too tired for site seeing.  We are meeting some friends for dinner in the restaurant located right here in our hotel.  Tomorrow we are headed to Arzua...and the forecast is calling for rain from here to Santiago. Great!

 

Portomarin

Today we walked from Sarria to Portomarin, close to 14 miles.  The weather was perfect!  We met several newcomers starting their very first day on the Camino and ran into some old familiar faces too.  Below is a picture of some South Korean's we have seen nearly everyday for the past 10 days.  The gentleman is a PHD in physics and teaches at an alternative energy school.  He is taking several of his students on the Camino to show them the different ways Spain uses alternative energy and to get them away from the traditional classroom and computers for a few weeks.  

Another charming couple we have been running into is Bridget & John, both Germans living in Mallorca.  We said goodbye to them yesterday as they are on a time constraint and need to head back home.  We have also met Remi from Paris, he walked out of his house 77 days ago and also has just 4 days to go.  Then there is a young 20 year old girl from Geneva, Switzerland that has been walking even longer than that! Amazing!  We think we've walked along way and then we meet them. Incredible!  I will try to get pictures of them today.

We have left the Leon Region of Spain and entered Galicia.  There are strong Celtic ties in this region and it is evident by their music which sounds very much like Irish music; bagpipes and all. We have been walking through farm lands with rolling hills and everything is green here. I imagine it looks a lot like the Irish countryside as well.  Below are some pictures from our day.  Check out the snake that crossed our path and the lizard I found sunbathing.  

We head to Palas De Rei in the morning. Only four days to Santiago!