Redonda

This morning I woke up without a plan, and that was a great thing! I knew I wanted to go to Finisterra, but the timing was still unclear. I was eating breakfast when suddenly I got the feeling I needed to take the 10:00 am bus. Most regular people want to arrive about 30 minutes before the bus leaves, but not me. It was 9:19 when I decided I should take the bus, and it took 22 minutes to walk to the station. I arrived at the station at 9:56. Luckily for me, buses in Spain are not so punctual.

I arrived in Finisterra 90 minutes later. On the way, I found another donation-based albergue about 12 km from Finisterra, closer to the town of Corcubion. I decided I wanted to stay there tonight, but it was in the opposite direction of Muxia and didn’t open until 4:00. I took advantage of the extra time, and walked to the End of the World lighthouse. It was magical. It felt like a much better end to the Camino, with nature and serenity, as opposed to Santiago, with the chaos of so many stores and people.

On my way back, I met two amazing girls from Mexico (Alma) and Argentina (Ro). I instantly connected with them! They had done six days of the Camino Portuguese, and even though their Camino was shorter than mine, they still received all of the goodness that I had. I loved that realization! When I was planning my Camino, I had thought I needed to walk so far to gain the knowledge of the Camino. But it’s not the case. You only have to be open to the gifts of the Camino to receive them. It was only 3.5 km together, but we discussed all the goodness of the Camino and life. We then shared the world’s best empanadas and torta de Santiago before they headed back to Santiago. I nearly changed all of my plans to follow them to Barcelona!🙈

I then started to walk to my albergue about 12 km away. The walk was stunning! I’m so glad I came here. I walked through pine forests and past amazing beaches and beach towns. It was exactly where I wanted to be—not in a resort in Portugal! I’m excited to relax and spend a few casual cool-down days here.

As I was walking, I ran into my friend Maurio again. He was finishing his Camino today! I was glad to see him one last time. He said he planned to play Queen's "Don’t Stop Me Now" as he walked to Finisterra.

The albergue is wonderful. Very simple, but the hospitalero is wonderful. His name is Josep, and he is volunteering here for 15 days to see what the other side of being on the Camino is like. We shared a beautiful but simple meal of salad, tortilla, and lentil soup. There is only one other pilgrim here, but we both knew our friend Fernando, who I met on the Camino del Norte and he met on the Camino Primitivo. Josep gave us each a hand-drawn card to remember our stay at the albergue! I made the right decision to walk backward today! Three strangers sat at the table tonight and spoke for 2.5 hours. How is this possible? I don’t know, but it’s what I love most about being a pilgrim. Seriously, I was really grateful to be out of my solitary princess palace room and back in the community environment of the albergue.Read more