Going to Finisterre (in Galician Fisterra) ... the end of the world? Arriving into Santiago de Compostella - St James' city of the stars ... the end? Nope. There is no end.
The name Finisterre comes from the Latin finis terrae, literally the "end of the earth" The ancients regarded Finisterre as the world's end as there was, as far as they could see, nothing else to the west of them. (I believe that it was for some time regarded as the western most point of continental Europe, but I further understand that that honour goes to Cabo da Rosa in Portugal.) We now know that Finisterre, isolated and spectacular as it is, is not the end.
Marker 0,000. One of the most photographed places in Finisterre. And no, we didn't walk there. Next time.
At the end of the world ...
Our trip to Finisterre was simply by bus. Next time we plan to walk there. But today, one of the highlights was sharing this little stage of the journey with good friends Kerri and Bob from Sacramento, CA. Those who've read An Impossible Dream will know Kerri well. The Camino Gods collaborated to ensure that Kerri and Bob were in Santiago at the same time as us, and so we shared the bus trip with them.
A visit to Cascada de Ézaro along the way to Finisterre was one of the highlights ...
At the Xallas River at the bottom of the falls:
Santiago represented the final stage of this journey through Portugal and Spain, but far from the end. Almost a new beginning in some ways. It was the beginning of the next stage of our European journey. More than that it became the initial spark of our next journey.
Santiago is one of my favourite cities. It has an energy about it I don't recall experiencing in many others, perhaps any. The constant influx of peregrinos and peregrinas from all over the world must have something to do with this energy. And maybe there's something else as well.
Our time in Santiago was mainly social. A few shots follow:
Back to the "end". We have decided to re-walk the Camino, so our end have become a beginning.
Buen Camino!
And to "end" this post, the Cathedral, in all her late afternoon sunshine glory ...
What a wonderful, wonderful town. Hasta luego ...