We had a day off in Santiago before heading off to Finisterra, attempting to go to mass but decamping because it was extremely busy. The pilgrims all seem to come in on a Sunday we realised later in the week....In fact we barely got to see the cathedral at all after queueing at various tourist offices to get info on Finisterra and Murxia (you had to go to the municipal one for bus times but the regional one for accommodation....hmmm).
The next day we got into a cab (!!!!) to get the bus (what’s that?) to Finisterra to walk to the lighthouse and then do a gentle two day hike to Murxia. Finisterra is the most western point of Europe and was considered “ the end of the earth” (as translated) until Columbus discovered America...and what a good description for the dark and dreary fishing port that it is. However we had a delightful walk to lighthouse with dramatic scenery amidst the sea mist that eerily weaved in from the Atlantic.
We found a very comfortable B&B situated above the town and had a fulsome brekky the next day.
We divided the 31k walk to Murxia into 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely hike through pine forests, fields , and sand dunes highlighted by the most wonderful glimpses of the coast line that reminded both of us of Cornwall and Ireland. The main activity of this part of Galicia is subsistence farming it appeared very poor with little government money despite being the home of The Generalissimo (Franco) who ruled Spain for 40 years. We spent the night in a small estuarine village which was just inland from stunning surf beaches. The house e stayed in was a renovated stone cottage whose owners had been given a tourist dept grant. The only bar in the village provided supper plus folk songs from the local drunk which was entertaining, it also seemed to be the meeting place for all the surrounding menfolk and by 10pm it was abuzz despite being a week day.
The next day we got into a cab (!!!!) to get the bus (what’s that?) to Finisterra to walk to the lighthouse and then do a gentle two day hike to Murxia. Finisterra is the most western point of Europe and was considered “ the end of the earth” (as translated) until Columbus discovered America...and what a good description for the dark and dreary fishing port that it is. However we had a delightful walk to lighthouse with dramatic scenery amidst the sea mist that eerily weaved in from the Atlantic.
We found a very comfortable B&B situated above the town and had a fulsome brekky the next day.
We divided the 31k walk to Murxia into 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely hike through pine forests, fields , and sand dunes highlighted by the most wonderful glimpses of the coast line that reminded both of us of Cornwall and Ireland. The main activity of this part of Galicia is subsistence farming it appeared very poor with little government money despite being the home of The Generalissimo (Franco) who ruled Spain for 40 years. We spent the night in a small estuarine village which was just inland from stunning surf beaches. The house e stayed in was a renovated stone cottage whose owners had been given a tourist dept grant. The only bar in the village provided supper plus folk songs from the local drunk which was entertaining, it also seemed to be the meeting place for all the surrounding menfolk and by 10pm it was abuzz despite being a week day.
The next day we walked an undemanding 17k, through similar landscape with moorlands with gorse and heather but this time the views were breath-taking and the comparison with the cliffs and coves of Cornwall, Ireland and Wilsons Prom in Victoria was uncanny.
By lunchtime we reached Murxia. Legend has it that Virgin Mary sailed here to assist St James in converting Galicians to Christianity. Murxia is a superb example of Soviet Bloc architecture and needless to say we did not waste time in changing our plans from staying the night there to catching the afternoon bus back to Santiago! We did feel for Terry who would be arriving in Murxia in a day or two after 1700kms and his welcome would be this.
We went to the Service the next day and again the cathedral was packed to the rafters with recently arrived pilgrims.We were amused to see the priest surrender the microphone to a straight backed german lady who informed the entire multi national congregation that there was to be a meeting after Mass for the German Camino society, an event not to be missed...
It was a moving church service and many pilgrims were moist eyed with emotion.
Later that evening amid much excitement we were joined by Ken and Christine Nikki’s parents who were en route to Portugal. We both thoroughly enjoyed their visit and had 2 days of exploring Santiago together which included a medieval fair set up for the weekend, lute playing, suckling pigs on spits,jugglers, market stalls, fortune tellers etc. We also ended the two days with a Tapas crawl which involved 6-7 different venues sampling the various snackaroos on offer.
And so ends our pilgrimage........A Dios Santiago...
..but there are more adventures to come....
2 comments:
Can't wait to see all your pictures. Hope the return to civil life isn't proving to be too much.
Enjoy Greece!
XXX Q&A XXX
can't believe you've finished it! WELL DONE!!
must be a bit deflating?? anyway, well done, and still hugging in photos? amazing.
looking forward to episode 2 - 'greece, not quite the final frontier'.
miss you guys! xxxx
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