Lires to Finisterre, July 12

This is the final stage of our camino, to Finisterre.  As the name suggests, this is the end of the earth, or at least was believed to be so back when the earth was still flat: it's roughly the westernmost point in continental Europe.  As Nancy pointed out, visiting Finisterre a useful reminder of the limits of our knowledge and understanding: perhaps not everything we now know to be true is in fact so.

Again, our path paralleled the coastline.  This section of the Spanish coast is called the Coast of Death.  It is very rocky and uneven, often foggy, and has experienced a tremendous number of shipwrecks.

The walking was mostly along dirt paths, sometimes in the open, sometimes through forests.

 

By early afternoon we were in Finisterre.  This small city used to be a fishing village, but now is also a popular tourist destination.  We had a great lunch by the harbor, then found a pension up on the hill.

After dropping our packs in the pension, we continued down the road on foot to the end of this little peninsula, the real end of the earth.  There's a lighthouse (of course).

This is where many pilgrims end their pilgrimage.  Although it's hard to see in the picture, this route marker is labeled as kilometer 0.0.

On the rocks beyond the lighthouse is this small bronze sculpture of a pilgrim's hiking boot.

With today's 21 km, our total for the trip is 1244 km.

Had the weather stayed clear, we would have remained another day in Finisterre and spent it on the beach.  But the next day was very rainy, so we decided to return to Santiago.  I tried to persuade Ellen to walk back, but was not successful.  Four days walking is only a little over two hours by bus.  We will continue on to Portugal the next day for a few days vacation before flying homeward.