Hola Amigos,

If you’re here to find the link to donate that’s here Do it in a dress – Camino Finisterre.

Another day another 30kms! I earnt myself another Compostela today by walking from Finisterre into Muxia. A small coastal town with a long, long history! The Virgin Mary, Napoleon’ forces, Germans, Moors, Saxon’s, Norman Pirates, the remains of St. John the Apostle a few of those who it’s said have been here.

An early start with my new friend Jisca. And yes she dunks her croissant into her hot chocolate for breakfast. She also always asks when someone moves house or talks about where they live ‘how far is it to get a clossant’? She figures if she knows how long it takes you to walk, ride, drive to get a croissant she can create a picture of the kind of life, village you live in. Oh the French and their obsession with the boulangerie (bakery). Today Jisca finished her camino in Muxia … one she started in Paris six years ago. What an incredible commitment. Each holiday walking a little closer to Santiago.

The buildings in this countryside blend so beautifully with the landscape. I never tire of admiring them and taking yet another farmhouse photo. Every farm currently has at least a field of corn and a patch of some sort of cabbage. I’ve seen many a skythe being sharpened, beans laid out and onions hanging to dry. You get the sense that seasonal traditions are how life is lived here. Farmers farm as we wander through narrow lanes that pass alongside their work sheds and homes. Old metal beds are repurposed as gates and the unmistakable Galician granary’s with their unique architecture never get old. We walk under washing lines and smell the tortilla cooking (or the over-riding smell of cow shit). Sorry! did I just take away a little of the romance … there’s a lot of cow shit in Galicia.

There’s a fiesta in town and it’s party central … in Spanish style it’s only kicking off now at 9.30 pm. I ate in tonight … pasta for the long day tomorrow. I start walking back to Santiago. As luck would have it I met an Irish girl who is also attempting to walk back over two days. Some may say that’s the camino providing! I literally ran into her at the tourist office as she walked into town. Aside from the distances walking back with the arrows pointing the other way it going to be a tad challenging (my sense of direction is not always trustworthy) … I seem to enjoy sitting these for myself! I walk for the solitude and spirituality but also for the physicality. Hiking is my love and my sport.

And again I’m loving how the camino unfolds with each unknown step. The people, the landscape, life along the trail, the lessons, the challenges, the character strength you can’t not develop. My feet are beginning to hurt but any discomfort is far outweighed by how much the experience gives.

On the camino yesterday’s long gone and tomorrow is an unknown exciting promise.

Buen Camino and thanks for writing back! I love reading your thoughts. I’ll reply when I’m not walking, sorting food, washing clothes, hanging with a fellow hiker or writing here. Probably at the airport on Monday ;)

Fran xx