Santiago and Madrid

We caught the 6:45AM bus from Muxia to Santiago. 5 or 6 other pilgrems on board with us and by the time we arrived in Santiago almost two hours later the bus was full of people apparently going to work. We did some shopping, went to mass and watched the Botafumeiro swing again and walked around looking for someone we knew. Guy stumbled into Ali whom we saw several times on the camino other than meeting her it was a completely different place than we were at four days earlier when it was then  reunion time.

We took a short walk around 8pm and ended up in a church listening to 20 nuns singing vespers. They sounded beautiful in the huge space of the stone church.

Then to bed.

This morning we caught the 9am train to Madrid. A 5 plus hour ride. Of note, the last hour or so of the train ride went backwards from the next to the last stop.

A stop to the information booth in the Madrid train station a short transfer ride to the Plaza del Sol and a 50 foot walk to the place we stayed last year. Dosen't get much easier. Sunny and mid 70's.

The same lady that checked us in last year in the hostal in Madrid. Nice person.

The last our packs will look like this. Tomorrow the sticks will be taken apart and put inside for the trip home.

Our room. Basic for about $70. But we are used to this . In fact this is better than most we have stayed in.

View from the hostal to the Plaza del Sol

It is rather empty as compaired to 8 pm when it is packed.

The boys are back: creativity!!

This guy wins it for me. He has a most real looking fake arm.

Went to dinner at the tapa pavilion and had tapas for dinner. 

Just a small section of the olive bar.

Guy and I stopped for a beer and some piementos de padrone. They have been served all over the parts of Spain we have been in. Wow we love them. They are a mild, no heat , pepper that the size of a serrano pepper and fried in a little olive oil with a little flaked salt on them they are so so good. Hope I can find some equivalent peppers in Seattle.

Off to the airport tomorrow morning.

Paul

Muxia

We planned on eating early but Lires is a one bar town with no grocery store.  No food was available until 8 PM.  The bar was also full of LOUD soccer fans watching a game and drinking so we went back to the beach for sunset.

We then came back and ate drank a little wine and went to bed without paying the bill.  We remembered in the AM and left money as we headed out before they opened.

We are on a part of the trail between Finistere and Muxio so the guiding arrows go both ways.

There were a few snakes on the trail - first ones.

We also took the last shadow picture with Paul waving hi.

The path was good and we arrived in Muxio early.   Beautiful beaches

The wifi code was a challenge but we finally got it right.

We reconnected with Maidere from earlier and she is in the same Albergue with a great view of the ocean.

People wise, we only saw people headed the other way.  One young lady from Czech. who had quit a job she hated and was doing the Camino in search of better goals.  Her English was excellent.

A gentleman  from South Korea had retired at age 45 and chosen the Camino.

A third gentlemen was carrying a stuffed tiger about 20 inches tall.  When asked about his story he said he did not have time to talk.  It would have been interesting.

Paul is doing well.

We went to the beach this afternoon.  It was truly awesome.  Paul really thought about going in, but the tide was strong and there was too much flotsam in the water.  Probably a good judgement call.  Absolutely no spaniards - very strange,

Maidere remains a fun person and we will try to stay in contact to see how things go with CJ, her boyfriend.

The beach was a fun afternoon.

We watched another beautiful sunset.

We met up again with Shaun (Texas), Antoinete. (California) and Christine (Germany) plus we added Mark  (Ontario)

We all had a great dinner with a very entertaining owner.  Everything was served family style even though we did not order it that way plus he played the accordion for us.  A very entertaining evening .

Deserts

I am ready to retire the backpack and return to the real world.  I will see all of you soon.

Guy

Larie

Guy and I left Finistarre this morning at 8am. Almost immediately we were down to t-shirts and shorts. Probably the warmest morning on the entire camino so far. 

A beautiful sunrise.

I keep mentioning the Horreo's. They are still everywhere. However today we saw some that were being used and more that were going to be.

Yesterday and today we saw many farmers/ home owners harvesting their corn which by now is dry and hard.

They shuck it and put it in a truck to haul to their Horreo.

Paul and an ass. At least it's not mine.

We walked through lots of woodland either of pine or eucalyptus.

After 15 up and down km we arrived in  Lires which we thought would be on the ocean but is about a mile inland. Here is where we will spend the rest if the day.

We are staying in the redish building top center.

We spent an hour or so in this position.

It felt so good and so warm.

.

Tomorrow's our last day of walking 15 km with lots of up uphill. Weather is forecasted to be great. Plan to get an early start.

That's it for today. Such a nice one.

Paul

THE END

We are in Finistere, which literally means the end of the earth.  This was believed to be the final point of land and if you kept going you would fall off the edge.  There is a measurement on the monument of 0.0 km

The day has been quiet and peaceful.  We walked only 15 kilometers and started late.  Very pleasant.

I will start with the people.  We met a lovely young lady from Denmark, Signe, who has finished high school and is taking a year off before college to think about her future.   This seems to be common.  She thinks she is going to study psychology and, given the medical system there,that she will have work. She is very intelligent and speaks excellent English.  It is embarrassing how the US fails to teach foreign languages.

Our next encounter was with a gentleman (yes we do talk to men) who was carving manually in stone.  He declined to say where he is from, but he looked a bit like Santa Claus might.  He uses hand tools to carve in stone.

We made our way to the light house where we met a young lady from Holland who bicycled from her home to here.  Her parents flew to Finistere to meet her and celebrate her success.  Her mother plays tennis and took a nasty fall the day before the flight but still came.  

At the lighthouse we also met a lady from 

New Caladonia who was exploring herself as she was in the middle of a divorce and was suffering through her struggles.  It is amazing how open and friendly all the pilgrims are as they do their own caminos.

On the rocky slopes around the lighthouse one could see dozens of places where as is tradition pilgrems burn clothing and shoes they have worn during their camino. We didn't.

Bronze boot on the rock below.

Someone is burning their shoes.

I think we saw the Ten Commandments but could not be sure.

We left our prior residence up a narrow path surrounded by stone walls.

Looking back 

We of course had to stop for coffee.

As we approached Finistere we found a lovely park with exercise equipment.

The Camino signs are also changing as people are drawing faces on them.  Perhaps we are all getting silly as the end approaches.

We rested at the lighthouse before coming back to town.

Our pension, we have had enough of communal Albergues, is on the ocean and we are listening to the waves on the beach.

Paul also says hi while photo bombing.

A very relaxing day.

Guy