On to Finisterre

We had made it to Santiago before 1 in the afternoon. We had packed our lunch the day before so we ate in the square, the Plaza del Obradoiro, by the Parador Santiago.

We assumed we would stay in the Monastery, we have stayed there 2 other times. It has over 2 hundred bunks, but reportedly, it was full. We couldn’t find a place anywhere in the older part of Santiago.

We actually walked the French route in reverse for about 4km through the city to our Hotel. We went past it a few times because it was in the basement of a Frutarías and on the other side of a 4 lane highway.

After dropping our packs and cleaning up we went in search of food. We missed it again, restaurant wouldn’t open again till 9pm for dinner. I bought some watermelon to see us through until then. I did some laundry in the sink and hung it outside. We then decided no way were we going to make it till 9pm for dinner. We hit the road again and used our Google Maps to find some other place nearby. Nothing less then 2 km away. We ended up in a fabulous place, shared some wine, a few tapas, a salad and a steak taco. Which was not like any taco I’ve had before. It was steak medallions, mushrooms and onions mixed with fries. It was great.

The next morning we caught a city bus back to center of Santiago. Which was actually the college, not where we wanted to be and the bus was full to capacity . We had to stand in aisle with our backpacks hitting people. We were the last ones off, headed out in the wrong direction, again, got oriented and made it back to the Plaza del Obradoiro where the Camino Finisterre begins.

I snuck into here for a quick picture, Palacio Fonseca.

Walking out on cobblestone roads. The cars would fly by making a rumbling noise.

We soon left the city walls behind. I find it incredible that we are in a bustling city and 5 minutes walking and there’s a farmstead.

Then we hit some woods and started climbing . At the summit we turn onto the road and there are some benches to enjoy the view back at Santiago.

We continued on through several smaller towns, then started climbing and climbing more.

We rested here and chatted with a few other walkers.

We finally stopped climbing the road leveled out and we stopped panting for breath. Then we saw this beautiful town in the distance. We were hoping this was the town with the Albergue we were staying in. It was not, a few kilometers yet to go.

The town was really just a couple of streets with very few houses. Negreira is still a few towns ahead.