Camino de Santiago | Day 35 - Life in the Labyrinth

Olveira – Finisterre

24.74 | 560.00 miles

+2,972 | -3,741 feet

I began before 7:00 to (hopefully) get in some distance before the rain began; however, it was already misting a bit. It misted and rained on and off all day. When I arrived at Corcubion, I was about nine miles from Finisterre, the end of the world.

The name Fisterra comes from Latin FINIS TERRAE, meaning “Land’s End”. This name stems from the fact that this area is on a remote peninsula that is one of the westernmost points of land in Galicia, and hence in Spain.

After the discovery of the remains of St. James, pilgrims on the Way of St. James started to arrive from Santiago to Fisterra to worship in front of an image of Sacred Christ, view the relics of San Guillerme, and see the “End of the Earth”.
Wikipedia

Since my feet weren’t soaked, I decided to keep walking (Really, I felt good and wasn’t being stubborn!). After about a mile, the rain stopped. At this point, I was already walking along the coast. These last miles went quickly as my clothes dried out, I had beautiful views, and I anticipated reaching kilometer 0,00.

The town of Fisterra is three kilometers before Finisterre, the cape, so I stopped at my hotel to drop off my pack. This made the mostly uphill climb much easier.

It’s so windy, you can’t hear a word in saying.

Some weather came in as I was finishing, so there wasn’t much of a view. I stopped at the bar by the lighthouse and had a celebratory glass of wine.

Of course, I then needed to walk back to the hotel. I saw a taxi and asked him if I could get a ride to Fisterra, but he was already booked. I thought about hitchhiking…

When you see the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean at Finisterre, you are seeing the sun set on the entire world. Often, pilgrims would burn their clothing to symbolize their new life after the pilgrimage.

Instead, I walked the scenic route back along the Atlantic side of the Cape. When I returned to the hotel, I was very happy to not walk anymore. Unfortunately, there was no restaurant. Therefore, after I showered and rested a bit, I walked down into town to find something to eat. As is the case throughout Spain, there’s not much open on a Sunday. Even the grocery stores are closed. I found a bar that was open and had a plate of French fries. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to have a big meal, when I’ll also take some time to check out the town and the beach.

I didn’t want to hang out by myself, so Dave and I face-timed and watched Survivor together. When the contestants say how hard it is, I feel like I would have some newfound strength and perseverance if I were on the show. For five weeks, I walked an average of 16 miles a day. Of course, I generally had all the food I needed and some sort of bed and shelter at night. However, I have definitely learned to “dig deep” as Jeff always says.

As I came over the top of Monte Facho and could see the Kilometer 0,00 marker, I was very emotional. When I arrived in Santiago, it was very exciting. There were a lot of people, making it celebratory with the bagpipes playing as I came into cathedral square; however, I knew I would still walk to Finisterre.

The Cathedral of St. James was beautiful, but coming to this final point was very dramatic. Today, I knew this was the end. I could go no further. I have walked it all.

Buen Camino