So although Suzy and I made it across Spain I must say I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have time to walk to Finisterre, aka Finis Terra the “end of the world” as it was thought to be back in the day. It’s another 100km to the city so I figured I’d just take a bus and check it out.
I had to check out of my lovely little monastery room and it was weird how one day of not packing the pack really had me off kilter and confused. It took longer than normal. I headed down to breakfast later than I was supposed to and was also supposed to meet a woman from the Camigas group for a quick breakfast. She noticed me when I came in and we enjoyed a quick chat. The hotel had told me that it was only a 15-20 minute walk to the bus station so poles in hand I headed out, and up (it was of course uphill!) I got there just a little too late to get the 9am bus but there was a 10 so I got a ticket for that bus. It was less than 10 Euros which I thought was better than some of the tours I’d seen ranging from 35-50 Euros. I also wasn’t so keen on becoming a tourigram. I didn’t want to be trapped on a bus with people I didn’t know, sorry… I just needed to peel away and not meet anyone else especially not captive on a tour bus for an entire day.
We all piled on and it was almost full and headed out of Santiago down a very windy road. Every now and then the bus would stop in a town and then it would stop on the side of the road to pick up random people or then drop them off. I slept a lot of the way. Soon the view changed from hills to gorgeous real and aquamarine colored water with pale golden sandy beaches and lots of coves and inlets. Some were chock full of fishing boats no doubt providing Santiago and Galicia with all its amazing fresh seafood.
The wifi on the bus didn’t really work so I kept trying to access a map to figure out where we were and finally got one to open to discover we were winding around and around tiny fingers and inlets of land. Despite this being the Atlantic it looked much more tropical to me…there were palms and bright sun glistening off the water. And luckily I don’t have motion sickness because it was a winding road.
Finally when we were nearing Finisterre I was able to pull up a site that informed me that the actual end of the earth, the faro or lighthouse is an additional 3km away from the town! I should have done more research because at the end of the ride it was three full hours til we got to the town. I decided I needed to eat, despite not walking my body is still super hungry so I went to an area of restaurants near the wharves of the town. It was very sunny but very breezy so I ate in a little covered outdoor patio looking out. It seemed a bit touristy but also very pleasant and I ran into Paul from our room in… insert town name here lol, I literally cannot remember and I’m just oh so tired!
So Paul was on a tour that took you to all the places, bussed you to the lighthouse etc. he invited me to join their group for lunch but I was honestly happy on my own, and still happy to not have to engage. It was “me” time. I got some cigalas which are baby lobsters and dove into them, they were amazing. The folks next to me were visiting from Russia. They asked where I was from and when I said United States they said, “Ah! We are best friends!”
As I sat there I pondered my next move. I really was tired of walking. I mean so so tired. And did I really want to roll up to the end of the world in a bus or a taxi? And would I have time to get back to Santiago? I had to be back tonight to get my flight home in the morning. There were only three return busses, 3pm, 4:45pm and 7… and they don’t allow reservations so if the bus is full who knows what happens. After so many weeks of pushing to get to the next place, of all the planning and pushing ourselves I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t how I wanted it to go down. I wanted to save that moment for a time when I had time to relish it rather than stress about returning to Santiago.
So I got on the next bus home, and luckily just in time because every seat was full. The bus was also 800 degrees no air conditioning. No wifi, but it was an “express” I guess as the driver didn’t pick up any random folks on the road and we were able to get back in only 2 hours, I was just in time to join Suzy for gin tonic hour behind the cathedral (I had wine).
So much for my branching out and being alone. It just wasn’t in the cards I guess. Suzy had enjoyed the day at the museum in the cathedral learning about the construction and repairs to it.
As the breeze was picking up we finished and we dropped my bag and poles at her room. We retired Hans and Franz for now finally folding them up and stashing them in her huge bag since she’s checking it and we were told poles get confiscated at security, no matter how they fold up.
We went back out to enjoy the incredible sunshine and explore some of the shops Suzy had discovered her first day in town. I forgot to update you on her latest crazy money saga… she had her daughter send one last bit of money to get her through the next few days since she was low and so went out to the Santiago moneygram only to find it completely abandoned, as in doesn’t exist anymore. Kind of hilarious at this point. A guy near the location just said “cerrado”. I’m convinced it’s a scam. At any rate she went to a bank and they told her Santiago does have somewhere to exchange cash, it’s a store that sells pottery and tapas dishes and changes US dollars to Euros. The exchange rate was horrible but at least she got some money. She was also able to run into the very fancy shopping district so she took me there. Just steps from the old town tons of locals milled about, it was Friday after all so they were all shopping and drinking at cafes. We found a gorgeous and well stocked wine and spirit shop where you can buy local spirits and gorgeous tinned seafood to bring home. Be careful though as the US has lots of restrictions on what food is allowed to come in.
For my last night we wanted to sample the great cuisine of Santiago so we started with a snack of the two local cheeses, the soft and springy mild tetilla and the more firm smoked St. Simon. They were great with the 1906 beer, a more nutty option with more weight. Although we’d walked past this strip of restaurants so many times, tonight we noticed a shop that stood out, a boutique beer store! While I love the fresh light and clean Estrella Galicia (so much better than most light US lagers), I really like strong hoppy beers like I.P.A. and haven’t had any for a long time! Not only did this store have an excellent selection of cans and bottles but also some kegs. We tried the Beavertown from London, a session I.P.A. and Caleya Goma2 from Spain. Both were delicious and of course we got a nice tapa along with the beer, another reminder that beer, bread and cheese is such a perfect combination.
We continued down the street thinking we could go back to visit Manuel and Manuela for some seafood but stumbled upon Las Caracoles again. I usually don’t want to go to the same place twice when there are so many to try but our meal had been so good so we went in and found Julia, my “Camiga” from breakfast sitting at our table from the night before! We slid in next to her and it was great to have more time to connect, plus I’d been sad we didn’t take a photo earlier in the day.
Suzy and I opted for the gambas with shiitakes and the Viera… one large scallop in a sauce of tomato and melted onions. Both were amazing. The large scallop even came with the roe sack attached, a delicious part of the animal. In Nantucket we don’t serve that because it’s “spent” due to the fact that we allow the scallops to spawn in advance of the season to keep the fishery healthy… so by October all those roe sacks are black and not tasty so discarded. We even got gummi snails for dessert.
Finally it was on to the little bar to see Manuel y Manuela, Suzy got the almond cake which Manuel promptly doused with coffee liqueur… I got some fat and juicy boquerones (Spanish anchovies)… I much prefer savory to sweet. It was sad to think that these were by last bites/sips in Spain after so many weeks.
We headed back to Suzy’s room where she let me crash for the night, it’s a really ideal location close to everything on Rua Vilar. We had a bottle of white to sip on with new Santiago souvenir shot glasses and Suzy read my tarot for me. It seemed to fit and included some witchy prospects for the future. A cab would pick me up at seven in the morning for my departure and our trip together would be done.
After so many days being absolutely driven, a goal set each night for the next big push today was very hard. What should have been relaxing was not… instead I bobbed around the harbor like a boat untethered. I’m in between ports at the moment. I’m not sure how to really alleviate the feelings of the last few days because you really should leave a few days open at the end of the trip yet it can result in this type of day. Not that I regret anything except perhaps the five hours on the bus. Tomorrow another very long travel day, but ever closer to home and to attacking my life with new vim and vigor. I’m excited to see if I find the Camino will make a difference in how I approach my daily life, on Monday I’ve got to hit the ground RUNNING! So no more drifting… tomorrow I set sail to return to my anchor for at least the summer!
RebeccaChapa.com 