Day 32

Got up today felling better, but only slightly so. Sue asked if we should take a taxi to Muxía. We’d probably have to walk 7km to the next village to find one. I really wanted to finish walking to the coast. Making it all this way and stopping 25km from the end seemed depressing. So we headed out. I sipped on water and ate a few crackers thru the day.

The path was good, not too many hills. Weather was cool and the sky overcast. We stopped for a lot of breaks. Half way there I resolved that this would be my last day of hiking.  I ached, couldn’t eat, and really wasn’t having much fun. We did make it into Muxía about 3:30.

Spit in the road - Fisterra left, Muxía right.

Starting out.

 The view today.

Time for a break.

Before we left Santiago we had gotten a new set of credentials for the Muxía-Fisterra leg of the Camino. They said we could get a certificate at City Hall. We couldn’t find City Hall. We saw a sign for Tourist Information and went there. They had a sign on the door telling us to go to the library next door.  We went to the library, but being Spain, it was siesta. They were closed until 4:30.

First view of the ocean.

Old church by the sea.

Rest time.

We checked into an albergue. They were able to do our certificates of completion right there. They also had two big pots of soup on the stove - “you no pay”.  Lentil soup and a cantaloupe soup. It was the first real food I had had in a while. I had a small bowl.

After a brief rest we walked around town. Muxía has a long history of religous importance. There are interesting rock outcropping in the sea.  Beginning in the 3rd century BC they were considered sacred and were worshipped by pagan monks.  Muxía means monks. The rocks were later adopted by Christianity as sacred.  There is also biblical significance.  Once, when St James was on his mission here, he became discouraged. He was sitting at the sea when a stone boat carrying the Virgin Mary was rowed to shore by angels.  She comforted him and gave him encouragement. There is one rock in particular that is said to be part of the Virgin’s boat.

The Virgin Mary’s stone boat.

After seeing all that we went for dinner. Sue had ensalada mixta and I ate the tomatoes. Still no appetite. We made plans for tomorrow. She really wanted to do the final leg of the hike to Fisterre. She figured she’d come al this way and couldn’t leave without completing it.  It’s 28 km.  I’d had enough walking without more recovery time.

So, tomorrow she will hike and I will take the bus. We will rendezvous in Fisterra in the afternoon.  It will be the first day we will not be together since we left on Apr 3rd.