Well I didn’t stop to get a second stamp today so when the rain had stopped I ventured out. Really not much to see here. The church was shut so no chance of a look or a stamp, my only other option was a bar so I stopped for a glass of wine. Stamp collected, I should be good.
Tomorrow I arrive in Finesterre, literally translated as the end of the land. This marks the end of my second camino, although clearly a far shorter one! The forecast is for dry weather and some sun so all is looking good. I have just had a message that George has taken the bus to Finesterre and is hanging out!! I am to message him when I arrive. It should be quite early as it is only about 12km to the centre of Finesterre. However there is a 10km round trip out to the lighthouse and various other key features to visit tomorrow.
I had dinner with John and Silvia in the hotel again. Silvia did not enjoy the day, she said she was hating it when I went past and it didn’t get any better! They also had not realised that you have to turn in the radiator in the room so were wondering how they would get anything dry. I explained how to get the radiator on, that is pretty essential if you don’t want wet feet tomorrow. It was quiet in the restaurant today, not the atmosphere of last night and the food was not as good either but still a nice quiet evening. Since I didn’t fancy the pilgrim menu I opted for Pizza, I just couldn’t resist, it was a nice change.
I set off shortly after 9am, pretty much as soon as it was light. It is only a short walk into the centre of Finesterre today, but I want to make sure that I have enough time to enjoy the walk out to the lighthouse and the other key areas to see and also get my Compostela.
The walk to Finesterre was a mix of woodland and coastal paths with views of the sea. There were some stretches along the road. I am so pleased that I have walked this final stretch from Santiago it does feel like the final section, at Santiago it felt like something was missing for me, perhaps it is the sea. It is also lovely to have a peaceful end to the trip rather than the busy section with lots of people having joined.
I arrived in Finesterre early at about 11.30am, I checked out where to get my certificate for completing the Camino Finesterre (it feels a bit odd since it is so short), I was too early so I headed to the hotel. I dropped some things off but it felt to early to relax and shower since I wanted to walk onto the lighthouse, there is a circular route round the top of the Coast which I want to walk.
However George has suggested meeting for a celebratory beer so I head over to him to see what he has planned. He has already been to the lighthouse but would like to walk the other side to get the view back from the peak of the lighthouse, that is on the other side of my route so we agree to finish our beers and to walk my route, I promise to walk slowly!
This really does feel like the proper end of the camino. It is not considered such due to the pagan history but it feels special and peaceful and like I have finished now. It was nice to have someone to explore with and we took a variety of different unmarked routes but had a really great circular walk, the sun came out and it was a fabulous afternoon. I was surprised to see that we had added another 14km to my 12km into Finesterre so today was not such a short day after all, but it was amazing, lots of great pictures, a proper finish.
I am now doing a quick load of laundry since all my wet stuff is a little unpleasant and I have nothing clean for tomorrow.
Then I will head out and meet George for dinner. He is staying here another day and then heading to Porto for a few days before flying back to LA. Tomorrow morning I have my last official day of walking with a 29km walk to Muxia. It is a bit of an extra but I am looking forward to it.
