The Santiago Cathedral
Happiness is not by chance but by choice. – Jim Rohn
February 3, 2025
O Pedrouzo to Santiago – 12.1 miles
Another journey has come to an end. I know I have a few more days here in Spain, but the main event of walking to Santiago is now over. As the saying goes:
“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” – Andy Rooney
This is so true with walking the Camino. For 32 days I have gotten up every morning and all I had to do was walk 15 miles west. You see beautiful scenery, you are in fresh air, exercising. Life is good. The last 3 miles is through city streets and is such a let down. I just kind of lost my motivation. Walking into the main plaza there were lots of tourists, but no fellow pilgrims I knew. I took a couple of pictures and headed over to get my Compostela. I was the only pilgrim there. I have really enjoyed this journey. I would have like to have more friends at stops and in the evenings, but I enjoy walking alone. The weather has been what I expected, so I am not complaining. Today was a beautiful day. The nicest since I have been here. Sunny all day and in the 50s this afternoon.
This morning leaving O Pedrouzo the frost on the cars was amazing. I posted several pictures below. I have never seen this kind of ice formations before. It was foggy and 30 degrees, so I think the fog kept condensing on the cars. The first half of today’s walk was typical Galician countryside. Then as I got closer to the city it became mostly houses and back roads. The sunrise was really pretty with the morning fog.
I saw only one walker, and he was going backwards. Go figure. He walked the Camino Frances forward and now is, in his words, “will see where the universe brings me.” He is a clean cut, 30 year old with nice equipment. He is taking it one day at a time, but probably will head towards Italy. I had asked about finishing yesterday (when he arrived in Santiago) and he replied “On the Camino, it is always the beginning.” He missed the snow in O Cebreiro walking west and is hoping to see some snow on the way back through. He said he was “going to pray for snow, but not too hard.” He was an interesting guy. I am not sure what nationality he is, but his English was pretty good.
There were 3 musicians today. The first was a cello player under an overpass. The acoustics were great. He spoke a little English, so we chatted a bit. He is from San Sebastian Spain. The second was an electric piano player as I walked past a park. I was the only one around, so when they saw me coming they would start to play. The third was the traditional bagpipes under the arch as you enter the main square at the cathedral.
Tonight I plan to go to the 7:30 pilgrim’s mass at the main cathedral. I am hoping to see some of my fellow walkers. I think Italy will be there. I haven’t seen him in several days.
OK, as the saying goes, the Camino provides. I went to the cathedral a little before 7. Who walks in right behind me, Italy and China. The two guys I have bonded with the most. I haven’t seen Italy in 5 days and China in probably 10. They both speak some English so it was really fun. During the service I turned around looking for other pilgrims and right behind me was a young Korean who also speaks some English. I had seen him 3 or 4 times. After the service the 4 of us went to a restaurant together. English was the common language, so that worked great for me. China, Italy and I all started the same day. It was fun sharing stories. What a perfect ending to this journey.
China went up and over O Cebreiro the same day I came down, so he was 4 hours behind me. Italy and I walked down the road, not the Camino path. China took the path. The snow was up to his knees. It was fun listening to everyone’s stories. Not counting Florida, of all the walkers I met along the way, these are the three I spoke with the most. How cool we all ended at the same time and went out for a couple beers. Florida is 4 days behind and I have not seen him since Burgos. We have stayed in touch via WhatsApp.
February 4, 2025
Bus to Fisterra
This morning I got up and walked to the bus station, a bit over a mile. I bought a ticket to Cee, which is about 7 miles shy of Fisterra. The plan was to walk in to Fisterra, then up to the lighthouse. About 30 minutes from Cee I looked at the weather forecast – rain starting at 3. OK, change of plans. I paid an additional $1.50 to stay on the bus to Fisterra. That way if it did rain, I had more options. I had a little food with me, so I headed the 2.5 miles up to mile marker 0.0 at the lighthouse. There were several people up there, but no pilgrims. After my little picnic, I then decided to go over the mountain and down to the beach on the Atlantic side. Leaving the lighthouse there were lots of goats all over the place, not sure who they belong to. I enjoyed the vertical. The rains never came, so I headed back to town for a late lunch, then back to the big beach. I walked to the far end and back under cloudy skies, but no rain. The sun sets here at 6:50, but with the cloud cover there was not a great sunset. Two years ago Elizabeth and I met a couple in Lires who own a café here in Fisterra. Last year we stopped by with the kids to say hi. Today there were closed, I think for the season, not just the day. There were some places open, but most are closed here.
I am spending the night in Fisterra, tomorrow morning I will get a bus back to Santiago – a 2:20 bus ride. The bus is $7.00. A cab is over $100, but takes only 1:15. I have time, so the bus it will be. I plan to take a behind the scenes tour of the cathedral. It is 3 hours long. In the summer it is always crowded and we don’t have 3 extra hours, so should work out well for me this trip.
I will probably not post again till I get home. It has been a great trip. Thanks for following along.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzue
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 