Finisterre

I went to the end of the earth. Now my way is towards home.

The end and the beginning

Today is the day we reach Santiago. Since Porto I have met new people each day. Over that time a little community has formed. At 6:30am 10 of us gathered together to walk the final 12.9kms to the Cathedral. It's completely dark and we use torches to find the arrows and markers. Donald is slightly ahead of us and we loose him at an intersection. We can't see him or find an arrow. The map, GPS and some local advice all tell us that we are on a main road to Santiago, but not the marked path. We decide to continue as we are heading in the right direction at least. After a few more kilometres I can smell bread. We are yet to find an open coffee shop. It's not a retail shop and I walk past slightly despondent. One of the Spanish girls sees someone inside and knocks on the door to get directions. She emerges with two baguettes! Free. Rocio hands them to me and I break bread, with thanks. It seems a strangely spiritual thing to be doing together and I am not the only one to make the connection. It is also delicious. If only a winemaker would appear an offer us a bottle, but not many of my companions would expect full communion.

At 8:15am we find Donald waiting at the coffee shop, which is about to open. The Camino has focused our daily needs to just a few things. This is definitely one of them.

We now have 6.094km to go according to the way marker. Our goal is to make it to the midday mass, as Rocio, Ana and Alicia are taking the bus home tonight. There is already an awareness that the end of our shared adventure is near. Several others, including Carlos, will leave tomorrow. I have walked with Carlos for over three weeks. Saying goodbye is going to be hard.

Though a few are carrying feet and knee injuries we keep walking at a good enough pace and we get our first glimpse of the Cathedral at 10:40am. We have made it, and made it on time.
We have enough time to take some photos and soak in the atmosphere. There is also time for those of us staying to tonight to book in to a hotel and drop off our back packs.

Donald walked the Camino Francis last year and has an excellent recommendation for accomodation. Its a monastery turned into a hotel and it's right beside the Cathedral. €23 with buffet breakfast. I book in for two nights. I haven't had a real breakfast in 4 weeks. Seminario Mayor if you are in town. They have single rooms for pilgrims, with ensuite. So it seems I still have a taste for more than the necessities of life.

We go to the mass. I would have liked to have understood what was said but it was moving anyway as I took in the significance of my walk. Some of us are Catholic, some of us are Protestant, some are agnostic, and we have done it together. We have followed a way together. It is sad to know it is finished.

We spend the rest of the day and the next getting our compostella, eating together, seeing the city and saying goodbye.

I now have just over a week before I travel back home. I want to see more of Spain, as I have seen so much more of Portugal. Travelling with Carlos and then also with Rocio, Ana and Alicia has given me a glimpse into the gloom of the Spanish economy and how it affects the aspirations of it's young people.

Tomorrow I will take a bus to Finisterre and then an overnight train to Madrid. I will get back to Lisbon in time for my flight on the 17th, when I can finally catch my flight home. If it were possible I would fly today, but since I have the time I will use it to try and experience more of Spain and it's people.

I miss Meredith, and Chloe and Charlotte. If I were a medieval pilgrim then Santiago would only be the halfway point in the journey. I am very grateful I am not walking home and that for me this nearly marks the end.  A new journey awaits when we are reunited.

Today's photos:
1. Our first glimpse of the Cathedral
2. We made it. From left: Me (Australia),  Carlos (Spain), Wade (Usa), Donald (Canada), Neil (England), Ana (Spain), Jim (Usa), Flavia (Brazil), Alicia (Spain), Rocio (Spain).
3. We made it in time to get a seat.
4. Lighting the botafumeiro.
5. The Cathedral at night.
6. Jim with his compostella
7. My very own Santiago cake. It was nice. Sorry but unlike some of the others I can't bring one home to share.
8. At the spot where pilgrims used to be able to put their hand on the pillar.
9. There is still time for washing even though I have to improvise the drying method. The monastery roof works well. Best drying time of the whole trip.

600km down the road..

I leave early again and walk fast. Our plan today is to do one and a half stages so that we can walk into Santiago tomorrow morning in time for the pilgrims mass. To do that, our destination for today is Teo.

Again today I see Donald as I am getting ready to go so we agree to meet at the first coffee place which is about an hour away. He leaves a bit before me so when I start I walk to catch him. It is 6:15am and it's fine when I am walking under streetlights, but I need to use my torch when I get beyond the town. It's hard to walk at full speed in the dark, and easy to miss the way marking. After 30 minutes I pass a really lovely French couple and ask if they have seen Donald. They haven't, so somehow one of us has taken a detour. I am pretty sure it wasn't me, and I hope he's not walking completely off the way. I have a coffee and keep walking. I arrive at Padron at 9:45am, having covered the 18km stage in time for breakfast.

I slow down a bit over the next 10km. I have a moment where I think I should be seeing the destination but nothing is making sense on the map. I decide to take a break and try to figure it out. My GPS only confuses me more as it says I am a long way west of the destination. I am contemplating either walking back to check, which I don't like, or keep going forward and risk entering Santiago, which is now only 18kms away. As I am thinking this through a scout group from Portugal walk by. I hail them and ask about the albergue at Teo. They are going there and it's still 4km ahead. Is there anyone more helpful than a Portuguese Scout?

I reach the albergue at 12:30pm. There is a group resting there but I am the first guest for the night. Donald makes it in just as the last beds are being taken. Carlos and Wade arrive just before the manager and are told they can't sleep on the floor. They go back down the road 2km and book in to another place with the others.

After a drink at the local I decide that I will go down the road and meet up with the others for dinner. It will be our last together. I have eaten with these people most days since Ponte de Lima. We have a lot of running jokes and have also had some significant discussions about many things over the past 10 days. After the funniest dinner I have ever had I march back up the hill to be back in the albergue by the 10pm curfew.

Oh yes, today I reached the 600km mark on my walk, but who's counting?
Is this day 26?

Today's photos:
1. Last nights dinner, all the regulars together.
2. A nice looking church in the dark.
3. Some beautiful forest walking in daylight.
4. Padron. In the guide it's the end of the days walk. Today it's a breakfast stop.
5. A beautiful Spanish lane.
6. A Spanish goat.
7. The sort of entrance I would love to have, if only it would fit in our front yard.
8. The Last Supper.

Choosing company

I decided last night to get up and leave when I woke up. Some people start incredibly early, but I saw a familiar shape walk out the dorm door at 5:15am and so I get up. I leave at 5:45am and soon catch Donald so we walk through the city together hoping to find an open cafe. There isn't one so I press on till the half way point in today's walk, which I reach at 7:35am. Donald catches up as I stop about 40 minutes for breakfast while I wait for the sun to rise. It's a total of 23kms to Caldas de Reis. It feels a bit strange to have half the day done by breakfast. Some people leave this early every day but it is by far the earliest that I have walked. As I sit and have breakfast the sun rises. I have used a torch for most of the walk and the section just before the cafe was enclosed forest. I suspect that it would have been beautiful if it wasn't completely dark.  

I do the next half quickly and arrive at Caldas de Reis at 10:15am. I could easily do the next day's stage today as well but my desire to finish with the people I have travelled with is stronger than the call of the finish line.

The rest of day 25 is filled with walking around the town and enjoying the company.  

Today's photos:
1. The church at 6:50am.
2. Closing in on Santiago.
3. A little bit of Spanish suburbia.
4. Spanish churches are definitely different from Portuguese.
5. The old bridge by the albergue.
6. No chance to see how a Fosters compares with the Spanish product.
7. A shared Santiago cake. Delicious..
8. A warm spring washing station and now foot bath.

Running to a stand still.

I decided this morning to test my fitness. I did the 18km from Redondela to Ponteverda in 3 hours. It included two hills around 150 metres high. I don't think I could have done that pace for even an hour before starting this journey. All this walking has changed me. All this walking in the same direction has moved me. It looks like I'm going to not only have time to do the walk to Finisterre but I will also have a few days afterwards. I am not sure yet what I will do, but at present I can't see myself becoming a tourist. I have trained myself to walk quickly, so where will I go?

Day 24 is complete.

Today's photos:
1. Old food storage hut.
2. Me at the 18th century bridge, Pontesampaio.
3. There are eucalyptus in Spain too.
4. Santurio da Peregrina, Pontevedra. XVIII.
5. Convento de San Franscisco.
6. An interesting house in the old city area.
7. The Praza, Pontevedra.

The journey is about the destination

Now I am in Spain the Camino markers have the distance left to Santiago. I am now less than 100kms away from arriving. I have walked over 500kms, but I am now counting down rather than up.

It's a long day today, walking with a few people who have sore legs and feet. The way got a lot more crowded today as more people started at the 100km point (the minimum distance to get a certificate). There was some concern about getting a bed but we all made it to Redondela.  We started in the dark to get a good start but we lost the way several times. Tomorrow we start when it's light.

This is now day 22. Four more days to Santiago.

Today's photos:
1. Less than 100kms to go
2. I don't think I should take the sign literally.
3. Not a good sight after the first 10km.
4. Much better.
5. Me with less than 100kms to reach Santiago.
6. It was both woodland and suburban walking today, but I tend to take more photos in the woods.

Goodbye Portugal, Hello Spain

I have never crossed a border on foot until today. It was easier than I expected. From Portugal to Spain is simply a walk across a bridge. If only it were that easy all around the world.

Today's photos:
1. Today's walking posse.
2. Last steps before entering Spain
3. The view across the river
4. I must be in Spain now.
5. Walking done for the day; shade, drinks and lunch is the reward.
6. The best view from a laundry that I have ever seen.
7. The view from the cathedral garden.

The shared walk

I like fireworks. I like music. It's less fun when it wakes you up at midnight. And one. A few people have left by 6am when I decide it's time to get going. I am out by 6:30am. I wonder if this will have any lasting effect on my sleep patterns. I have almost become a morning person, though I am not going to sleep particularly early.

Today is a short walk with a big hill. A 400 metre climb. After 20 minutes we find a spot for breakfast and head of again. By 9:30 we have our second stop, having covered over 8 of our 18kms already. The stops are very social and I have had the chance to meet a lot of the other people walking today. Language continues to be the great divider, with English being the most frequent second language. This part of the Camino, from Porto to Santiago, is proving to be a very different experience than the way from Lisbon to Porto.

As we start the assent I can't help trying to guess if the hill in front of us is the one we are going to climb. I guess wrong several times before we hit the hill. It proves to take a fair amount of exertion to get to the top. I think I am now able to feel the point were the energy from the food and coke has run out and I'm using my reserves. I have certainly learnt a lot about how I move and have developed a number of different walks for different situations. The Camino has allowed me to pay attention to many things that I previously took for granted. Simple things are now moments of great pleasure.

The views from the top of the hill are incredible, I think this is the most picturesque part of Portugal that I have walked through.

By 12:30 we have made it to tonight's albergue. Some people are doing the next stage to the border today as well, but I really don't feel like another 19kms.

The afternoon, evening and night are spent talking with my fellow pilgrims. People's reasons for doing the Camino are different and the conversations are a wonderful mix of the profound and the amusing.

It has me thinking that discipleship really is a shared walk in the same direction.

Day 20 ends.


Today's photos:
1. How it looks in the brochure, lots of walkers today.
2. People sometimes place a stone on markers as they pass.
3. A man with his two cows.
4. Carlos laying his broken pole to rest, after carrying for 5 days.
5. The view from the top of today's hill.
6. This can has a representation of the convent window in Tomar, which we arrived too late to see. Funny, Coke, funny.
7. The place before the one I'm staying in tonight.