Friday, 17 July 2015
ANA MARIA'S INJURY UPDATE
Ana María went to see our sports physio today about her foot. It turns out she has a stress fracture of the second metatarsal! Luckily the treatment she undertook whilst on the walk i.e. applying ice, anti-inflammatory gel and putting her foot up, paid off and there is no permanent damage. The treatment continues with no serious walking allowed for several days. In the meantime we have been relaxing today visiting our grandson, Austin.
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
DAY 58 - CORCUBION TO CAPE FINISTERRE - 20 KMS
Woke up this morning to brilliant sunshine. What a contrast to yesterday! We set off at 7:30am a bit later than usual and immediately encountered the main challenge of the day. A very steep and rocky climb! Once we got our second wind, the rest of the day was plain sailing (forgive the pun!). Through lovely mountain tracks, woods and meadows with fantastic views of the coast below. Lovely sunshine and a cool breeze as well. What a fantastic day to end our very long walk!
We reached Finisterre in good time. Then came the very long walk along the coastal path through Finisterre and the trek to Cape Finisterre, a few kilometres further along. When we reached the kilometre zero marker and the end of our 800 mile walk, we hugged, said "well done!" to each other and found no other words to describe how we felt.
It is amazing that one can walk so many miles almost without realising it. I remember a quote that goes “You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain.” In our case several!
This has been without any doubt the toughest walk we have ever done. No doubt it will take us a few days to remember everything we have been through during the past 58 days, but this walk has taken us to the very limits and beyond that which we thought we were capable of doing. We will remember the good moments and the not so good moments, the laughs we've had on the way, which have been many and frequent, the fleeting moments nourished by exhaustion when we thought of giving up only to immediately put such mad thoughts out of our minds, the fantastic people we have met on the way, my 70th birthday, blisters, more blisters, even more blisters, Ana Maria's swollen foot, the dreadful attack by a swarm of very aggressive bees, having our packs rifled through and an item stolen, the daily discipline we have had to observe irrespective of how one felt, mostly 05:15am alarm call, dressing, breakfast at 6:00am, on the road by 06:30am, six or seven hours walking, sometimes more, arriving at our destination, having a shower, washing our clothes, hoping they will have dried by morning, having something to eat, chatting with fellow walkers, writing the blog in English and Spanish, posting it subject to wifi connections, going to bed.....only to repeat the same procedure the following day, urged on by words of encouragement from relatives and friends and by all of you who have shared our journey. Thank you for being there with us throughout our adventure. Your presence has helped us on our way, on our Camino.
Tonight we went back to Cape Finisterre (this time by taxi) to see the sunset at 10:17pm. What a wondrous sight and what a fantastic end to a fantastic day to a fantastic journey!
Tomorrow afternoon we take a bus to Santiago, where we will stay until Saturday, when we fly home. Home to see our children and our grandchildren whom we haven't seen in two months! We hope that one day our grandchildren will spot our Footsteps on the Camino and may be tempted to follow them. It may show them that no matter what obstacles life puts in your way, all things are possible, if you try. We have tried and on this occasion at least, we have succeeded. ULTREIA!
We reached Finisterre in good time. Then came the very long walk along the coastal path through Finisterre and the trek to Cape Finisterre, a few kilometres further along. When we reached the kilometre zero marker and the end of our 800 mile walk, we hugged, said "well done!" to each other and found no other words to describe how we felt.
It is amazing that one can walk so many miles almost without realising it. I remember a quote that goes “You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain.” In our case several!
This has been without any doubt the toughest walk we have ever done. No doubt it will take us a few days to remember everything we have been through during the past 58 days, but this walk has taken us to the very limits and beyond that which we thought we were capable of doing. We will remember the good moments and the not so good moments, the laughs we've had on the way, which have been many and frequent, the fleeting moments nourished by exhaustion when we thought of giving up only to immediately put such mad thoughts out of our minds, the fantastic people we have met on the way, my 70th birthday, blisters, more blisters, even more blisters, Ana Maria's swollen foot, the dreadful attack by a swarm of very aggressive bees, having our packs rifled through and an item stolen, the daily discipline we have had to observe irrespective of how one felt, mostly 05:15am alarm call, dressing, breakfast at 6:00am, on the road by 06:30am, six or seven hours walking, sometimes more, arriving at our destination, having a shower, washing our clothes, hoping they will have dried by morning, having something to eat, chatting with fellow walkers, writing the blog in English and Spanish, posting it subject to wifi connections, going to bed.....only to repeat the same procedure the following day, urged on by words of encouragement from relatives and friends and by all of you who have shared our journey. Thank you for being there with us throughout our adventure. Your presence has helped us on our way, on our Camino.
Tonight we went back to Cape Finisterre (this time by taxi) to see the sunset at 10:17pm. What a wondrous sight and what a fantastic end to a fantastic day to a fantastic journey!
Tomorrow afternoon we take a bus to Santiago, where we will stay until Saturday, when we fly home. Home to see our children and our grandchildren whom we haven't seen in two months! We hope that one day our grandchildren will spot our Footsteps on the Camino and may be tempted to follow them. It may show them that no matter what obstacles life puts in your way, all things are possible, if you try. We have tried and on this occasion at least, we have succeeded. ULTREIA!
DIA 58 - CORCUBIÔN A FINISTERRA
Hoy completamos el epílogo del Camino de Santiago a Finisterra.
Un hermoso día, claro, sin mucho calor y con una brisa agradable.
Después de una subida empinada por sendero pedregoso salimos a una carretera y caminamos por asfalto hasta la playa de Sardiñero. De ahí subimos por otro sendero hasta la cima de la montaña donde había unas vistas increíbles al mar, playas y con el faro de Finisterra a lo lejos. Todo lo que no pudimos ver ayer hoy fue increíblemente claro y hermoso.
Bajamos hasta la playa y continuamos por el paseo marítimo hasta Finisterra. Llegando al puerto subimos 3 kms por carretera hasta el faro. Este lugar se conocía antiguamente como 'el fin del mundo'. Allí se encuentra el mojón de 0 kms que señala el fin del Camino! Una mezcla de emociones al terminar nuestra gran aventura: satisfacción, alegría, alivio, tristeza y un deje espiritual. Ese momento vivirá para siempre en nuestra memoria...
Esta noche volvimos al faro (pero esta vez en taxi!) para ver la puesta del sol. Un espectáculo increíble! Había gran visibilidad y mucha gente se reunió para verlo, muchos de ellos caminantes/peregrinos que, como nosotros, han terminado sus Caminos.
Comparto un poema de Antonio Machado, muy especial para mí:
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada mas;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
Un hermoso día, claro, sin mucho calor y con una brisa agradable.
Después de una subida empinada por sendero pedregoso salimos a una carretera y caminamos por asfalto hasta la playa de Sardiñero. De ahí subimos por otro sendero hasta la cima de la montaña donde había unas vistas increíbles al mar, playas y con el faro de Finisterra a lo lejos. Todo lo que no pudimos ver ayer hoy fue increíblemente claro y hermoso.
Bajamos hasta la playa y continuamos por el paseo marítimo hasta Finisterra. Llegando al puerto subimos 3 kms por carretera hasta el faro. Este lugar se conocía antiguamente como 'el fin del mundo'. Allí se encuentra el mojón de 0 kms que señala el fin del Camino! Una mezcla de emociones al terminar nuestra gran aventura: satisfacción, alegría, alivio, tristeza y un deje espiritual. Ese momento vivirá para siempre en nuestra memoria...
Esta noche volvimos al faro (pero esta vez en taxi!) para ver la puesta del sol. Un espectáculo increíble! Había gran visibilidad y mucha gente se reunió para verlo, muchos de ellos caminantes/peregrinos que, como nosotros, han terminado sus Caminos.
Comparto un poema de Antonio Machado, muy especial para mí:
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada mas;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
DAY 58 - CORCUBION TO CAPE FINISTERRE
WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE LEGENDARY END OF THE WORLD!
¡HEMOS LLEGADO AL LEGENDARIO FIN DEL MUNDO!
After more than 800 miles we completed our walk today arriving at Km 0 in Cape Finisterre at 12:15pm. More details later.
Después de más de 1200kms hemos completado nuestra caminata llegando al km 0 del Cabo de Finisterra. Mas información luego.
¡HEMOS LLEGADO AL LEGENDARIO FIN DEL MUNDO!
After more than 800 miles we completed our walk today arriving at Km 0 in Cape Finisterre at 12:15pm. More details later.
Después de más de 1200kms hemos completado nuestra caminata llegando al km 0 del Cabo de Finisterra. Mas información luego.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
DAY 57 - OLVEIROA TO CORCUBION - 23KMS
Today can best be described as foggy and wet, wet and foggy in equal measure!
We left at 07:30am engulfed in thick fog, the morning dew seeping into every pore of our rucksack, clothes and body. One hour later the soft rain came, almost like an English rain but much finer. We looked at each other and said "both weather forecasts we looked at said no rain today; it will pass".
By the time we realised this was not going to happen it was too late. We were soaked to the skin! Too late to don our ponchos so we carried on regardless. Five and a half hours later we arrived in Corcubion, looking like drowned rats! What miserable weather! One of the things we were looking forward to today was the first sight of the sea after nearly two months walking. We could not see beyond twenty metres! The sight from the top of the mountain overlooking the town of Cee is one of the most beautiful sights we saw on our last walk. Could we see it this time. No! From that vantage point one can normally see Finisterre in the far distance. No way, nothing!
It was only after negotiating a very long and very steep rocky path down to the seashore that we spied the sea, through the mist. After a brief stop at a bar for a coffee we carried on to Corcubion where we stopped for lunch. The lunch made up for the lost morning. Lovely fresh salad, pimientos de Padron, pulpo a la Gallega, Chipirones and gulas al ajillo, followed by cheesecake and coffee! And then on to the hotel for a shower and a siesta. This evening the sun has made an appearance and we are sitting out on a lovely terrace overlooking the bay, dreaming of tomorrow when we reach the end of our long Camino. Joy and sadness in equal measure at the thought of finishing.
Tomorrow we are promised sunshine. It will be a great day for us whatever happens. Another adventure almost over. To quote Ernest Hemingway "“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” So far this journey has been amazing. Thank you for sharing it with us. See you at the finish!
We left at 07:30am engulfed in thick fog, the morning dew seeping into every pore of our rucksack, clothes and body. One hour later the soft rain came, almost like an English rain but much finer. We looked at each other and said "both weather forecasts we looked at said no rain today; it will pass".
By the time we realised this was not going to happen it was too late. We were soaked to the skin! Too late to don our ponchos so we carried on regardless. Five and a half hours later we arrived in Corcubion, looking like drowned rats! What miserable weather! One of the things we were looking forward to today was the first sight of the sea after nearly two months walking. We could not see beyond twenty metres! The sight from the top of the mountain overlooking the town of Cee is one of the most beautiful sights we saw on our last walk. Could we see it this time. No! From that vantage point one can normally see Finisterre in the far distance. No way, nothing!
It was only after negotiating a very long and very steep rocky path down to the seashore that we spied the sea, through the mist. After a brief stop at a bar for a coffee we carried on to Corcubion where we stopped for lunch. The lunch made up for the lost morning. Lovely fresh salad, pimientos de Padron, pulpo a la Gallega, Chipirones and gulas al ajillo, followed by cheesecake and coffee! And then on to the hotel for a shower and a siesta. This evening the sun has made an appearance and we are sitting out on a lovely terrace overlooking the bay, dreaming of tomorrow when we reach the end of our long Camino. Joy and sadness in equal measure at the thought of finishing.
Tomorrow we are promised sunshine. It will be a great day for us whatever happens. Another adventure almost over. To quote Ernest Hemingway "“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” So far this journey has been amazing. Thank you for sharing it with us. See you at the finish!
DIA 57 - OLVEIROA A CORCUBIÔN
La etapa de hoy fue de 23 kms. La niebla fue aumentando a medida que avanzábamos. Casi todo el tiempo caminamos por senderos entre bosques. Un sube y baja como los últimos días pero no muy empinados. A la hora mas o menos empezó a caer una llovizna muy fina que terminó por empaparnos. Una fuerte bajada por un camino empedrado nos condujo hasta la entrada de Cee.
Habíamos esperado ver el mar por primera vez desde que salimos de Alicante y también el Cabo de Finisterra en la lejanía desde la cima de la montaña pero la niebla espesa no lo permitió. Lástima! Nos acordábamos de la hermosa vista que tuvimos hace cinco años pero... no pudo ser. Así es el Camino, nunca igual...
Dos kms después de Cee, caminando por al lado de la playa, llegamos a Corcubión, nuestra última parada antes de Finisterra. Allí recién paró la llovizna.
Tanto Cee como Corcubión fueron habitados por los celtas y sus habitantes se dedicaron por siglos a la pesca de ballenas y cachalotes. En la ensenada de Caneliñas hubo una factoría ballenera desde 1924 que se mantuvo activa hasta 1995, siendo la última en España en cerrar sus puertas.
Mañana llegaremos al cabo de Finisterra, nuestro destino final! Parece mentira que ya estemos tan cerca...
Habíamos esperado ver el mar por primera vez desde que salimos de Alicante y también el Cabo de Finisterra en la lejanía desde la cima de la montaña pero la niebla espesa no lo permitió. Lástima! Nos acordábamos de la hermosa vista que tuvimos hace cinco años pero... no pudo ser. Así es el Camino, nunca igual...
Dos kms después de Cee, caminando por al lado de la playa, llegamos a Corcubión, nuestra última parada antes de Finisterra. Allí recién paró la llovizna.
Tanto Cee como Corcubión fueron habitados por los celtas y sus habitantes se dedicaron por siglos a la pesca de ballenas y cachalotes. En la ensenada de Caneliñas hubo una factoría ballenera desde 1924 que se mantuvo activa hasta 1995, siendo la última en España en cerrar sus puertas.
Mañana llegaremos al cabo de Finisterra, nuestro destino final! Parece mentira que ya estemos tan cerca...
Monday, 6 July 2015
DAY 56 - SANTA MARIÑA TO OLVEIROA - 14KMS
A very short day today - only 14 Kms! Our decision to allow an extra day to reach Finisterre is paying off. Ana Maria's foot has been swelling up again and a shorter day means more recuperation time. We have also been able to rest up a bit longer.
The walk today has been pleasant, although we have been walking mainly on narrow mountain roads. A very misty morning which meant we were unable to see the Embalse da Fervenza, normally a beautiful sight first thing in the morning. The scenery is still very reminiscent of that back home, with rolling hills full of various shades of green. Cornfields are still predominant, basking in very pleasant sunshine. Today we have a private room in an Albergue in the village of Olveiroa. There are lots of people here today as it is the place to stop for those doing a short stage, as we are, and those who have been walking some 35kms to reach here today!
Tomorrow we will see the sea for the first time since we started this walk back on the 12th of May. We remember the thrill well from our last walk through here five years ago. We will reach the coast at the town of Cee. As we will be approaching from a mountain top we have a very steep descent along a difficult track to negotiate before we can reach the coast. I will keep my knee strap handy, just in case. This time instead of stopping in Cee as we did last time, we will be continuing a few more kilometres to Corcubion. This way our last stage to Finisterre will be that little bit shorter. From the town of Finisterre to the lighthouse at Cape Finisterre is another three kilometres, and the end of the road for us! The finish is in sight (almost!).
The walk today has been pleasant, although we have been walking mainly on narrow mountain roads. A very misty morning which meant we were unable to see the Embalse da Fervenza, normally a beautiful sight first thing in the morning. The scenery is still very reminiscent of that back home, with rolling hills full of various shades of green. Cornfields are still predominant, basking in very pleasant sunshine. Today we have a private room in an Albergue in the village of Olveiroa. There are lots of people here today as it is the place to stop for those doing a short stage, as we are, and those who have been walking some 35kms to reach here today!
Tomorrow we will see the sea for the first time since we started this walk back on the 12th of May. We remember the thrill well from our last walk through here five years ago. We will reach the coast at the town of Cee. As we will be approaching from a mountain top we have a very steep descent along a difficult track to negotiate before we can reach the coast. I will keep my knee strap handy, just in case. This time instead of stopping in Cee as we did last time, we will be continuing a few more kilometres to Corcubion. This way our last stage to Finisterre will be that little bit shorter. From the town of Finisterre to the lighthouse at Cape Finisterre is another three kilometres, and the end of the road for us! The finish is in sight (almost!).
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