Haloranch

It turns out that my Camino trip was not quite over when I arrived in Fisterra, the day before yesterday, September 23. Yesterday afternoon, after Markus and I had found a small hotel and had settled in I went to the local ¨Mercado¨to pick up some supplies. As I am walking down the street a car honked at me. Lo and behold it was Janos with his family. They had just arrived from Santiago (we had agreed to meet today at noon in front of the main church here in Fisterra when I had left him and Krisztina in Burgos almost 3 weeks ago). Not only that, but he had passed Krisztina on the highway about 5 km from Fisterra as she was walking from Santiago. She showed up about 30 minutes later and we had a joyfull reunion. Later the four of us (Markus had been introduced to the group)walked down to the beach where Kriszrina went for a swim in the cold Atlantic and I dipped my toe in the water. We agreed to meet at 7:30 to walk the last 3 km to the "end of the world" to watch the sun sink...

As one adventure ends, a new one is being born. Tomorrow I fly away. Can't wait, even though it's gorgeous here now. But I have new faces to meet and new places to visit. It's been a busy month though I'm trying to think what I did and... nothing really comes to mind. Sure, I mowed the lawn (twice, even), cut down the dead and nearly dead plants and threw them over the hill into our handy compost "au naturel" - the ravine. Picked 5 flats of fat green tomatoes and tossed their smaller siblings into the above mentioned natural compost pile. Nothing else comes to mind. I must have done my few chores very slowly indeed. So now the suitcases are packed and trimmed to within 2 pounds of their maximum load. By Wednesday afternoon I should be on the ship, enjoying the first of many wonderful days. Life is grand.

After walking 29 days out of the last 30 my Camino walk is finally over. (I took the 27th day off to spend a day in the beautiful city of Santiago de Compostela before walking the 90km to Fisterra, the end of the world, over the last three days. It's hard to describe the emotions that I have gone through over the last month. Euphoria, after walking across the Napoleon Pass in the Pyrenees Mountains in sheets of rain with thunder and lightening and mud up to my knees (and that was only the first day!). Relief, when I made it to Pamplona, knowing that I had about 10 days of relativley easy walking until I hit the mountains at the other side of the Meseta (Central Plains). Concern, when I strained the tendon in my right leg and I was thought that I might have to restructure the trip to accommodate the injury. Despair, just one day before the big climb to O´Cebrerio when I was unable to put any weight on my left foot. Joy, after climbing the two passes, Cruse the Ferre and O Cebrerio, ...

I arrived here in Finistere (called Finisterra in Spanish - after all its their country!) at about 2 this afternoon after walking for 32km in about 7 hours and 10 minutes. It was actually a very pleasant walk considering that it was the last of 29 days of walking about 900 km over the last 30 days). Finisterra is a lovely town and I am going to enjoy the next day or so while I explore the area on foot. Hopefully I will meet Janos on Tueday at noon as we had agreed previously. If not, I will have to take a bus back to Santiago de Compostela. See you next week!

This is the first day in 27 that I have not been on the road by at least 7:00 a.m. The albergue here in Santiago allows pilgrims to stay until 10 as opposed to all the others where you have to be gone by 8. So, we lingered, had a shower (the first morning shower), ate some fruit, yogurt and a couple of "cafe con leche". Packed up and walked to the cathedral at 9:45 where we found a small hotel "Hospedaje Fonseca" with a room with two beds for 15 euros each. The best part is that it is right by the cathedral which is the center of all the action. Plan to spend the day doing tourist stuff (sightseeing, writing postcards, taking photos etc.). Tomorrow morning we start the 90 km 3 day walk to Finisterre. The following anecdotes and comments are some I had written previously but which obviously disappeared somewhere into cyber space. "Are you from Canada?" I walk with a very prominent Canadian flag on the back of my pack. Several times as I passed someone I ha...

I reached the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela at 11:15 local time this morning. The Eagle has landed! Markus and I attended the pilgrim mass at noon (which lasted about an hour)and then we went to a bar to have some lunch and a celebratory drink (I drank for both of us). Didn´t get to the albergue until almost 3:30 and after getting cleaned up I headed into the old part of the city to try to find an internet cafe with some success as you can read. The walk into Santiago was uneventful although it was really cold....probably no more than 5C for most of the morning. Now it is probably 25 and nice and sunny and hot. Just one minor incident on the way. I have walked for about 800 km without an accident! In the last half kilometer before reaching the cathedral I tripped on a curb and landed on my face. Just some scrapes to my right knee so not to worry. Markus claims that I was focussing on a couple of nice Spanish university girls who were in front of me. No truth to that at all!!!! I...

On the day I meet Hans in Barcelona next week, we board the Emerald Princess for a luxurious cruise through the Mediterranean, ending in Fort Lauderdale 29 days later. On a related note, Hans writes that he's lost 2-3 inches off his waist during the past 27 days of walking. So on the cruise I'll be bringing needle and thread to adjust his clothes, and a seam ripper to adjust mine