In Finisterre, the End of the World

Three days' walk from Santiago, here I am at the End of the World, at least according to the Spanish (Portugal also claims to have the westwardmost point of Europe). It has been three beautiful days, we have had glorious weather -- today the sky was sunny and cloudless as we reached the top of the hill where we could see our first seaside town, beach and cove. Some of the trip was kind of tedious, a fair amount of highway walking, but all in all it has been stunning countryside, lots of small towns and dirt paths.

Walking along the beach into Finisterre was a total change from all my Camino walking days. We went straight to the albergue and got our Fisterrana, a pretty certificate (suitable for framing no doubt) that confirms that I have extended my pilgrimage from Santiago to the end. As I was hanging up my washed clothes in the albergue, I looked out in the plaza and thought -- gosh, that guy looks familiar. I ran downstairs, and sure enough it was Mattias, the very first peregrino I met on this walk. We had first met over coffee together in Itálica, the town with the Roman ruins right outside of Sevilla, and we had seen each other off and on until about Salamanca. It was a nice reunion, and we shared a few moments of nostalgia looking back over the six weeks.

I have had my first great fish meal, reminded me of Portugal -- grilled fish, salted and fresh, served with good potatoes. And with the US playing fútbol against Slovenia in the background while we sat out on the terrace watching the activity in the fishing port.

This is a beautiful seaside town, and tomorrow we leave it to head north on my last walk-- 30 km on the coast, down to the beach, up to the headlands. Tomorrow night in Muxia, then the bus to Santiago on Sunday, and that's that.

But the piece de resistance today will no doubt be the sunset -- we will walk up the hill for 3 kms to the lighthouse, and the tradition is to burn a piece of clothing, but I don't have any to spare. Then back to the albergue, the only one on the Camino to be open all night (most lock up at 10 pm), up at 6 am, on to Muxia.