Day #25. 0.00 km

Evidently there is some controversy among those claiming to be the end of the Camino:  Santiago, Finisterre, and Muxia.  All along the Camino I have been thinking that I would like to go to what, in the Middle Ages, was considered the end of the world- Finisterre or Fisterre.  At our little hotel, señor Linares knew about a young man who did small tours to Finisterre and Muxia.  So I signed myself up (Marty couldn't go because Bill was arriving early afternoon and the tour wouldn't be back by then) and found myself in a little van with 4 people from Calgary and a woman (a gynecologist) from Berlin, all
of whom had walked from Sarria.

Our guide, and owner of the little tour company, Martin spoke Spanish, Galician, English, Finnish and a bit of Polish.  His mother is Finnish, his father Spanish and his wife's parents Polish.  And we think we have a "melting pot" in the US.  Our first stop was a 700 year old bridge that survived a terrible flood that carried away some more modern bridges a few years ago.

The next stop was Muxia where there is a 0.00 km marker.  The end of the film, The Way, was actually filmed here even though they referred to it as Finisterre.  There I am standing where maybe Martin Sheen stood at the end of the world.

After Muxia, we motored down along the Costa do Morte (Coast of Death) so named because of all the ship wrecks that have happened over the centuries because of the dangerous currents, unpredictable weather, and hidden rocks.  Our destination was the last 0.00km marker at Finisterre.  It's impossible  to get close to the water there as the road leads to an old lighthouse on a high cliff.  I got my pilgrim credential stamped there for the last time.

Two more stops took us to a place where the only river in Europe enters the ocean in a waterfall and from where you can see a mountain which is difficult to climb - as Martin put it, "There are 2 trails up the mountain, one of which is very difficult, the other impossible."  According to him there is some evidence that the mountain was sacred to the pre-Christian Celtic Druids, and the whole place has not been explored.

The last stop finally, was lunch at a restaurant on the beach, run by a Galician guy who had returned to Spain after living for a long time in New York City.  I had a really wonderful grilled cod with the ubiquitous fried patatas.  After eating I got to walk down to the beach and put my feet into the ocean and collect a few stones.  

Back to the hotel at 6:30 to greet Bill and start our Portugal vacation.  0.00 km of the Camino.