Day 3 - Cee to Finisterre - Cabo Finisterre - Finisterre (20 km)

Hola mis amigos

A day late with this update but first I must report the good news that today Tony was able to retrieve passports etc from Vernazza. Cathy said she thought it was quite a trauma for him to go back there, as you could imagine. The roads are reopening and they have a 'guardian angel' who has insisted on driving them to Genoa airport tomorrow. Cathy wanted to post an update on the blog but connection is intermittent so, in case she is unsuccessful before I post this update, I wanted to let family and friends know that they will make their way back to London tomorrow. Thank you also for emails I have received from friends grateful for their good fortune and safety. (update: have just seen that Cathy was able to post her comment on yesterday's blog update, so please have a look there for more information. Thank goodness all is well.)

So I'll tell you a little about the final journey to Finisterre. But first our stopover in Cee. Nina and I arrived in our rescue taxi knowing we needed to find a hotel with some facilities rather than basic accommodation at an Albergue. With the help of the local police, who moonlight as the Officio Tourismo, we were steered in the direction of a few possibilities and found our way, still drenched, to the Hotel Insua. For 40 euros, a twin room with private bathroom was just the ticket. I can't say the hospitalero / receptionist seemed overly keen to see us. And less so when we explained we would need to shortly send most of our clothes to the laundry for the 'secadora' - the dryer. No washing, just drying. I think the last straw was when we asked if she could find us some old newspapers which we would use to stuff inside our shoes to soak up some of the moisture (I learned that tip from Michael - thank you). Despite her misgivings, she duly produced some newspapers for which we were most grateful.

We were relieved to finally have a room (which would double as a drying room for boots and packs and anything else that couldn't go into the 'secadora') - and the promise of a hot shower. Though our pack rain covers had worked well, most of our belongings were cold and at least a little damp. Thankfully my iPad was well protected as my habit was to wrap it in one of my 'buffs' (scarves) and then in a nylon bag. After hot showers and putting together odd ensembles of the driest clothes available, everything else was packed up and delivered to reception.

Less than an hour after set down by the rescue taxi we were back on track and ready for a late lunch. The wild weather had barely abated but back in 'civilisation' we were much less vulnerable. In fact Cee is quite a sizable town and Nina and I found ourselves in a shopping centre - with an escalator no less! It was quite a shock and a world away from where we had been just a few hours earlier.

All went well with the 'secadora' and we had a package of dry clothes by early evening. Our shoes and rain jackets were a bigger challenge but when we discovered a hair dryer in the bathroom we put it to good use, though not for hair drying. By the next morning, our shoes were still not dry but they would do.

Over dinner in Cee, we decided that we would walk to Finisterre no matter what. Unlike the day we'd just had, there would be a number of places to stop on the way if necessary and we worked out it was only 13 kilometres to Finisterre (not 16 as we'd thought) and then another 3 or so up to the lighthouse at 'the end of the world'. It would only take about 3 hours to reach Finisterre.

As expected, it rained most of the way to Finisterre though the sun valiantly struggled to get through and occasionally succeeded. We made light work of the 13 km walk which was almost all along the coast with a climb into the forests every now and then. It was easy going despite the rain and served to remind us what an extraordinary morning we'd had the day before.

We arrived in Finisterre wet again - but only on the surface. We liked the town immediately. It is larger and busier than either of us had anticipated but has that charm that coastal fishing towns seem to share, no matter what country. Our immediate mission was to find a pensione or small hotel, offload our packs, have a wander around the fishing harbour and find a table with a view for lunch.

Of course it's easy to spot the pilgrim and, before too long, a señora approached us to ask if we were looking for 'habitaciones'. Nina wasn't keen but I had a good feeling about this 60 something lady and, as I said to Nina, what's the harm? If we don't like it, we will find something else. We made sure she understood that we were just looking. And so we followed her along the harbour foreshore for about 5 minutes until we arrived. And that's how Nina and I found ourselves with our own fully self contained four bedroom apartment for 15 euros each. We couldn't quite understand how and why, but the señora explained that she had other things to do that day and did not have time to 'find' any other pilgrims. She would usually offer each room for 15 euros with guests sharing the bathroom and kitchen - which would have been fine with us - but today she was happy for just we two. Nina and I just couldn't believe our luck.

So to the afternoon. We had thought to walk up to the lighthouse - Cabo Finisterre - in the early evening in the hope of seeing a glorious sunset. But as the weather had improved - the rain had stopped - we didn't want to tempt fate so we left at about 3.30 to walk the 3+ kms up the hill. I had told Nina about the 'wishes' I was carrying which I would take to the place that used to be thought of as the 'end of the world', have a quiet few minutes to read them again, and then .... And then what? I didn't like the idea of scattering the letters to the winds and littering the ocean - so I decided I would need to burn them. It seemed the only option.

Magical moment though it would be, there were practical matters to consider. So we had to make a trip to the Supermercado before heading off. Mission accomplished - and armed with a lighter and a foil cake tray - we made our way to the lighthouse. Full credit to Nina who thought it lovely that wishes from family and friends had travelled The Caminos with me. She was very supportive. If she was amused or concerned about my purchases from the Supermercado, and the upcoming fire ceremony, she had the good grace not to let on.

It was a lovely and peaceful walk up to Cabo Finisterre. When we first arrived there was a tour bus there - understandably it's a popular place - but, not long after, only about a dozen people remained. I found a quiet spot and read 'the wishes' again and finally opened the 'open at the end' letter. Thank you Jill and Marty and I look forward to our celebration! It won't surprise anyone to know that there were a few tears, as there had been each time I'd read your wishes along the way. And I found I was quite reluctant to let go of them as it seemed it would truly mark the end of my Camino.

But it was time to have my little ceremony which turned out to be very moving, quite funny at times and a little scary. The wind was raging and I had quite a lot of paper to burn. At first it was difficult to get the lighter to work in the wind. I got scared that I would start a fire which would burn out of control and desecrate this world heritage listed headland. After some discussion with Nina as to an effective and relatively safe way to proceed, the ceremony was underway. At times there was quite a big flame and a great deal of smoke coming from that foil cake tin to the point where I was relieved when the fire finally went out, and only the ashes - and the cake tin - remained. By now they will have scattered over the headland or out to sea.

So, to those whose wishes I carried with me every step of the way, I hope you will forgive the rather unorthodox and somewhat pagan ceremony and know that it was done with the best of intentions. All there is to add is to thank you for entrusting me with your wishes. I hope everything you hope for comes true.

Some time later, Nina and I walked back down the hill.

Today I took the bus back from Finisterre to Santiago where I'll have the day tomorrow (Saturday) before flying to London on Sunday. During the three hour bus ride today I thought back over the last 30 something days and what an extraordinary time it's been.

So that's probably something to write about for my last update tomorrow.

Hasta Mañana. J x