Santiago de Compostella Rest Day

Today I didn't do much. A load of washing to the pilgrim centre - with luck they might let me on the plane now - caught up for a coffee and goodbye with a friend from the very first day,  collected my backpack bag, a nap, a coffee, a glass of wine in the sun in the Praza da Quintana Ventos, delicious dinner with three respectable courses, wine and coffee for 12 euros with another walker from the Meseta days - I have established favoured customer status at the restaurant where I eat on the basis that I've brought in a fair bit of trade for them- then a lovely stroll through the twilight back to my pension. Not too bad really. I wonder if I have lost the skills to do things like cook, wash dishes, shop, or house work. All this sitting around being taken care of is dangerously easy.

Finisterre

I got down to the bus station early, got my return ticket and caught the bus to Finisterre. Two hours each way, and a lot of it is along spectacular coastline, the Costa del Morte, the coast of death. Looking at the reefs visible above the waterline i can guess something of why it gets its name. But in mild spring sunshine it was all extremely picturesque, little fishing villages with brightly painted boats, walled harbors, little sandy coves, fields surrounded with stone walls that look like they have been there for centuries or longer. The landscape in places is reminiscent of the East coast of Tasmania or Wilsons Prom, with large volcanic mountains and lots of granite boulders.

The town of Finisterre is very laid back -  it would be a nice place to spend a few days. I bet it hops in summer. When the bus arrived it was mobbed by the crowd of people clutching bicycles, backpacks, long sticks and suitcases who struggled against the tide of people clutching bicycles, backpacks, long sticks and suitcases trying to get off. General mayhem there but being unencumbered I managed to slip through the crowd and find a bar for second breakfast. The nice man there gave me directions to the Tourist Info Office which were almost correct. He said turn left then left, when it was actually left then right. I found it eventually, got a map  and headed off to the cape, which was about an hour's pleasant walk. The end of the earth had the additional atmospheric contribution of smoke rising from still smouldering piles of stuff which perigrinos had ritually burnt the night before. Boots, some walking poles, and clothing seemed to have gone into the piles, and the smoke had a nasty burnt rubber and toxins smell.  Still I found some reasonably clear air, and sat and ate a celebratory banana, and contemplated the 270 degree view of the ocean from what was for Europeans up till Columbus, truly the end of the world.

Brisk walk back to town just in time to see the doors close for siesta of the museum of the sea, housed in a lovely old fort overlooking the port. As a consolation I walked down to the beach of the little cove below and paddled my feet in the Atlantic for a bit.

Caught the bus back at 3. Quite disconcerting and a bit motion sickness inducing to be whizzing along at up to 100 kph after an average of around 5 for so long. The other thing that struck me was just how great the distance is that you can cover in 3 days walking -which is the time it takes to walk to Finisterre from Santiago. The last thing that struck me was how odd the walking pilgrims looked when spotted from the bus. Perhaps they were just a few strange pilgrims - that guy walking along yelling into his mobile and waving his stick in the air, that woman with a fixed grimace - or do we all look a bit odd to people gliding past effortlessly in motorized comfort?

People are starting to move on, catching flights or buses out. A lot of goodbyes - the farewells stage. In a way, the Camino is a bit like life sped up. You meet people, walk and eat together, share hardships, stuffy dormitories, get to really like some of them, then they go back to their world and you go off to yours. 

Tomorrow a quiet day. Need to retrieve the carry bag for my back pack that i sent on from st Jean Pied de Port way back when.

Santiago de Compostella Day 4

Really slept in today, till 9 which was a good idea as just about everywhere was closed. The little panadaria down the road was open so I got a croissant to keep me going and headed off for the Cidada da Cultura de Galicia. It is a on one of the hills surrounding the city and is a good walk. The buildings are a series of sweeping curves, and they certainly make an impressive outline - you can see them for miles away.

I couldn't help  but wonder whether the whole thing is vastly misconceived. It is not a particularly functional design, with huge interior spaces that are very hard to use. The exhibition i saw, "The Way The Origin" solved the space problem by having the objects housed within smaller structures connected by a rather hoaky pathway - emblematic of the Camino I guess - strung with green netting. It was Sunday and admission free, in a city bursting with hard core Camino nuts, and there were about 14 people in the place, of whom 6 were staff. The objects on display and the curating were terrific, but I think the venue has all the hallmarks of an extremely expensive white elephant. The image below is from one object on display,  an illuminated manuscript which tells the tale of St James interceeding to Mary for the soul of a pilgrim who has been tricked and killed by the devil. I like the tug of war with the soul represented like a little golden baby.

Walked home in time for the last climb of the 15th stage of the Giro D'Italia followed by a siesta.

Caught up this evening with some people  I walked with early on who have just arrived, and some other faster returnees from Finisterre. Mixed reviews but  I think I'll bus there tomorrow.

Santiago de Compostella Day 3

Slept in till 7.45 today. Feels a bit decadent not to be up and out at first light. But I will find the strength to bear it.

After nice breakfast in the bar attached I went exploring, first to the main bus station to get timetables, then through a couple of the city's beautiful parks. One was a cemetery in the 19th century, a powerfully atmospheric place. Next was the Museum of Galicia, a great collection of artifacts and photos, but as with many cultural institutions world wide, the guide leaflet was completely useless as a navigational tool. I might or might not have seen all the collections on display. It did have a great little maritime collection.

I continued my sweep through the parks, passing two black Australian swans paddling along an ornamental pond,  and two massive gum trees, bigger round the trunk than just about any I've seen in Australia. The climate obviously agrees with them. To round out the day I visited the Cathedral museo,  which has some very beautiful, and some very strange, pieces of medieval sculpture. Bumped into a few more people from the early days. Some, a real hard core, are heading onto Finisterre. While I was standing waiting in the tourist office I was looking at a map of the camino, and all the places I've walked through. I am afraid, try as I might, i just couldn't conjure up any mental image of quite a few. So I think definitely time to slow down and digest a bit. I am a bit envious of the Finisterrians - walking actually makes everything simpler in a way - but I think I've made a good call for me.

Tomorrow i plan to walk to an exhibition on the Camino in a fancy newish building the Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, which sits up on one of the hills surrounding the city, about 10k walk there and back.

Santiago de Compostella Day 2

Slept in till at least 7.30 this morning then after a classic Spanish breakfast of churros and coffee in a little bar round the corner I packed my pack and headed onto my next lodging, which is outside the old town, past the university campus. The people are lovely, it is comfortable and a pleasant walk into town. I will prop here till I go if I can.
Having shed my back pack I headed in for the midday pilgrim's mass. It was a nice service, and my spanish must be improving as I sort of understood the gospel reading - Peter denying Christ three times. The priest read it very slowly and dramatically, and it helps when you know the story. No botifumerio but I came away feeling blessed.
In the afternoon I went searching for a laundromat. After exploring a good part of the town, bumping into various people, accidentally ordering and so having to drink a large glass of whisky, and generally getting fairly befuddled, I was directed to The Pilgrim support office, where the kind and gracious young women who volunteer to work there took my clothes and for 5 euros donation washed and dried them. My faith in a benificent universe restored, i had a cerveza in the sun om the Praza de Quintana Ventos, a sustaining pasta with a fellow co pilgrim from my first albergue back in st jean, and traded news about mutual friends from along the way.

All in all a really good day. I did call in at Galician Tourist Office to get the map and info sheet for the walk to Finisterre, but I feel like I have walked enough for a while, and that it is time to stay in one place for a while. So, tomorrow, Santiago de Compostella.

Santiago de Compostella

Got on the road early and enjoyed the crisp start to what was a glorious day. I was thinking as I was walking, what will I miss about the Camino, and concluded the top thing will be the early mornings, watching the dawn turn into day across the countryside, up to the glorious moment when the sun hits you and you throw an enormously long shadow on the trail ahead.

The way out of Arzua is very pretty without being spectacular. In the bar in the first village was a Canadian lady who had fallen face first a short while before, with a painful looking graze on her nose and forehead. One wrong step or moment of inattention and things can come unstuck, even on the last days. I was extra attentive for the rest of the day.
My plan was to get to Lavacolla for lunch, and see how I felt. Lavacolla is around 9 k to go. I thought I could either find somewhere round there, or head onto Monte de Gozo , but I knew it would be hard to stop so close, and so it proved to be. So I kept going and got here round 3.30, to be greeted by the three Korean girls who started the same day as I did, back in St Jean, 30 days ago. They were really nice - I could not have asked for a better welcome.

A couple of senoras with habitacions to rent were hovering in the wings of the square and I got a nice room a few minutes from the square for 25 Euros which is an alright deal I think. The main challenge is finding the building as it is located down a little street off a little street and the old town is a bewildering maze of little streets.

Had a cerveza sitting in the sun in the square then queued for a ridiculously long time to get my Compostella at the Officina de peregrinos. The queue stretched out into the street, but the office had only 3 of a possible 9 service desks operating. But I got it, then had a slightly up market dinner to celebrate safe completion of this phase of the trip, then managed to find my way back to my room.

So tomorrow, sleep in!

Arzua

The street through the little village where I stayed last night was like Bourke Street at rush hour this morning when I ventured forth after breakfast. A whole new cast of faces, and some lovely people to chat to to help while away the not super interesting or scenic kilometres. There are some nice bits and some plantations of eucalypts to kick off some olfactory nostalgia. Speaking of matters olfactory, the incidence of patches of overpoweringly bad smells seems much higher in Galicia this time round. I guess it is the animal husbandry practices. I fell sorry for the people with houses down wind.

Just outside Melide it started to drizzle so I ducked into a lovely cafe just before the medieval bridge that leads into the town and watched the new pilgrims struggling into their ponchos while I enjoyed second breakfast.

The Sarria starters seem full of energy, and perhaps unworthily I find myself eyeing people like the overweight guy with the pack the size of a small fridge who bounds past me as I trudge up yet another hill. Did he just pop out of a taxi round the last corner? Yesterday, on the quiet rural  roads before Palas de Rei, taxis were more than half of the motor traffic, with the pack transport services making up a good part of the rest.

Anyway, to each their own. Today another milestone, passed the 50 k to go mark, though I couldn't actually spot the stone itself. 49.5 K to go will have to do.

Tomorrow I might push on to Monte de Gozo, about 35 k from Azura where I am tonight, and stay in the industrial scale albergue there, to see what it is like. It is only 4.5 k into Santiago so I should be able to saunter in Friday morning, all going well.