Olveiroa to Fisterra

Spoiler alert: we decided to combine multiple stages today and finish the Camino all together. It was a truly magical experience arriving at the 0 km marker with the sun coming out from behind the clouds. I sat and reflected for nearly an hour on the rocks staring out at the ocean.

Oh my God, the sunrise this morning was so epic. In fact, the whole morning hike out of Olveiroa to Hospital (so many towns on the Camino with this name) was amazing. Breakfast today was served up at a cute cafe in Hospital. We took a good long break here.

Shortly after leaving, we came to a decision. To the left: Fisterra, and to the right: Muxia. I know where I was going, so it was a no brainer. Mauro had to decide which way he wanted to go since he had less time than us to finish. He ended up deciding to come with us.

No more towns for a while, back to hiking through the wilderness. As we gained ground, and made our way up the hill, we were able to grab our first views of the ocean, and our destination at Cee / Corcubión. A couple of hours later the mist returned to us. We also picked up a new walking companion halfway through: Anna from Hungary.

There it is, our first glimpse of the ocean! We walked through Cee and headed for Corcubión. The walk around the bay was pleasant, even if we did get lost halfway through and had to make our own alternative Camino to get back on track. Lunch was served via sandwiches from yesterday on the waters edge. We were not looking forward to this next part. It was time to say goodbye, for the last time, again. We had reached our stage ender for the day, but the others needed to keep going.

We walked with them to the towns edge before the path turned away from a low stone wall and up into the hills once more. We said goodbye, and watched them disappear into the trees. As Crissi and I walked back into town to find a place to stay something came over us, something clicked in our minds. Crissi and I looked at eachother at the exact same moment , and we said it at the same time: we should keep going and catch up with them. We returned to the spot where we had said our goodbyes and continued walking.

It only took us about an hour of walking before we came to the town of Estorde and wanted to explore this amazing beach off to our left. It looked like private property, and was set behind a fancy hotel. As soon as we got onto the sand, we saw a figure walking in the distance along the waters edge. I recognized the uniquely brown sweater that they were wearing, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sure enough, it was Anna!

We rested here for no good reason, other than to get coffee, pop, and enjoy the beach at the hotels restaruant. An hour later we would have our first views of Fisterra. Seeing it from The Way for the first time was amazing. We didn't waste any time walking along this stretch of water-front trail in order to get to town and to the end.

As we arrived in to town, and began to the walk to The Lighthouse, the sun came out of hiding and brightened the world around us. It was perfect timing. It was a truly magical experience arriving at the 0 km marker. Here it was, the official end of the Camino. I was overcome with emotion, and the locals/visitors let us take our time taking pictures at it.

We walked up to and around The Lighthouse. Behind it a cliff dropped away to the ocean far, far, below. Along the way down were several rocks and places to sit. We all claimed a spot, and just sat there in the silence, staring at the ocean. I must have sat there for nearly an hour on the rocks. I reflected upon everything that had brought me to this point. I also let my mind go blank and just stare in awe and wonder.

This was it. The end. The true end. The end of the world.

Mauro had found us while we were on the rocks, and needless to say he was happy to see us again. We left the ocean around 5:30 pm and started to walk back in to town. Places would be filling up fast. The municipal Albergue was already full, so we kept checking out other places. Each and every one was full.

Before we parted ways after re-entering town, Anna had told us about this Hungarian Albergue that she booked a room at. Out of options, we went there. They had beds available, and ended up putting us in the same room as her.

At some point we found Cerstin, I can't remember when or how, but she was there!

We grabbed dinner with the Texans around 7pm at a fish restaurant, and then headed for the “hippy” beach that our Albergue host had told us about. It was a great time hanging out in the water and walking along the beach with everyone. We saw dolphins in the ocean!

Words cannot express what this journey has meant to me. I can tell you about the friends, places, and pain, but you can never truly fully know it unless you go and experience it for yourself.

We said our real, truthful, final goodbyes to everyone on the morning of July 5th at the bus stop in Fisterra. They took the earlier buses back to Santiago, then on to the airport, and their flights back to their homes. I'm thankful to have been able to meet so many amazing human beings.

Crissi and I checked out of the Hungarian Albergue. We walked along the beach for a couple of hours, collecting numerous sea shells, and then headed for the bus back to Santiago.

We spent our final day together walking around the city, seeing the pilgrim museum, going back to the same place for dinner that we had been to when we previously came here, and seeing some other landmarks that we had missed the first time. We also went clothes/gift shopping for ourselves.

At night we returned to the plaza, and sat there for nearly an hour staring at the place as the sun set. This was the place we had dreamt of reaching, and had finally arrived at. This was our last chance to say goodbye to the Cathedral. We returned to our place to finish packing up, and to go to bed.

Back in Belorado, Crissi had left early in the morning before I woke up without saying goodbye. Now, as fate would have it, it's the same again. She had to leave earlier than me in order to catch a train to Madrid, before I would be waking to walk to the bus for the airport. We said goodbye at night, one final hug, an expression of thanks, and promised to see each other back in the states.

I probably wouldn't be seeing my closest Camino friend/family again, at least not for a long time, and I was very sad. On the morning of July 7th, 2018 I packed up my bag for the last time, left the Albergue alone and in the dark, boarded a bus, and headed for the airport for my return back to America.

I'll see you again someday St. James.