Camino de Finisterre Day 52: Dumbrìa - Muxìa

To the ocean!

From Dumbrìa through a series of villages... Horreos, horreos and more horreos. Old horreos and new horreos, stone horreos and concrete horreos. 

I stopped at a bar and asked for tortilla, and the lady disappeared for a long while and then brought me a whole one, freshly made - a frittata the size I would make for my whole family! While waiting for the preparation of this marvel of the culinary arts, I passed the time chatting with Mary Beth, from Alaska, Chloe, who is from Florida but has cousins in Santiago, and their Welsh friend (whose name I don't recall). 

Pushing on, within a few hours I had covered almost 20 km, passing by some outstanding examples of 20th century Spanish vernacular architecture, so tacky they were almost beautiful! 

Then I rounded a corner and suddenly, there it was - the ocean!

It was even more exciting than arriving at the cathedral in Santiago. From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic! I struggled to maintain my composure as there were two ladies doing garden chores in the house on the corner and I didn't want to make a scene! I thought of telling them I had walked from the Mediterranean but decided against it as I figured they had probably seen thousands of pilgrims go past their house and get over-excited at the sight of the ocean. 

The path teasingly led me so close to the ocean I could hear the waves, and then up a hill and away from the water again. To the Monasterio de Moraime, where I collected a stamp and some advice about where to go and what to see in Muxìa from the tourist office. 

Then through the woods, down the hill - and, at last - onto the beach!

Here I decorated my backpack with a scallop shell. Many pilgrims carry a scallop shell or coquille St. Jacques right from the start of the Camino, but I preferred to return to the original tradition of carrying a shell only after reaching the ocean.

Then I soaked my tired feet in the Atlantic!

Slinging my hiking boots over my shoulder, I set off barefoot along the boardwalk toward the town of Muxìa.

When I arrived at Albergue Bela Muxìa and joined the queue at the reception desk I heard someone loudly calling my name. Valter, a fellow Hospitalero Voluntario from Italy, was waiting for me and had saved me a place. Once I had settled in he showed me around town, and we attended evening mass at the Virgen de la Barca, the church on the rocks above the ocean, with two other Hospitaleros from Italy who also happened to be staying at the same albergue, which I gather is a legend among pilgrims. 

This St. Jacques looks rather astonished, as if he too has just set eyes on the ocean for the very first time

Dinner: after eating canned tuna all across Spain, a whopping great steak of fresh tuna, for a change! 

To the ocean!
Dumbrìa - Muxìa 25 km