Mother Narure certainly saved the best for last for me... Part of the reason I left only 10 kms to walk on the last day is because we all knew that today was forecast to be the worst weather day yet, with plunging temps and driving rain all day..
This is the only photo I managed to take in my 2 1/2 hour walk this morning... The rain and howling wind ripped my poncho in multiple places so that by the time I got to Santiago, I was soaked to the bone and my poncho was sliding down my body, a useless plastic sheet offering little resistance to the sideways driving rain that surely chilled every pilgrim on the camino today...
I did manage to stop for a cafe con leche and a piece of Tarta de Santiago, a traditional almond cake... this one was homemade and by far the best I had...
A statue of a Templar Knight, the mysterious protective order who played a vital role in preserving the well being of pilgrims to Santiago...
The Santiago de Compostella sign at the edge of the city... I may or may not have gotten a little choked up when I stood in front of the sign, knowing that my journey was coming to a close..
My first sighting of the Cathedral of Santiago, from the side... Right after I snapped this picture, an older English gentleman with his wife in tow, walked up to me, stuck out his hand, and said, "Congratulations, you made it. " It was evident I was by myself, and I thought the gesture was so perfect for the camino...
I made it! Me in front of the cathedral...
A well deserved coffee break, before heading to the bus station to catch the bus to Fisterra...
A rainy road in Santiago...
A bread makers window I pass on my way to the bus...
Hard to believe flowers are still in full bloom at the end of October...
More low lying clouds...
I am n the bus, and wel on my way to Fisterra, where I will walk to Finisterre, the end of the world, for sunset... This photo was taken in Noia, the start of a beautiful stretch where we followed the coast all the way to Fisterra...
My first view of the town of Fisterra on the right, and Finisterre, with its lighthouse on the left of the hill...
Just a really pleasant drive along the coast...
Boats near Fisterre...
Looking across the water from Fisterra...
A small street in Fisterra...
Beach area in Fisterra...
A rainbow at the end of the world...
Statue at the harbour...
I thought it was oddly unsettling, but also maybe perfectly fitting that, after spending 6 weeks trying to fight off old age and questioning my mortality, on the sunset of my very last day of walking, I open the door of my pensione to be greeted by a funeral that literaly starts at my door, where hundreds of grieving townspeople follow a hearse, complete with priest offering blessings, all the way to the church, about a third of the way to Finisterre... Out of respect, this is the only photograph I take, once the hearse, which you can just see the top of to the right, has pulled into the parking lot of the church...
The statue of the pilgrim, as you approach Finisterre...
The views as I approach the end of the world, where as recently as 500 years ago, pilgrims ended their walk to gaze out at the Atlantic Ocean on the great unknown...
Reaching the 0.00 KM marker at Finisterre brings some finality to the whole experience...
The lighthouse looking over the edge of the world...
As always, rain is never far away...
It's always nice to find rainbows at the end of the road...
Things I learned on my camino...
More things I learned on my camino...
Wow.. I learned a lot on my camino!
Sunset at the end of the world...
This is what everybody waits for...
The light comes on at the lighthouse.
The moon makes an appearance...
As I make the 3.2km trek back to town, the church appears...
As I prepare to dine alone for one of the last times, I am surprised by the arrival of two pilgrims I met about a month ago in Ponzueta.
How these two guys, from San Francisco and Tasmania, even found this back alley restaurant is still a mystery to me...
I start with the most amazing seafood soup I've had on this trip... and then my phone dies... but I can assure you, the grilled squid, and then the platter of mixed grilled fish I eat is also delicious, and I am too full for dessert...
Distance travelled today- 20 kms
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED SO FAR- 928 KMS