Land’s End

Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre to Santiago
Day 49

Many pilgrims, having arrived in Santiago, continue on to Finisterre (Land’s End). Some walk there, but James and I took a bus.

We had wasted time after breakfast by going to the Pilgrim’s Office to see if we could purchase discount train tickets to Madrid (we couldn’t), so we felt pressed for time.

By express bus the trip to Finisterre was an hour and a half. I had proposed to James that we perform a time-honored pilgrim custom: burn a set of worn-out Camino clothes on the beach. Judging by the raggedy clothes I had seen drying on lines along the Camino, many peoples’ clothes deserved to be burned. We didn’t have any “holey” clothes, so James declined burning anything.

At a seafood restaurant, I finally found percebes (barnacles) on the menu. I had searched for them all along the Camino, but this was the first restaurant to offer them. I first had a taste of these salty sea delights years ago in Portugal, and I hungered for them. They were every bit as good, though a lot more expensive, than the ones I remembered from Portugal.

We took advantage of the restaurant’s specialties and also had octopus and seafood paella, plus cava (Spanish sparkling wine), all of which we shared. This meal was another splurge to celebrate having gone to the ends of the earth on this journey.

After our late lunch we walked out to the lighthouse and tossed pebbles into the Atlantic. I thought of the rock I had left behind at the Iron Cross, and tucked a pebble into my pocket. We took photos, had a quick look around an exhibit, and purchased a couple of Finisterre souvenirs, such as a lighthouse bottle opener. (How could any‐ one pass that up? Too unique!)

We raced back to the bus station to catch the 7:00 pm express to Santiago.

9,150 steps today

For more photos, go to https://caminoforboomers.com/july-19-santiago-de-compostela-to-finisterre-to-santiago/.