Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

Where to even start. The blog is officially neglected now, as it’s been close to a month since I posted last in Santiago. I can’t believe it’s already been 4 and a half weeks since I walked into Santiago for the first time. Now it’s September 20 and I am sitting in my hostel bed in Scotland (more details on my UK travels to follow!). Picking up where the last post left off ….

On the 22nd of September I returned to Santiago via bus. My goal was to watch multiple friends arrive in Santiago, and find many others who had already arrived. On the 23rd, I went to the cathedral after a quick breakfast at 8:30 am. Géonne, Helene, Tina, Sabrina, Els, Brad, and Leon were some of the people I was anticipating. The sky starting to get it’s color over the cathedral was quite a sight.

I think returning to Santiago for a few days after I visited Finisterre was a great idea. At times during my Camino I walked fast and separated from many people I would have liked to spend more time with. Now, 3 days after I arrived, I felt like every corner I turned I would see a familiar face.

At about 9:30, I watched and filmed a group of 3 I previously spent quite a bit of time with as they had their special moment of triumph.

I was honored to be the designated photographer for this morning….

After many pictures were taken, I went with some of the group to collect their certificates from the pilgrim’s office. Some more sitting and pictures in the square, and then back to the monastery. As it turned out, a bunch of the friends who arrived today also booked their nights in the monastery! So we took a rest, and got ready to go out to lunch. Much of the group that arrived also planned to go to dinner that night, so I was on my own to go somewhere and was lucky that Daniel and Julia from my group were still in Santiago for one more night. Michael, a man from Australia in the group that arrived today, also would join us for dinner.

Michael really came off as a 25-year-old in a 60-something body. He was full of energy and definitely enjoyed some chupitos (shots) with us at the dinner table after dessert. And this was before we walked 100 meters back towards the cathedral and ended up in another bar. There, we all had a gin and tonic – claimed to be the best in town by the bartender as he made it. It was quite good!

As we were finishing our drinks, a group of 4 traditionally dressed musicians walked through the small alley we were sitting in. There was a chain of people behind them. “This must be the group that plays at the cathedral every night.” As we walked towards the square again 10 minutes later, the sound of their music grew. We enjoyed traditional music, singing and dancing and reunited with the rest of the group that arrived earlier in the day. All under the glow of the cathedral – what a magical moment.

When I was walking with Géonne after we left Leon, we ran into and met Tina who had just started her Camino. We learned that we were the first people she met on the camino as she asked me to take a photo of her. We spent that night all in the same hostel and shared a beer and lots of conversation. Unfortunately I didn’t walk with her much more after that, but Géonne ended up seeing her on multiple other occasions. In the days leading up to their arrival in Santiago, I learned that Tina would take Géonne in her red camper van to Finisterre, and there would be an extra seat for me. Also to join would be Patricia, whose partner is walking to Finisterre but she doesn’t want to. At first, I had hoped to do some walking on the Finisterre-Muxia-Santiago loop, but thought I could also walk later if I still wanted to. It would probably be best to give my body a few more days to recover anyways.

Riding in the back of the van. Only a 1 hour drive, but this was so much fun! I know at some point I will have to rent or buy a van to ride around the states….

Tina dropped the three passengers off in the middle of Finisterre. We had to find a place to stay without having made any reservations (probably not the best idea). We lucked out and were able to find an opening at the second place we checked! The views from the room were breathtaking, and the window was left open to hear the seagulls and smell the salt wind….

I was so happy to be back in Finisterre, and this time with some friends. Plans were made to see the sunset at the lighthouse, where we heard the views would be unbelievable. Until then, we made the most of our time by walking on the beach, searching for the best seashells, and enjoying this reward after reaching Santiago. We weren’t quite sure what to do for dinner but we made loose plans to have a picnic at the lighthouse. We all met at one of the local supermarkets and picked out various things to eat while watching the sunset. The walk up to the lighthouse wasn’t short… about 4km from the town. Of course, nothing we weren’t used to! The crowds at the lighthouse were a bit overwhelming, but when we walked around it for another 100m, we found a spot more or less free from others. We ate dinner sitting on the ground, and watched as the sun went behind clouds, came out again, and then scattered it’s light all across the sky before going below the horizon. It included good bread, guacamole, smoked salmon, chips and more. Of course, some wine was shared too. Géonne played her music, and it was a touching moment seeing our first sunset at the “end of the world.”

---

The next day, things were open to do as we pleased. Finisterre boasts multiple beautiful beaches, and we were lucky with the weather. I am not typically a beach person, but I felt that this one was calling my name. We must have sat on the beach for at least 4 hours. I actually spent 15 minutes swimming around in the water too. It’s a bit of an eery feeling to swim in the ocean, thinking about animals and how deep it is. But I throughly enjoyed the cool water and felt that the salt was good for my skin. I have almost no pictures from this beach day, but it’s the same beach in the picture above.

I didn’t do as well with sunscreen as I should have. I was very careful with my face, reapplying multiple times. My front side ended up pretty burnt and would peel for the next two weeks. Oh well!

That evening, we thought we would spend our last night in Finisterre doing another picnic, watching another sunset. Only difference is we would be at the beach on the west side of Finisterre at the beach facing the Atlantic Ocean, instead of at the lighthouse. The four of us met again at the beach with food and wine, ready to be amazed again.

Multiple fun interactions unfolded as we ate our picnic and enjoyed our sunset. A young couple first asked us if we would like a picture taken of us as they saw us taking pictures of each other. We gladly accepted their offer. After, they asked nicely if at some point in the evening we could return the favor. I jumped up to do it now, fearing that we would forget if we waited! I spoke with them for some time, and got to learn about their individual Camino experiences.

Another remarkable moment – a couple sitting to our left watching the sunset. The man stands up, walks towards the water with a large (and maybe heavy) object, and stands at the waves for a couple of minutes. He seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly he swung the object over his head about 30 feet into the water. He raised his fists up in triumph, and I could really tell this was a moment in his life. We made eye contact, and we exchanged thumbs and smiles. He went to hug the lady he was with, and I decided I had to talk to him at least for a moment. His name was Sam, from Australia. He had been carrying the rock for hundreds of miles, and it weighed at least 7 pounds. We didn’t exchange many words, but at the end, we hugged and wished each other well.

When we finally left and the sun had been replaced by the moon (wow, poetic), Tina had a fantastic idea. Why don’t we all go to the funny bar in town? Nobody had any objections. We all walked over to one of the only bars that is still open and it was surprisingly flowing with people. The local hippies, stoners, alcoholics included! We danced the night away to questionable 90s rap, and some other potentially offensive music that probably wasn’t intended to be danced to. We were shameless, and the night ended up one of the funniest nights on my Camino experience. Worth the minor headache the followed in the morning!