Sunday, May 16, 2010

Day 38 Santiago to Finisterre (April 25)

We took the bus for 12 euro each and it took about 3 hours.  It was a nice drive and we welcomed the ocean views.  The bus made quite a few stops on the way, but we weren't in a hurry.    When we arrived we were surprised there wasn't a big bus station, this is the end of the earth after all.  There was an organized run going on so the bus dropped us off on a corner in town.    There were a lot of folks waiting to board the bus.  We thought we'd find the tourist office to get info on accommodations but there wasn't an official tourist office instead we were directed to the albergue which acts as the tourist office.  They were very helpful in recommending the Casa Velay, a nice pension as well as a restaurant.  They also had bus schedules to our next stop, La Coruna.  The double room with bath was 36 euros.  Once we were settled we decided to walk up to the lighthouse.  We ran into Urtzii in town before starting.  The walk was about 6 km round-trip - all on the road.  When we got to the lighthouse the view was wonderful.  I was surprised at how few people were there.  Not many tourists at all.  There were a couple of fires burning so Cullen added our items for the obligatory burning ritual; a sock of mine and his clothesline and clothespins.  When we got back into town we decided to look for the restaurant recommended to us by Jose Andreas, the famous Spanish chef. When we were at his book signing back in December he had recommended that we go.  Turns out the chef at the restaurant is married to the sister of the lady who runs the pension where we are staying.  It was about 1 km, right on the beach.  The name of it is Tira do Cordel.  We didn't have reservations so they seated near the grill where they do most of the cooking.  Of course we loved that!  The food was great-razor clams, a scallop which Cullen thought was the best thing he had ever eaten, and  sea bream cooked perfectly.  The cooking grills were huge and they were built so the chefs could lower or raise them over the hot coals.  The fish was brought in fresh from the ocean.  We also had a great Albarino wine.  When we finished we walked back to town and saw a few pilgrims we had met on The Way (Ramon, Marc, Urtzi, a young German woman).  We chatted with them for a while and had a nice evening on the waterfront.  Thus ended our Camino adventure.  We now begin our tourist adventure traveling around Spain and ending up in Rome.       

As an update we had a chance to check out our photos when we visited our friend Iker in San Sebastian and much to our horror it appears that when Cullen dropped the camera on day 21 most of the subsequent pictures are out of focus. Once we get home we'll post. 

2 comments:

  1. Hope and pray that via the miracles of photoshop you may be able to salvage some!

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  2. Glad you are having a great time in Finisterre - hope your camera and photos will be okay.
    Buen Camino, and happy trails,
    Eva

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