Portuguese/Finisterre/Muxia - Day 18 (21-Oct-2018): Finisterre to Lires (15km)

We had breakfast in the Albergue and said our goodbyes to several people we've travelled with quite a bit lately.  The first way out of town was a bit confusing since we needed to find the route to Muxia.  Not too difficult but not marked until we got to the edge of town in the correct direction.  There was more rural and farm areas than we had expected and the walk was nice. After ~6km we started getting glimpses of the ocean across the fields and through the forests.  We saw lots of the granaries (horreos) and they were a bit different than elsewhere in Galicia - often a bit longer and usually made of stone rather than bricks. The route was not steep but did cross some low hills as we paralleled the coast.  As we got closer to our destination we took an alternate route that looped closer to the coast, giving us nice views of surf and small beaches. Closer to Lires we saw a large beach across the estuary of the Lires river and there were quite a few surfers.  We left the ocean and walked up the river to the head of the estuary and crossed a small bridge into Lires. The village was bigger than I had expected (I suppose it’s a small rather than a tiny village). We saw a nice place with a few cabins and a bar/restaurant where we had lunch of salad, risotto, pimientos de padron and a pitcher of local white wine!  Nearby and up the hill was our Albergue As Eiras - attached to a bar/restaurant and small hotel with the same name. After the usual shower, rinsing clothes, etc. we caught up on our diaries and had a glass of tinto de verano (red wine and lemonade) - something the Spaniards drink rather than the more touristic sangria. We’ll have dinner in the restaurant after 7:30pm.

Lunch in Lires - "A Bana" restaurant

View showing details of granary

stone supports and disks to keep out vermin

More granaries!

Beach near Lires - village is to right ~2km

 and up the estuary of the Rio Lires

It's Sunday and there were quite a few surfers

Nice walking with ocean/beach views

More beautiful ocean views

Nice path thru fields and forests

View of granaries and ocean

Ocean and beach views

Notice the wooden boxes of corn in the granary

Farmlands and ocean in background

Lots of Granaries (Horreo) today

Now the wayposts indicate "A Muxia" (to Muxia)

View of sunrise from Finisterre - as we left town

Portuguese/Finisterre - Day 17 (20-Oct-2018): Cee to Finisterre (22.3km)

Although it's only ~15km from Cee to the town of Finisterre it's another 3km to the lighthouse and milepost zero, so by afternoon we’d walked 22km.  The morning was clear, windy and cool. We had coffee and cookies in the Albergue and then stopped in Corcubion after 2km for pastry and coffee. Then the route crossed the peninsula into the next bay, around that and crossed another peninsula to have our first view of Finisterre and the lighthouse at “the end of the earth”.  We had a cerveza con limon at the beach and walked along a nice paved path into Finisterre. Albergue Cabo da Vila is smallish and well equipped. We dropped off our backpacks, went to the tourist office to pickup our certificates of completion, had a light lunch on the harbor and then walked ~3km to the Finisterre lighthouse. Views were amazing!  Along the way we saw quite a few familiar faces, took lots of photos and had a beer on the terrace near the lighthouse. Back in Finisterre we cleaned up, dropped off laundry and relaxed in the common area.

View looking out over the very

end of the peninsula

Milepost zero at Finisterre - the "end of the world"

View of the Galician coast

People we met en route from Porto

Morning pathway

Beach view

Finisterre lighthouse in the distance!

Church in Corcubion

Neat doorway and sculpture in Corcubion

The beach in Cee - early morning

Portuguese/Finisterre - Day 16 (19-Oct-2018): Logoso to Cee (15.1km)

It was nice to have a private room with bath last night!  We had breakfast in the nearby bar and started walking around 8:30am.  Stopped for coffee in Hospital after only 1.6km because that was the last place before our destination of Cee.  The weather was cool and very windy. We were along the highway for a bit and the remainder was on a gravel track across the hills.  No big climbs but undulated through the forest. Stopped for chocolate and a banana snack and continued. Finally began a very steep descent into Cee and got our first view of the ocean!  Cee is at the head of an inlet and next to it is Corcubion. Although there are several albergues and it seems like a nice sized town we didn’t find too much by way of dining. Had a decent lunch at “Cafe Club” - salad, chipirones a la plancha, fries and a nice bottle of Mencia from Ribeira Sacre.  Managed to save a bit of the wine for later back at the Albergue. We’re staying at Albergue Tequeron, a small place with 6-8 beds but has a nice kitchen for breakfast.

View of Corbubion - Cee is hidden on the right

First view of the ocean

Beginning the steep descent 

Little church midway - we snacked here

Sunny and windy day 

Track in the woods

Beautiful scenery at ~1000' elevation

At Hospital the way splits - going

either to Finisterre or Muxia.  We

go to the left to Finisterre

Portuguese/Finisterre - Day 15 (18-Oct-2018: Santa Marina to Logoso (17.2km)

We were up and had breakfast around 7:30am and left the Albergue before 8:30.  We were pleased that the rain had stopped. The weather was cool and windy with a bit of fog and clouds.  We had nice views of the sunrise and continued with several steady climbs up and over ridges. After ~6km we had cake and coffee then proceeded.  We continued the ups and downs, passing views of a large reservoir and then stopped in Olveiroa for a nice lunch - cerveza con limon and shared a mixed salad and pimientos de padron.  We crossed another ridgeline with a row of wind generators and entered the little hamlet of Logos - only a handful of buildings with a the bar/albergue and a pension owned by the same people.  Reservations were booked through the Albergue Logoso but we stayed next door in Pension Pedra in a nice double room with bath. We relaxed in the wind and sun with a glass of wine and watched the pilgrims pass by.  An interesting group from Switzerland - parents and 4 young children had walked from their home to Santiago in stages over three years or so. We walked 500m to a restaurant owned by the same family that runs the albergue/pension and had dinner.  

View of Logoso - only a handful of buildings

Cindy heading up another hill

Countryside much different than we've

travelled through until now

Pleasant pathway

Old church and  cemetery

Another view of stone Horreo - granary

These Horreo (granaries) differ in style from

place to place.  These are longer and made from stone 

slabs.  The are on "feet" of stone topped by disks 

to keep out rodents and pests

Pine tree, horreo and countryside

Scenery and pathway

Low clouds and farmlands

Our path was to the west and the sunrise at our backs

Not rainy but cool and windy

Portuguese/Finisterre - Day 14 (17-Oct-2018): Negreira to Santa Marina (21.7km)

We had coffee and pastry in the albergue and were walking by around 8:30am.  Weather was cool and foggy for most of the morning so the walking conditions were good. The path was on a rural highway for some stretches but mostly on the gravel tracks and included some very good climbs.  No bars or cafes for 2nd breakfast. While I was resting along the trail a fellow peregrino from 2014 came along (Tony from Australia - we had walked with him and his wife off and on for a few weeks in 2014). What a pleasant coincidence!  After ~12km we stopped at a bar for lunch and it started to rain as we left. The “soft rain” continued for the rest of the day’s walking. The scenery would have been nice except for the morning fog and afternoon rain. We reached the very small hamlet of Santa Marina and checked in to Casa Pepa albergue.   There’s nothing other than the albergue so we sat around the bar area and drank wine until time for dinner there.

The kilometers are winding down and now 

mark the distance to Finisterre

Casa Pepa - where we stayed

walking in the rain!

Beautiful countryside

More forest tracks

Fog and farmlands

Tony from Australia!  We were surprised to see

him walk up the trail as we met him

when we walked our second camino in 2013

Forest path in the morning

Church in small village