World's End

Not all pilgrimages stop at Santiago.  There is a pilgrimage to Muxia on the coast. This pilgrimage is mostly done by local people.

Before 850 AD people walked to Finisterre not Santiago. Finisterre means "world's end" or "end of the world". It was thought to be the most western point of land.

Now that we made it to the end of the world its time to head home.

Thanks for all of you for your support and encouragement.

Day 34 Santiago

Day	34
Date	Oct 12
Start	O Pedrouzo
End	Santiago de Compostila
Distance	20km
Elevation+-	700m
Sleep	Parador de Santiago

Day started with nice weather. We had our last trail side meal.

Was cold, very windy and hard driving rain for most of the walk.

Arrived at Santiago safely.

Staying at a parador. Its name roughly translates to "Hostel of the Catholic Kings"  It was built to provide visitors to the cathedral a place to stay.  One of the oldest hotels in Europe. Opened in 1499.

Parador is the building on the left.

View from the room

Dinner spot. Former stables for the hotel.

Completed the last part of the camino. Presented our passports. Got our certificates from the archdiocese. Visited the relics of Saint James. Attended pilgrim's mass.

Passport

Pilgrim Credential

 Certificate of distance traveled.

Location of Mass

The botafumeiro. Incense burner. Pilgrims are smelly.

The cathedral after mass.

Day 33 Eucalyptus

Day	33
Date	Oct 11
Start	Arzua
End	O Pedrouzo
Distance	22km
Elevation+-	1100ft
Sleep	Pension Recuncar

Heavy rain until 10:00. We delayed our start until 10:30 which is 3 hours later than normal. Mostly avoided the rain.

As we get closer to the destination the various trails merge. Today camino north merged with ours. Tomorrow all remaining trails merge.

Eucalyptus grows wild in this part of the camino.  Many people prefer this smell to the other prominent smell - cow.

Throughout Spain we noticed that replanted forests have trees in nice neat rows.

To get our certification of the camino you need a pilgrims passport with stamps. Most churches, cafes and hotels have stamps. For the last 100km the minimum stamps per day is doubled in an attempt to cut down on bus and taxi use.  In the middle ages fake certificates was a cottage industry so the odd person taking a short cut isn't new.

Sometimes there are good reasons to take a cab.  Some pilgrims we got to know taxied around the 3 mountain passes because they just could not physically cross them. If all the hotels are full on trail,  taxi off trail is a fallback. 

20km to go.

Day 32 Cruceiros

Day	32
Date	Oct 10
Start	Rural - Casa Blanco
End	Arzua
Distance	31km
Elevation+-	800
Sleep	Pazo Santo Maria

Last long distance day today.

>50k left.

I have been trying to figure out what the stone poles with crucifixes are for. The first one I remember seeing was in the witches forest on the 2nd day. There are a lot of them in Galacia.

I have no idea how accurate this info is but:

1 They act as a way marker or a navigational aid.

2 They mark an important place.

3 They protect travelers from a grim reaper like character.

4 They keep away witches.

Place we are staying at tonight

More farm and statue pics

Day 31 Castillo de Pambre

Day	31
Date	Oct 9
Start	Portomarin
End	Casa Blanco via Casanova
Distance	33km
Elevation+-	1100
Sleep	Casa Blanco

Day started foggy but cleared up by 10.  Main trail was very busy. Many new pilgrims started at Sarria and they have not started dropping out or dispersing. 

Went off trail 6km to a rural casa for the night. It is a 150 year old farm house. The owner cooked us a great meal.

There is a castle 3km from the casa that we walked to. We thought we could use some exercise.

On the way a cow wasn't that happy to see us After some snorting, pawing the ground and hat waving we came to an understanding.

The castle is quite striking. Jayne and I were the only visitors.  The keeper gave us a nice history lesson mixed in with some current politics. We had access to most of the site including climbing to the top of the keep.

The small building next to the wall is the oldest part of the site. It is a 9th century chapel.

Traditional raised grainary.
Raised because of the moisture and pests.

Day 30 Last 100km

Day	30
Date	Oct 8
Start	Sarria
End	Portomarin
Distance	24km
Elevation+-	1000ft
Sleep	Hotel Ferrmenteiro

Lots of new pilgrims at the communal breakfast this morning.  100km is the minimum distance to be an official pilgrim.  The newbies were looking a little shell shocked at how these meals are done. I forgot it wasn't normal until i saw them staring at me.

Jayne got her dog fix in with the casa dog.

The 100km marker.

Random fence pictures.

Random cow pictures

Valley by the hotel.

Church Castle in town. When the moors were still a threat, churches were also forts.