Travels to the Edge

Body and soul - we have made it to the Atlantic. Seven weeks ago I walked off the beach at Valencia with hopes of walking ‘coast to coast’ and practically no Spanish. Today my hopes have been fulfilled - y tengo un poco de español.  Thankfully, Spanish people are kind to foreigners like me. That will be a lasting and treasured memory. As a solo peregrino, I needed to communicate and be with the locals. That was challenging and made this journey so fulfilling. Everyone was up early this morning and the classic breakfast of coffee and tortilla went down so well. Pre-drawn darkness and misty rain added to the excitement - around 31kms. Funny - by now it is more about time than distance.  How long will it take? Not long after - the road forked - right to Muxia, left  to Finisterre. I turned left, and passed a welcoming donativo stall. How generous!  The spiritual is always there - somewhere. There are stone walls all around Galicia and other provinces. I wonder who built...

It rains a lot in Galicia! So when it is only misty, it is like a sunny day. ‘You can get a tan, from standing in the Spanish rain’ - that’s one for John Lennon fans. Not pulling any punches - Today was wet and bleak. No, no, not more taxi signs, please. Thankfully, there were none through Valencia or La Mancha. Gotta love that roadside. And those footpaths, where ‘gravity leaps like a knife off the pavement’ -  a wonderfully graphic description from Paul Simon (from Queens NYC - like Jimmy). The mist cleared and the sun came out momentarily. I noticed people coming the other way, i.e. returning to Santiago. We bid each other ‘Buen Camino’. And there was scenery . . . and a riverside path.   The bleakness disappeared - I had arrived. Once I was settled in, and was warm and dry, it rained again . . .  It will be a lot wetter tomorrow - in the ocean at Finisterre.  Bring it on!

After wandering for weeks, I have reunited with the tribe. Manuel, the hospitalero of the Albergue Alto da Pena welcomed me back. He is a Camino friend from years back. I planned these final stages of my Camino weeks ago - ‘very unCamino Mike’ but it is working perfectly. I left Santiago with a grateful heart and an open mind . I had enjoyed my sauntering there - chocolate con churros at the Casino Cafe . . . and dining at the Seminario Mayor, where I met Pat and Anne, an older couple from Portland, Victoria. They walked from Le Puy in France - 1500kms - amazing! We traded Camino stories, and laughed and shared a lot. It is wonderful to have met them. After a breakfast farewell with Pat and Anne, and a lovely video call with my granddaughter, I was walking away from Santiago once more. Before long, l met Helena from Barcelona and Jimmy from New York City. Helena runs programs for people wanting to volunteer as hospitaleros, ‘Mike - I can recommend some people you should contact’ Hmmm, ...