We got up the next day with two things to do, mail stuff back to the USA and make it to the pilgrim mass. We accomplished both, but much later than planned.
Breakfast at the hotel was incredible considering what we had been eating towards the end of the Camino. Fruit and yogurt had been supplemented with Oreo’s and Doritos. When you are sick and tired, you give up looking for proper meals.
We felt like we were rich. Eggs, bacon, honey, various pastries and I don’t have to find my money to pay? I don’t have to get my backpack back out to load up my leftovers and then haul the backpack fruit another 20 KM today?
We got very little accomplished in the morning once we saw the breakfast spread.
Even with the amazing breakfast, we did make it to mass and found some seats. The pilgrim mass is special because at the end, they swing around a massive thurible filled with incense called The Botafumeiro. You can find videos of it all over the internet. We make an effort not to take pictures or videos during active religious ceremonies so we have no pictures to share, but what you will see is exciting. It takes several grown men grabbing a large rope and hoisting this thing into the air. It then swings back and forth and has been known to separate from the rope and kill people. I can believe it.
One small thing that does detract from the sanctity of the pilgrim service is the 500+ people (who sent their bags ahead each day and walked for the minimum days required) who pressed their way to the front so they can take out their 12 inch iPad to record the entire thing. Forgive me for trying to take in the moment. I’ll just be bitter, sitting in the back, hoping my shoulders recover from the 30 day walk in the wilderness.
Also during the mass, the priests mention each starting point and the origin country for all the pilgrims who finished the Camino. We heard Estados Unidos and smiled.
As we left mass, we ran into another person we thought we had lost on the Camino, Lisa. She had just arrived in Santiago. It was great to see her yet again. Like an old friend popping up out of nowhere.
We then headed to the post office and mailed a portion of our packs back (in hindsight we should have mailed more back). We had picked up a few trinkets along the way in Spain and needed to mail some of our Camino essentials that we no longer needed. Another hour in a post office and we were good to go. Say what you want about the post office, but the women who work there in Spain should all be sainted. They are all underpaid I’m sure, but they continued to be a bright spot in our experience.
We closed the night with dinner with the group. At our final dinner in Santiago we were to meet up with our Australian pilgrim who had stayed a few days in Santiago. We hadn’t seen her in almost two weeks. She walked a few extra KM one day, got up a 6:30 AM the following morning because snorers were keeping her awake and walked around 35 KM. She kept that up and made it to Santiago two days before us.
It was great to see her again. She had one of the most interesting stories of people we met on the Camino. She was often surprising us with tales from her life and sharing with us why she was on the Camino. We were sad to see her go, but very happy we were able to see her one last time. People pop up like this all along the Camino. They come and go. You might see people every day, or only every other day. You might see someone after missing them for a week. People may pass you and then fall back to you or vice-versa.
You have no idea about when it will be your last encounter with a person. And if they were interesting, you hope it won’t be.We were happy that we were able to have a proper goodbye on the Camino for so many of our friends.
After dinner we settled our plans for the next day. We were headed to Fisterra. The end of the world and the real end of the Camino. We would finally feel whole and complete.
Day 2 post Camino: At World’s End
We awoke bright and early and ready to go to Fisterra. Somewhere along the Camino we all discussed our wishes to go to Fisterra a.k.a the end of the world. The Camino de Santiago was initially a pagan pilgrimage to the edge of Spain. Fisterra is where everyone at the time considered the end of the world. The world was flat to them, and Fisterra was the end. Some people walk the extra 100 KM to Fisterra after completing the Camino de Santiago. Other people just take the bus there for the day. At some point our conversations about Fisterre turned into plans and before we knew it, Elizabeth and I were in a rental car with Rachele and Candice and heading to the end of the world.
Unfortunately only half our team was running at 100%. I was at 40% and fading due to the lingering cold. Candice was whatever percent you are when you have food poisoning and are puking your guts out at a monastery hostel.
The plan was easy. Together we rented a car, an airbnb, and were headed to Muxia and Fisterra. Rachele was the only one of us with a driver’s license eligible to rent and drive in Spain so she was in control. Elizabeth and I paid a little extra to have a larger car so our luggage could continue the trip with us.
We got picked up and the trip immediately took a wrong turn. Our Italian driver had turned onto a one way street and into oncoming traffic. We gently backed down the hill in reverse, cursed a bit at the GPS, laughed that we didn’t die, and hoped that would not happen again. You have to remember that none of us had been a car, much less driven a car in the last month.
We picked up Candice and headed out. I was the navigator and was also trying to not puke as well. Between that, the cough, and zero minutes of sleep from the night before, I was in poor shape.
We made it to Muxia without anyone dying or puking and the views were breathtaking. I only enjoyed two though. The first spot we saw and then the back of my eyelids as I laid on the rocks and fell asleep quickly. Elizabeth took great pictures though and described the views as only she could. Candice didn’t get five feet from the car.
Another hour in the car and we had made it to Fisterra. After a lunch (water for me, a nap for Candice, and a seafood feast for Rachele and Elizabeth), we all made it to our place and then the beach. We laid there for a couple of hours, listening to the waves crash. We talked and laughed a bit. We hoped we would all feel better soon.
As we laid in the sand enjoying the waves, we heard a familiar voice. “Hi Guys!” It was the jolly Dutchman. He had continued on from Santiago and walked to Fisterra. He was strolling along the beach with his packs and only in his undies (a sight we had seen a few times), he had just made it to Fisterra and gone for a swim in the very cold waters. It was like an apparition. We had just been talking about him and the people we missed and wanted to see one last time.
We greeted each other like warm friends and laughed. He invited us to the end of the world for sunset, a place we were already going, but now we knew we would have company. And company we would enjoy. He carried on to his albergue and we went back to our apartment.
We grabbed a bite to eat and headed out for the sunset view near the Fisterre lighthouse. It was a clear night on the rocks at the end of the world. Not too many people were milling about, but we could hear the familiar, rambunctious voice of the Dutchman.
The sun was the largest it has ever looked to me. We sat for an hour as the sun slid gently down behind some clouds too far away to see and then into the ocean. A pilgrim began to clap when the sun finally disappeared for good. Others joined in to thank the sun for giving us all it had that day. It was the most beautiful sunset of our young lives.
We looked at each other and realized this was the end of our journey, the end of our pilgrimage. The church was merely another stopping point to rest.
We were excited that we had gone to the end of the world, but also disappointed that we had not walked it. Someday we will go back to walk the last 100 KM from Santiago to Fisterra and see the sun set again. We will smile and cry and clap to thank the sun for giving us all it has.
cornetravel 
Loved this post. You know how much I love a beach sunset. Friends make adventures more fun. Enjoy this wonderful time. We miss you more than you know.
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