Traveling Homeward, Finisterre to Santiago by Taxi

Friday, May 27, 2016

The journey home begins, Finisterre to Santiago by Taxi

My original plan was to take a bus from Finisterre to Santiago. When I heard that the bus takes 3 and 1/2 hours, I was hoping there would be an alternative. Ben from Taiwan said that he had heard that there were always people wanting to share a taxi from Finisterre to Santiago to avoid the long bus ride. With that in mind, after I met Elsa from the Canary Islands, she told me she and her two friends were looking for a fourth person to share a taxi from Finisterre to Santiago, so I became that fourth person.

Today, Friday, I do not walk. I was definitely out of the normal routine. The taxi was going to be at the hotel in which Elsa and I were staying at noon, so there was plenty of time to relax and have an unhurried breakfast. I arrived at breakfast at 8:15 and started going through the previous day's pictures with the intent of posting yesterdays walk to Finisterre and the lighthouse before the taxi came, and I was able to do much of the work on the picture preparation before Elsa joined me for breakfast at 9:00. After breakfast, I finished re-packing things and was in the lobby at about 11:00 waiting, not much to do. Not walking for 6-7 hours or more gives you back a lot of time, and there is not much to do at this hotel; it is quite isolated up on a hill, away from the business district.

So I walked around the hotel grounds a little (it is not really very large), and took a few pictures. Here is the view from where we sat for breakfast, looking over the garden and down the hill to the ocean.

Here is the front entrance of Finisterre Hotel Rustica & Spa. I did not see any "spa" activities taking place, perhaps that is for the summer months only.

And the front of the hotel. I could not get a wider or farther-away shot, as there was a stone wall behind me; it is a small road that serves the hotel.

Almost at exactly noon, the taxi arrived with Elsa's friends already inside. Elsa and I loaded our backpacks and things, and we set off for Santiago. Within about an hour and 15 minutes, we were stopping at a drop-off area quite near the main Santiago cathedral, which is where we all wanted to be. My hotel was directly across the square from the cathedral, Elsa's albergue was close to the cathedral, and the other two ladies were in a hotel just on the other side of the cathedral from my hotel.

Here is the entrance to the hotel in which I stayed, the Hospederia San Martin Pinario. The white banner hanging down announces the hotel name and entrance.

The hotel is the left-most part of this large building, which is a still a monastery and seminary (thus the location being across the square from the cathedral).

I got checked in, took a shower, and got my clothes together to take to the albergue near by where they allow the use of the laundry facilities (lavanderia). As my clothes were washing and drying, I had lunch, checked out a few souvenir shops, and generally watched as new pilgrims arrived in Santiago quite excited at being at the end of their journey.

Later, while having dinner, I saw Rita from Switzerland and joined her for dinner. Rita is 73, and has been walking from her home across Switzerland, down through France, and all the way across Spain to Santiago de Compostela.  I last saw her in Sarria with Beth and Nancy from Canada when she had completed her 99th day walking. She told me she got to Santiago in 105 days, then took a bus to Finisterre to see the "end of the earth," and then came back to Santiago to start the journey home. It was really nice to see someone I knew and share some stories with her. Rita is a little famous on the Camino for the duration of her journey and her warm, friendly spirit. Rita is a lot of fun; I was honored that she remembered me.

Tomorrow is breakfast, a finish to packing, and off to the airport at 11 AM. John and Donna from Colorado will join me with the taxi, as we are on the same flights to Madrid and to Paris.

Next: Leaving Spain, the journey home continues.