End of the World

Now most people would like to put their feet up and rest after walking 765kms, but for some reason pilgrims feel this is not for them. No..they feel compelled to go the extra 90kms to get to "The End of the World". We had come this far..what is an extra 90kms!!!

After 2 nights in Santiago de Compostela our smelly boots were calling out to us....we did have a little problem to fix first..Chris was NOT going to walk the extra 90kms with a backpack!!! Thats her, about to throw the backpack over the balcony!!

Chris had grown to love her boots, Michele had grown to love the backpack..so we packed just basics..(actually we thought that 2 sets of clothes, toothbrush, face cream and deodorant was basic!!!) but we narrowed it down again to fit in one pack and stored the other one for 4 days.

It seemed like the rain might be with us for the next few days.....

but somehow we were still smiling..could hardly see 2 feet in front of us in some spots. The young German boy who took this picture said "I thought Spain was a sunny country!" Didn't we all!! This particular stretch was a 15km walk between bars .... I mean towns. We survived on a chorizo tortilla on pan and a few chocolate bars. May have mentioned already that kit-kat is our chocolate of choice as it is the same spelling in Spain therefore easy for us linguistically challenged pilgrims to purchase. (Lucky we also think they are yummy!!!)
It was 3 days walk to the coast, we forged onwards through the drizzly rain and fog to our first overnight stop - Negreira . We were ahead of the main bulk of pilgrims doing this stage as we were aware there was only 20 beds in this Albergue and we timed it well being pilgrims 9 & 10 to arrive and secure our beds for the night. Chris being the one who had the smart idea to leave her sleeping bag behind in Santiago de Compostela,was desperately searching for a blanket - was able to beg one off the host who took one from the sick bay for her. All set - this left the afternoon free for eating/drinking/socializing. The walk had taken on a party mode now as the main objective was to reach Santiago de Compostela, this extra 90km was for fun! We shopped for some picnic foods and yes vino tinto as that would be our dinner. Settled into the Albergue for the evening, it was quite painful to watch all the pilgrims being told the Albergue was 'complete'. It was located out of the main town and up a hill. Some grimly trudged back into town, others called taxis. Enjoyed our shared party/picnic before retiring to bed. Why does the snorer from hell always end up in our room?? This was to be our last night in an Albergue although always fun and highly entertaining, communal living does have a few drawbacks.
Our next days walk started out in very heavy rain. This was a first for us, we were a little damp and slightly somber, mostly because we knew our incredible journey was nearing its end. We walked to Olveiroa and checked into a really cute hotel/bar. It had been very thoughtfully restored from the old ruins of something a rather. Had a great meal and cheery company of other fellow pilgrims who had all come to eat at our hotel. After dinner we retired to the bar for a night cap. We had a shout, our friend Kate had a shout, we tipped the barman, then he had a shout. Chris was drinking contreau on ice and Michele was still going strong on the vino tinto. It was no surprise we had an excellent nights sleep in our lovely room.
Our last days walk was again in damp foggy weather but we ambled along and before long had some distant ocean views. The seaside villages we walked through were colorful and quaint and we are sure they would be very beautiful on bright sunny day.
We arrived in Finistere around 5pm, conveniently happy hour. The weather had really set in, the wind and rain had really whipped up. We popped into a bar to regroup, dry off and work out our next move. Negotiated a room with the barman, at least we didn't have to go back outside just yet. We needed to get the bus back to Santiago de Compostela at about 8am the next morning so that only left the next few hours to make the final assualt to the cape and lighthouse which was a mere 3.2km away. Fortified ourselves with a couple of vinos (a standard vino is around 20ml so don't be too worried about our livers) and headed back out into the horrendous weather. James our English friend we met on day 2 of our camino appeared and decided to walk to the lighthouse as well, he borrowed a couple of brollys from the barman. and away we went. Grabbed a bottle of bubbles (carva in Spain) armed with plastic cups and away we went. Wind, rain, fog made the going interesting and the brollys were soon turned inside out. We were absolutely soaked but very happy for reaching the Okm marker. We could certainly hear the fog horns but there was no light to be seen. It was easy to see why it has been such a dangerous coastline for ships.
Our happiness turned to hysterical laughter as we walked to the monument in front of the fog horns. They were unbelievbly loud, designed to be heard many miles out to sea - it really rattled us to the core and almost made Michele drop her beloved camera! Popped the bubbles, more hysteria as it was blown sideways before it reached the cups and all the froth and bubbles were blown away.

Had some hugs and some pics., we were at worlds end and the end of our own journey. A mixture of elation and sadness as surely 

such an amazing 6 weeks could not be repeated?