Midway to Finesterre -- Oliveroa ( Su 13 Oct )

Today was a long day in the guidebook (33 km or so).  Since we aren't in any hurry, we'd planned to pull up in Santa Marina, at the 20 km mark, but when we got there, it was very isolated, so we decided to keep going.  Our feet were disappointed with the decision and it started to rain, with occasional thunder and lightning, so we were second guessing our decision as well.

Nice walk overall.  Sunday morning, so very quiet and we didn't find a coffee shop until we'd walked for almost three hours and as usual, it tasted very good and it felt good just to get off our feet and sit for a while.

There are far fewer pilgrims on this portion of the Camino and it's a fine bunch of people who have decided to walk to the end of the earth.   We walk long stretches without seeing a soul and when we do see someone, we usually know who they are.  

Lots of churches and religious symbols on the way, sometimes in unexpected places.  This one was in a small village:

Especially beautiful early in the morning:

A fair bit of asphalt walking, which is hard on the feet, but several kms of nice paths, through eucalyptus forests.  At first we liked them, but this introduced tree (from Australia) is beating out the native pine tree and that's not good.  They are a bit messy -- bark and leaves fall to the ground, not as nice as the gentle pine needles:

Harvest is well underway, lots of activity in the fields and most fields are now bare:

Typical countryside in Galicia, green, rolling hills:

Pilgrims in the distance:

This woman had a busy Sunday morning, hanging out corn to dry.  She took the time to pose for this picture:

No one here to pose with this corn:

Wind turbines built very close to the villages:

It started to rain at one point, but we are ready for all types of weather:

And finally, to our albergue -- pretty busy. This is the lounge/eating area:

And here's our dorm.  The only clothes lines were out in the elements, so we rigged a line on our bunk bed -- the one on the left.  It provided a bit of extra privacy for the bottom bunk mate, Jan:

But wait. There's more! To Negreira (Sa 12 Oct)

After two nights in Santiago, we are continuing our journey to the end of the earth: Finnesterre, on the Atlantic Ocean about 3 days away.

Leaving Santiago, through a sleepy, winding residential district.  Oct 12 is Spain's National Holiday, and a Saturday, so extra sleepy:

It wasn't long before we were back into nature, and the path with the high banks looked a lot like the last pic:

Looking back to Santiago with the three spires of the cathedral silhouette against the morning sky:

This is the Galician spelling of Finesterre.  While walking, we heard what sounded like thunder, and then more like explosives, perhaps to keeps birds away from crops.  It turned out to be firecrackers, large ones, to celebrate the National Day:

This person has decorated their gate with scallop shells, the symbol of the Camino.  The grey coloured shells are where the white shells have fallen off,but the concrete exposed has a nice imprint of the shell pattern:

Very pretty town of Ponte Maceira, with the bridge that appears in this region's crest:

The crest depicts the Romans chasing after the people who were transporting the bones of St James (Santiago) from the seaport of Finnesterre, to Santiago.  God intervened, destroying the bridge, and keeping the Romans at bay:

More of the pretty town, showing some fall colour:

Looking back towards Santiago from the bridge:

Leaving Ponte Maceira.  We walked with "Rhino" to our destination for the night.  He started his journey in Lourdes, in France, and is walking all the way to Fatima in Portugal:

Negreira, our destination for the night.  Nice albergue, great meal, good folks to share it all with: