"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T.S. Eliot

Or, as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

Finisterre: The End of the World

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella has different starting points and routes. The route we took, Camino Frances, is the most well-known. While Santiago is the most common ending point, in ancient times and even today, some pilgrims journey on another 50 miles to Finisterre (the end of the earth). 

Finisterre is so named because before the Europeans discovered the New World it was literally considered the end of the world. On the map above, it is called Fisterra and Cabo Fisterra is where we went.

When pilgrims arrived, they would burn their clothes. Often they would pick up a shell as a souvenir. This may be the actual origin of the scallop shell as a symbol of the pilgrimage.

For centuries, people have come here to worship. The Druids came to pay homage to the sun. Here a woman meditates. 

This area is also known as the Coast of Death. It is very rocky and there have been many shipwrecks. Also, it is where the sun goes to die each day. All ways, roads, and paths end here.

It was somewhat overcast and extremely windy the day were were there, adding to the feeling of being at the end of the earth.

Please don't fall in, John!

You either, Luke!

This was a powerful place. It is hard to convey how windy it was.

Maybe this will help.

Those rocks that so many ships crashed on? Granite. The Galicia region of Spain is filled with granite. The fences in the field are made of granite, the churches are made of granite. The very ground is made of granite. Galicia is the fifth largest exporter of granite in the world. If you have a granite countertop, the granite may have come from Galicia. 

Luke and John at Camino de Santiago, Kilometer 0, at Finisterre, the end of the earth.

We also visited Puente Maceira, a village on the way to Finisterre. 

The town has a bridge, constructed in the 13th or 14th century, according to Roman specs.

The water helped power the mills, which made flour.

Lots of Galician fishing villages on the Shore of Death.

This is part of Mt. Pindo, a mountain in Galicia. The mountain is considered to have magical properties. There are ruins of castles and oddly shaped granite boulders. The Celts thought of Mt. Pindo as their Mt. Olympus and there has been a human presence for at least 6,000 years. The Celts worshiped the sun on this mountain. I think the Disney ride, Magic Mountain, looks a little like this.

We visited the Ezaro Waterfall, which tumbles down Mt. Pindo. It is the largest waterfall in continental Europe that empties directly into the ocean.

Luke with our intrepid and very funny guide Reuben. Reuben did a great job. He should have a late night talk show.

Our last stop of the day was the coastal village of Muxia. The Spanish in Galicia is heavily influence by Portuguese. Muxia is pronounced Mooshe-a. The letter c is pronounced th so Galicia sounds like Galithia. 

Muxia is an important town in the legend of St. James. After Jesus ascended into heaven. St. James (the Greater) came to Spain to evangelize the people. According to Reuben, the story goes that James was sitting at the shore here, despondent about his failure to convert the pagans. All of a sudden, the Virgin Mary appeared at sea in a boat made of granite (ships made of granite are common in Galician stories). She consoled St. James and told him not to worry. 

The rocks at this site are supposedly the remnants of Mary's boat. Above is the sail.

Another legend has it that if you go under the sail nine times, your back problems will be cured.

One of these is the stern or rudder. I can't remember which.

Coastal Galicia--the Shore of Death--is a beautiful, holy place.

Day 9: Santiago de Compostella!

 

As we set out for our last day of walking, these feet look better than they feel. But they have served us well.

Though I am eager to get to Santiago, in some ways, I wish this pilgrimage would never end. I guess you could say it doesn't.

Thinking about the many pilgrims--peregrinos--who walked by this door.

So many lovely sights along the way.

To take our minds off the hill we are about to ascend, we talk about the things on the Camino that surprised us and that we learned. Given the warnings about the rainy weather, I was surprised by all the sunny days. I learned that I have to learn the same things over and over (patience, living in the moment, not jumping to quick conclusions).

As the day wore on, we said extra prayers.

The cows always provided comic relief. "I'm not ready for my closeup," the one above seems to be thinking. The two scents that I will forever associate with the Camino are fresh mountain air and cow manure. The ying and the yang.

These adorable dogs were funny too. They were yapping up a storm; definitely not camino dogs who barely glance our way as we walk by.

We have shared the Camino with quite a few bikers. They go fast on the downhill, but in the mud, not so much.

As Santiago approaches, we will leave the countryside behind.

And start to see the scallop on roads.

And sidewalks.

At a hill overlooking the city is a Monument to Pope St. John Paul II and St. Francis of Assisi, both pilgrims to Santiago.

We approach the city blessedly on the downhill.

This Templar Knight pilgrim greeted us as we entered Santiago. The Templar Knights helped protect the Camino route, among other things. Though we are in the city, we still have a couple more miles to go.

Our first glimpse of the Cathedral. "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago"--the bible for the Camino--by John Brierley that we have been following says to take time to arrive and honor one's reactions. A few things about this: we aren't able to take much time because upon arrival, we have only a half hour to check into the hotel, which is fortunately across the street from the Cathedral, and then find the chapel in the Cathedral where Mass is being celebrated. 

At any rate, my first reactions are relief that we have finally arrived; I'm exhausted (I understand why St. Francis of Assisi, who was also a Camino pilgrim, referred to the body as Brother Donkey) and slight disappointment that one of the spires of the Cathedral is covered in scaffolding. But never mind because I have learned not to always trust my first impressions and there are more chapters to this story!

On the way to the Cathedral we meet our new friends from Australia. They started on March 23 and walked the entire Camino!

Father Michael prepares to celebrate Mass for our group in the Chapel of the Pillar.

The red Cross of St. James, high on the chapel wall.

The chapel ceiling.

The ever present scallop shell, now at the source of its symbol. So is the pilgrimage complete?