Shopping on the streets of old Santiago. Great yo be without a backpack

The park in Santiago Center where we enjoyed a few hours

Packed and ready to walk to the bus at 0530. You can’t take the Hoo Ah! Out of the soldier.

The following has not been approved by the FDA or Dr Fauci.

This diet is a combination of the intermittent fasting and the diet of refugees fleeing from war. On the Camino Fisterra, there are few places to stop for a breakfast let alone a second breakfast like many places in Spain. We would finish our lunch around 4 (typical midday meal is between 1-4. Dinner is served around 9). We would then get up in the morning and walk for 4 or 5 hours before we would shower, do our laundry and then eat again between 1 and 4. Even gorging yourself on every French fry and piece of Spanish bread, This schedule tends to cause the weight to melt off your body. I have not been able to step on a scale but I can tell it is working every day when I yank my belt tight enough to keep my pants up and there is more belt than yesterday. I am not concerned, however. I have lost hundreds of pounds in my lifetime on this and other diets. I have always been able to find the pounds again soon enough. Gentle Readers are welcome to try this diet at your own risk.

I will attach a series of photos of our day which was a comfortable and leisurely day of travel and travel arrangements for our next phase in Madrid tomorrow.

Finally here. Tired and thirsty but fulfilled

The beach near Muxia

Passing wind mills as we crest the peaks of Spain’s western coast

Wild dill grows everywhere here in Galicia. This one along the side of the road

Sunrise as we set out on our final day

Completing the 119 Km today in Muxia required our longest day of walking and we covered over 1200 feet of elevation. We started early as we anticipated significantly hilly terrain but we still managed to complete the final leg of the Camino Finisterre in five hours. Merci and Scott have been superb company as we were able to learn much more about each other and their ability to dominate the hills of Colorado came in handy.

It may seem as though completing multiple Caminos May be silly, especially after two careers of receiving certificates, but it is not about the paperwork, it is about the accomplishment. During these past weeks I have given deep thought about the issue of aging. Whether graceful of not, I believe that one must retain their sense of self. I have to still be me. I know that at 73, flying across the world every couple years to carry a pack hundreds of kilometers may seem a strange way of aging gracefully. But this I what I choose. This is me I don’t expect you to understand the Camino nor my fascination with it. It has been said that those that have not walked the Camino cannot understand it and those who have walked it cannot explain it. Soy yo.

I am please to have introduced the Camino to family and friends. I believe that they now get it. I hope to do this again. I don’t know when but as difficult as it was this time (post COVID) I know I will miss it. The people we meet from all over the world, the shared adversity, the kindness of strangers, and the graduate course in multi cultural sameness. I will have to be somehow involved with the Camino.

Tomorrow we depart on the early (6:15) bus from Muxia to Santiago. We will stand in line to get our Compostela and on Tuesday we will take the train from Santiago to Madrid. I look forward to showing off Madrid to Merci and Scott. I have always loved the rhythm of Madrid as well as the pace of life. I hope to continue to blog for several more days as there has been much reflection over these past weeks. Please be patient with me.