Nature Never Goes Out of Style!
– unknown
Fisterra to Lires – 8.4 Miles
June 29
E: At breakfast we said goodbye to the staff at the hotel who had been terrific to us for four nights, on our third time staying there during our fourth time in Fisterra.
The morning started out foggy with no visible sunrise and the tide was very low. Only one couple on the beach as it was spitting a light rain. After we took inventory of the many Camino/scallop shells we found last night, we decided another shell search was not necessary before heading to yet another ocean front town tomorrow, Muxia.
Just as we were heading out, the blue sky decided to show its face. We did hit a few light sprinkles a third the way into our 9 mile walk to Lires, but nothing significant.
Leaving Fisterra 
Traps of some sort…the small lobsters the size of large shrimp? 
A man powered hay wagon 
Wild fennel on left 
A local man our age with a heavy sack on his bike 
Very large horreo/grain storage. (compare to Gary on trail rt). Sides are made of stone by the ocean. Vs. wood slatted more inland. 
Now that’s a big Hydrangea flower! 
Fisterra to Muxia is well marked
Woo hoo! Back into the woods with ancient walls for a bit today! 
G playing with a kitten at a woman’s donativo (donations only) stop. Coffee, brownies, fruit and more. 
Loved her chalk board sign sayings. She said the cats came with the house when she moved there! 
Hard working locals everywhere! 
Atlantic Ocean on the west side of northwest Spain between Fisterra and Lires. 
More eucalyptus trees, love the smell! 
And the huge ferns! 
A field of little cute daisies… E couldn’t resist! 
In Vermont we used to say the corn should be, “knee high by the 4th of July”…no challenge for this farmer! 
Mommy and two kittens…aren’t they ready for mice at this size!?
I loved seeing the ocean from the path a couple of times during our walk. A mile before Lires we stopped at a picnic table where cows were grazing behind us and then the show began. The local farmer motioned with his walking stick to get the cows to go back to the barn, walking right in front of us, and we got quite the parade of cattle within feet of us. Buen Cow-mino!
Cows at a rest stop just before Lires. 
Our picnic with “the girls” 
Maybe we should have asked if we could eat with them? 
The cow’s keeper 
Cow-mino 
E “having a chat” with one of the girls 
The curious cow asking us for some snacks?? 
Last of the cow parade…the farmer greeted us as he took the girls back to the barn 
Now that’s a happy post stream romping Golden!! 
View from our room at Fragas da Canteira Casa Rural in Lires. (pop. 144!) Large river to left, ocean on two sides of point on rt. 
We had a 3pm main meal of the day in a restaurant just below our hotel and began a conversation with the couple next to us. Another common “Camino” thing to do, talk to strangers and they talk to you freely. I am in my element! 😋 She is German, speaks English, moved to Madrid, married a Spaniard and they moved to Fisterra and opened a bar called Madrid Berlin Bistro. Gary looked it up and the online reviews are very high. We marked it down for our next visit! 😉 We mentioned we met a woman in Santiago that had also recently moved to Fisterra. Turns out the two of them are great friends. Small world. Another example of casually meeting adventurous and often spontaneous people like ourselves. No, we are not moving to Fisterra, but we do love to travel because of the interesting people we meet.
I had sewed an American Flag on my backpack in 2019. In 2015 we were nervous about wearing one but don’t know why. We feel the American media portrays international cultures as against Americans but we have found the complete opposite from the small village people. We have had people say, “God Bless America” to us and they were Spanish locals. We have had locals here say how much various US Presidents have helped their country and more.
A woman smiled and waved when I turned to see who was behind me this morning. She specifically said she noticed my American flag. She is from Washington State and has walked from LePuy in France, 500 miles to St Jean where we began and then she walked another 500 miles to Santiago and beyond.
Lires to Muxia – 9 Miles
June 30
Reflecting on our last day walking with our packs as we go from Lires to Muxia 
E doing her A.T. impression 
Large water troth for farm animals…amazing cloud reflections 
Camino directional, both on the garage wall and …head for the lab! 
Lovin’ on all the Camino dogs 
We’ve seen that they only take swatches of trees at any given time 
New eucalyptus on both sides, mature trees ahead 
Gary and a new friend Julian from Calif. dwarfed by the windmills 
I looked for Ewoks several times on this trip! G and Julian w…a…y ahead
G watching the high tide wave crash in at the lighthouse in Muxia 
G on left 
Ahhhh, taking our last days of this adventure all in 
Santuario da Virxe da Barca Iglacia (in Galician). English: Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Boat Church, at point in Muxia 
Faro de Muxia (Lighthouse of Muxia) with Faro de Cabo Vilan lighthouse on the next point 
Inside what is commonly called the Lady of the Boat church at the point 
At Muxia’s 0.00 Camino marker at the 2003 A Ferida sculpture meaning The Wound honoring a large oil tanker ship wreck 
Barca church below 
“Muxia” on a boat that told it’s own story in Muxia’s harbor. Love the cloud reflections 
Fishing boat we witnessed coming in to unload 
Funny sign! 
Daddy unloading the fishing boat while wife and daughter await his return from 10 days at sea 
Unloading all sorts of fish from the iced below-deck cooler where crewman is standing lower pic. 
School children practicing a dance ..it’s 9:30PM! : )
Muxia – July 1, 2023
“As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.”
– A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
E: We had a full breakfast of fried eggs and bacon. I enjoyed my fresh ground coffee and G his freshly squeezed OJ. We packed up a little prosciutto, cheese and an apple for our day pack. We then set out for a day hike suggested by the British hotel worker at the front desk. We took a taxi to the start of the river walk about 3 miles away. We then hiked through the woods past multiple abandoned mills on a small river. Rio Negro, the black river. The river runs into the ocean and we enjoyed the large and peaceful beach. We then walked the Camino back towards Muxia, walking along another beach to get to our hotel.
HUGE patches of black or Raspberries! 
Unfortunately we are a month too early! 
Our Rio Negro/Black River day hike 
Old mills tucked into the lush greenery, really look on left 
Water would be diverted under the mills to cool the buildings 
The black whole under the building is where the diverted water would then return to the river 
Another old mill house 
The board walks were, well lets say, unstable at times 
A small dam 
Gary takes the time to set up shots for us with sticks and rocks…thx G! 
The river meets the ocean soon 
G taking the rocky way to the beach 
Fresh water running to the ocean, G on left
Amazing “Beach Art” pics below. As the tide went out, these incredible “trees” appeared in the sand!
“Hey, you, got any food??” 
These Hydrangeas still amaze us, how big they are! 
We walk through the small hamlet of Moraime who has a church and monastery. 
Eucalyptus on left and evergreens on right, on the Camino heading back to Muxia 
Muxia! 
Our hotel, eucalyptus in foreground 
Another beach for us to play on, all by ourselves! 
Gary on the rocks mid photo, I took the trail to left to our hotel (arrow) 
The beach across from our hotel
We noticed a bar yesterday that was very busy so we decided to have lunch at that location, A Plaia das Lanchas right into Muxia (There’s only one main road that has lots of restaurants on it, by the marina. There was a mom and dad with their ten year old daughter that lived in southern Spain. They are vacationing in Muxia. Both the father and the daughter enjoyed speaking a little English and they helped me with my Spanish. We had quite a conversation for over an hour. It never ceases to amaze me how travelers are so open to conversation even if the language is a barrier, initially.
We walked back up to the lighthouse ( roughly a mile) to listen to the thunder of the waves and see the tide’s display of strength and power one more time.
Gary’s hike up the hill at the point, looking down at the lighthouse , monument and church 
The clouds were thick and very interesting this afternoon 
G slightly right, dwarfed by the waves as the tide came in 
Piedra dos Cadris, The Kidney Stone : ) 
The Sanctuary out at the point, Punta da Barca 
Fun/funky trees we have been seeing in Galicia 
One of three ways to get to Mucia’s lighthouse point 
Grampa and grandson playing chess. They made paper airplanes before this. 
Pulpo! Octopus. Very common here. 
These uniformed riders passed our hotel early evening. Not sure why…they trotted right back out of town shortly afterwards.
E: We leave Muxia this morning (July 2) taking a bus to Santiago – 1.25 hr. ride for 6 euros each. We booked two nights in Santiago before heading back to Phoenix, through Madrid, in the morning of July 5. We will most likely post one more time before our flight home as we always find yet another, last minute adventure to share with you!
“Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can’t we just go back to page one and start all over again?”
– A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Not all those who wander are lost.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
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