Our last full day in Espana
We slept in then had our breakfast out on the balcony. While wandering in among the souvenir shops, Susie spotted the brass scallop shells that we had been searching for the last two days . They were in a shop right across from the Pilgrim office. Now we have all the souvenirs that we need.
Today we were tourists resting our feet after walking over 1000 km since April 3. Thus we shopped for souvenirs and ate. Who said that there is no such thing as a free lunch? We went to the Paradore and had the free pilgrim meal. It was better than several that we bought on the Camino. Dinner tonight was a picnic on our balcony overlooking the city. We dined on bread, cheese, chorizo, fruit and wine. It was great.
Negreira to Santiago de Compostela
Our day started with a nice breakfast at Hotel Millan. The day was nice and warm and provided us with pleasant walking conditions. On our arrival in Santiago de Compostela we went to the Pilgrim office and got our Compostela certificates. The girl on the desk was most helpful; we received 5 certificates in total - 2 for the St Jean leg, 2 for Finisterre and another for total distance. At 7:30 we took in the Pilgrim mass.
Maronas to Negreira 20 km
As we couldn't get a room in Olveiroa yesterday, we stayed at Casa Jorjo in A Picota. With Susie's painful lower leg we opted for a shorter day by having the hotel drop us at Maronas. The day was glorious with its sun and gentle breezes.
Breakfast at the hotel was great. For just €5 each we had fresh orange juice, yogurt, prosciutto ham, omelet, toast, cafe con leche/leche caliente.
By 4 pm we were checked in to our hotel and resting. Dinner at òur hotel was a great. A couple of Dutch guys were s lot of fun. The waiter brought us seconds of the entre AND of wine.
Muxia to Olveiroa 31.6 km plus our mistakes
We planned on a nice dry walk because the forecast was for lots of sun. Wrong! !!
It poured just before we left and rained intermittently all day. We had a lot of difficulty following the Camino because it is ambiguous in the reverse direction. We spent time just looking back at a marker trying to ascertain which road or path was taken by pilgrims walking in the other direction.
When we arrived in Olveiroa there were no rooms available. Fortunately the lady at the desk suggested a hotel off the Camino that would collect us. This turned out well as the room was nice and warm allowing us to dry out. And dinner was good.
After a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel we set off for Muxia in warm sunlight. Occasionally we saw the ocean and took pictures. We saw a small sawmill operating along the Camino and took a video. At As Lires we had our credentiales stamped. Soon afternoon the rain started and accompanied us into Muxia.
On entering Muxia we were approached by a lady selling accommodations. After hand waving on both sides we were shown a oné bedroom apartment with kitchen; she charged us €30 for the night.
Later we toured the town and collected our Muxiannas. Since we had a kitchen we took the opportunity to not eat restaurant food.
It has continued to rain but promises to give us sunshine tomorrow.
Rest and tourist day in Finisterre
After a nice buffet breakfast in our hotel, we strolled through town toward the lighthouse. On the way we checked out a pile of short logs that were being trucked away. The growth rings were incredible; some were about 2 cm.
At the lighthouse, we got to see and photograph the km 0.0 marker. We could really see why Finisterre got its name; it does look like the end of the world.
Rest day Cee to Finisterre 12 km.
Today we had a Spanish breakfast/desayuno in our hotel. It was okay. They started with freshly squeezed orange juice which was phenomenal. Then we had toast and coffee con leche/leche caliente. They brought us more of each.
Then they brought us our dry clothes and partially dried boots.
After packing up we walked in sunshine to Finisterre getting there in time for lunch. We had salad and octopus as firsts and seafood paella as seconds. Susie wasn't keen on the seafood so I had to eat it. It's a rough life.
After eating we went to the municipal albergue and got our Finisterre certificates. After checking into our hotel we went to a supermercado and got some fruit and drinks including some of their excellent oranges.
The hotel room that we stayed in last night, attached to an albergue didn't turn on the heat so our clothes didn't dry On top of that today was wet and windy. On our arrival in Cee, our boots were soaked as were our clothes. Fortunately our hotel tonight is very nice and they are drying our boots and clothes for us overnight. We met a nice Dutch couple at supper as well as 2 more Canadians. A significant marker today was the indicator at the forks for Finisterre and Muxia. The weatherman promised sunshine for tomorrow.
Castelo to Santa Mariña
We started out think that we would be a liquid sunshine all day but the gentle rain gave way to sunshine. The walking was easy and we went over 32 km in about 7 hours. We were able to have a nice lunch of fresh fruit and milk from a supermercado in Negreira.
The rivers are high enough to overflow their banks in many cases and some are muddy This suggests that the recent rain is a bit unusual.
This was it; we made it to Santiago de Compostela today. Unfortunately the weather was perfectly Galician as it rained all the way into the city. This was a holiday weekend in Spain and there was a great street market that we couldn't enjoy because of the dampness. We are looking forward to coming back to Santiago de Compostela at the end of our trip.
We decided to start out for Finisterre and stay at Castelo tonight, about 10 km from Santiago de Compostela
We are getting close to Santiago de Compostela. Today we watched the markers drop in value from over 50 to 18. It's hard to believe that we will complete this stage tomorrow. For most of today we walked through a gentle rain and we were never cold. At about 1 pm the rain stopped. Nevertheless this was not a good day for pictures.
