A prayer before departing Finisterre for Muxia

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Originally uploaded by johnpigott0820

I think I left some readers of this blog in the dark when I spoke of our trip to Muxia (Moo-shee'-ah). This is small seaport about 30Kms north and slightly east from Finisterre. It has long been associated with St. James and his legendary encounter there with the Virgin Mary. There is a church built right at the edge of the sea that commerates this encounter. Legend also purports that special healing will come to those who walk over the rocks where the boat (made of stone) bearing the Vigin Mary came ashore. A camino route (only 30 Kms) has been established to allow pilgrims to visit this church. Robin and I still had time and our legs and feet were still up to it so we opted to make this short camino. The weather forercast was for rain but we awoke to mostly cloudy skies and dry conditions (once again). We offered a short prayer at the camino cross just before the junction with the Muxia route and jumped off. We were walking strong and made good time to Lires (about 5 kms/hr). We stopped there for lunch and set off again about 30 minutes later. All went well up to the point where the camino route joined the main road to Muxia. There was a set of arrows, painted on the pavement, that directed us uphill to the right. A bit further on was what looked like a camino path with a marker but no arrows directing us off the main road and onto it. So fearing a late afternoon romp through the woods to God knows where we opted to stay on the carretera (car road). We plugged along and got some confidence we were going in the right direction when a hailed car confirmed the Muxia could be reached by making a left turn at the first stop sign. This turned out to be the first intersection since we joined the road. Long story short we arrived in Muxia about 3:30, none the worse for wear. We opted for a pension and checked into the Pension La Cruz which was very close to bus stop for our ride into Santiago the following day. Truth be told we did have to put on our rain ponchos for about one hour out of the whole day. Not bad and that hour was very light rain but just enough to require a poncho. So, we had a proper celebration, a good night's sleep, visited the church of the "Virgen de la Barca," spent some time walking the rocks, and boarded a bus for Santiago at 2:30. We arrived about 5:00 and checked into the Parrador Hotel (one final indulgence). We are looking to head home a bit earlier than planned as we simply made better time than expected. With a bit of luck we will be back home in the next few days. So the physical walking of the Camino is done but much more awaits us as we find time to understand what has happened to us over these many weeks of tramping from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic Ocean. I'll be posting those reflections and some of the lessons we learned in due course. Many thanks to all who have shared this journey with us and especially to all those whose comments and encouragements lightened our load along the way. It is now time to head for home and see if the Camino ever truly ends. All is well in Santiago tonight. Peace be with you.

John