Day 39 Finsterre - menos quatro (dias)

Day 39 October 17 Destination = Negreira / 88 km to go. Goal: Finsterre

“ It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”
– George Elliot

So why am I still walking ? Why not?

Why keep walking after Santiago? Someone asked if walking to to Finisterre is to bring closure to the trip. Or Is it to unwind or unpack what I’ve learned and felt.

I don’t think so.

Its simply because it’s a literal end of the road to end at the ocean at the edge of Spain. To me hitting the beach ends the trip. I’ll have a full day there and I’m sure I’ll do some writing and some ruminating. But when I turn my back on the sea and climb into the bus to go to the train station I will mentally be in a huge hurry to get on the plane and come home.

Consequently, there won’t be a lot of verbal commentary in the remaining posts -simply some pictures and a couple of observations and I’ll wrap it up. There won’t be any summary or conclusions forthcoming either. Most of the people I’ve met (including those that keep coming back for subsequent Caminos) in discussing their thoughts along these lines agreed that it simply can’t be put into words and will be remembered for what it was.

I do think however, the quotes I’ve selected along with the pictures I’ve taken, will sketch in the basic framework of why I chose or felt compelled to do this. And I truly hope in someway, shape, or form it serves as an inspiration for others to ‘commit’ and do the same

Kind of a big news day in spite of the fact that I said I wasn’t going to have much to talk about over the next couple of days. I got lost.

Well, today as I left Santiago and walked by panderia numero uno I decided it was a two croissant day.   One Napolitano and one sesame seed over cooked croissants but I like over cooked baked stuff anyway. Carbs in the belly time to get out of Dodge I mean Santiago

Today the walking was just great I feel like I got a second wind after about two hours. There was one minor detail however. It was dark and the street lamps were great as I left Santiago but once you leave Santiago there are no street lamps and I was walking before dawn- headlamp packed away.
So it appears that I missed the turn signal at a certain juncture that I thought about for a fleeting moment but I was too strong willed to go back down a great big hill to see if the last intersection between the road and a path had a symbol on it. So I kept walking ultimately I knew that if I were heading in the westerly direction I would eventually cross the trail somewhere. Yep I winged it and yes ultimately it did work out.

Not a lot of walkers and kind of a sleepy walking day but it is a Sunday after all and with one wrong turn under my belt I encountered my first walker a 9:37.  Two hours alone I guess you could say the numbers have dropped off a bit.   I met a French man (older than me with a pack on his front and on his back) who wished me “Bongiorno” as he walked in the other direction.

So really, how do you expect me to see this signage in the dark before the sun comes up

Good news bad news. Good news is I saw another sign. Bad news is it’s 89 km and I thought somebody told me it was like 75 to Finsterre.

I left my apartment at seven, took a left at the corner and there were certainly not very many lights on at the Convent. Sunday everyone gets to sleep in methinks. Religious orders, convents, and monasteries are disappearing -many of them are shut down and shuttered or being turned into hotel type arrangements - to put it bluntly tourist attractions that have historical appeal but sadly, no modern relevance.
They appear to have outlive their usefulness especially in europe which is now very secular.

Meet the ‘Funkmaster’. This roadside bar / restaurant stop had the largest gathering of Pilgrims I’ve seen all day (about a dozen). My rule of thumb is if nobody’s at the restaurant move on - this place was packed.

However all the tables were soaking wet from the rain, and inside all the tables were cluttered, dirty, and stacked with dishes. This dude named ‘The Funkmaster’ - guarding the way to the bathrooms- took one look at me and said; “hey, hombre, lighten up, take a chill-pill, sit down and enjoy a little deysayuno! So I did.

So in spite of the visuals I had probably one of the best tortillas I’ve had my entire Camino this one had red peppers for some beautiful color in it and yes, they had hot sauce to embellish it with. Carbed up, I left quickly

2 km uphill which nobody told me about yesterday, It was difficult, but very enjoyable because of the natural beauty.

I forgot to add this Tortilla Recipe:

The beauty of the authentic Spanish tortilla recipe is its simplicity. It has only five ingredients: (credit below) eggs, onion, potato, olive oil, salt. (Yukon golds work best)

Start by adding your sliced potatoes to hot olive oil in a heavy pan. They need to be fully covered in the oil — so you’ll need to use quite a bit!

Cook the potatoes and onions separately

While the potatoes are cooking, add the sliced onions to a separate pan with a bit of olive oil. Sauté these over a medium heat until starting to caramelize (about 15-20 minutes).

Use room temperature eggs

In a large bowl, beat your eggs (which should be at room temperature). Add the cooked onion and mix. Next, you need to drain the potatoes in a large colander (save the excess olive oil for another recipe!). Once the potatoes have cooled slightly (about five minutes or so) gently stir them into the onion and egg mixture.

Let the egg, potato, and onion mixture sit for at least 15 minutes — minimum!

Now let this mixture sit for 15 minutes (I know it’s tempting to just go ahead and make the tortilla

Gently pour the tortilla batter into a frying pan over medium-low heat. You don’t want the pan to be too hot. Gently cook the tortilla for about six to eight minutes on the first side. You can run a spatula along the sides to make sure it’s not sticking.

Don’t fear the flip!

To flip the tortilla grab a large plate — it must be larger than the frying pan! See my note below about the two tortilla trick to make this easier. Put the plate on top of the pan and flip quickly and confidently. It will be runny, but don’t worry — you’ll put everything back into the pan to cook the other side!

Slide the tortilla back into the frying pan and let the other side cook for another six to eight minutes (let it cook longer if you like your tortilla fully cooked through). Then flip back out onto a clean plate. Allow it to cool for at least ten minutes before slicing and enjoying.

The only thought that I have to this whole thing has a garlic lover as I would add a little bit of garlic but I would definitely add red pepper (diced) for a color

***Use great quality olive oil. Considering the potatoes are slowly cooked in olive oil, they absorb a lot of it. So, use good quality olive oil (and you can recycle the excess for the next recipe of whatever, salad etc) Source credits: spanishsabores.com

Pretty much every suburban homestead has trellised grape vines which are beautiful and appear to serve three purposes: one - shade in the heart of a Galician hot summer, number two table grapes, and third - homemade wine in the fall. I would love to do this to our backyard patio. My mind has already constructed the trellises

At Ponte Maceira:

Ponte Maceira is one of the most unique historical sites in Galicia and of all the Ways of Santiago. Visually, very cool.

The "Ponte Vella" (Old Bridge) was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and reconstructed in the 18th century. It contains an ogival central arch and two semi-circular on each side with cutwaters. You can also find several horros (raised granaries), old circular dovecotes, cruceiros (stone crosses), water mills, sundials, restored houses, wall beehives ...and other cool stuff

Crucial battles also took place here, like the one that faced bishop Xelmrtez and the Count of Traba (12th century). A St. James tradition tells that on the riverside of Negreira, divine intervention would collapse the bridge saving the disciples of the Apostle St. James from the Roman soldiers before they could cross, as reflected in the coat of arms of Negreira town council.

Ponte Maceiera. There are water driven grinding mills on both sides of the Ponte (bridge)

Beautiful countryside of estates abound. Most gardens are extensively cultivated with trellised grapes and all the fruit trees are in well kept orchards

Espana gets the award for the best dahlias - so sorry America