(Walked to the lighthouse a couple of times. And the beach and around the cape.)
Nando was up and gone at daybreak to catch the morning bus, on his way to Madrid for tomorrow’s plane back to Brazil.
My intention was to walk to Muxía today as a final day on the Camino. But the laces on one of my shoes broke yesterday. While waiting for 10:00 am for a shoelace store to open Veera and Natalie appeared! As I love it here, I decided to stay here for another day. (…maybe a boat ride in the harbor, maybe upload some more photos since the albergue computer has a usb port, …)
End of the World
I spent the morning with Veera. We walked out to the lighthouse with empanadas from the panaderia for lunch. The cliffs at the end of the cape are rocky and impressive, and, as they were yesterday, partially obscured by low lying clouds that never quite burn away. But it is the powerful crashing of the waves at the base that is mesmerizing. We wandered back on the far side of the hill, with a fantastic view of the beach where Nando & I watched the sun set last night.
I think because of the damp, at this point my Lumix camera stopped working. Defective shoes. Defective camera. Clearly I am getting very near the end of this particular journey.
Continuing the intense sense of closure and the opportunity to wind up loose ends was the arrival on the afternoon bus of Beate!
She had dinner last night with Sieglinde, who had arrived in Santiago very tired after a 42k day! I was also very happy to hear that Michel was in Santiago for mass today.
Beate is another one of the people on the camino who merely by their presence provided some kind of touchstone for me. We didn’t talk that much, we mostly met up in the evenings. But she was there from the begining – tenting and then her difficult first morning at Orisson, and before we fell out of step I would pass a haystack or a forest or a field and loved seeing her sitting there – writing, staring, sleeping. After she got settled in wonderful little guest house with a view of the ocean we started talking and ended up walking out to the lighthouse cliffs for sunset. I don’t think her camino has been an easy one, but it has been satisfying for her. And in her is the full circle for me as we will walk together at least part of the way to Muxía tomorrow.
Again I sat and watched the sun set. Equally satisfying, but totally different than last night. I sat alone. On a stone protected by a larger stone from the wind. Watching the fires as others burnt their clothes. Lilo, from Switzerland, Roberto, the young Mexican. The French couple met at Sarria. Watching the gulls circle down from the up draughts to the water far below. Watching the mist thicken into clouds on the horizon. After burning her letter Marie-Jo sat next to me for a few minutes, until it got cold and we all gradually started straggling down the hill back into town – in the darkening sky the rays from the lighthouse bright in the mist.
27 Oct 2009
like Corey said, seems bittersweet to be nearing end of your trek. Yet every day you seem to have such touchstone experiences, it gives real depth to your life and what a truly wonderful way to make new friends, and see new countryside. I can feel from your words how good and refreshing it is to walk.