Bonus
quest: a trip to the Cap de Fisterra
As if it
were not enough to bike more than 4000 kilometers and successfully finishing my
Camino Europe, having had few days to spare, I gladly jumped at the chance to
visit the Cap of Fisterra, a very famous place, also known as the end of the
world. It was only 100+ km away from Santiago, so why not. After reaching the
end of the world, I can proudly proclaim that I am not only a determined
pilgrim, but also an intrepid traveler who could not travel more far away in
this direction. Fisterra is known for its merciless streams, steep cliffs and
dangerous waves that wreak havoc with many a ship. It is the sheer power of
nature and its element that is neither good, nor bad, just indifferent and
present since ever. Maybe that is the reason that Fisterra has become a famous
place to visit not only for pilgrims. The grandeur of nature is supposed to
bring up stifled thought and from deep within enforces contemplation. As the
end of the world, it also represents a new beginning, washing away all worries
and starting a new life, something as a pagan rebirth. Therefore, I wonder why
it is so much associated with the Christian Camino, but one must bear in mind
that not all pilgrims are religious, thus this place might have some other
spiritual significance to them. Nonetheless, everything is just a point of
view. The end of the world for travelers and pilgrims is for local people from
Galicia actually the point, from where everything starts. This thing one should
remember when encountering people with other beliefs and views of the world. Everything
just seems different when looked through another eyes. Different must not
always need to be better or worse, that is also just a point of view – just –
different.
I guess the
summer is coming to an end because the sunrise starts always later and mornings
are getting colder. It is good that my trip is coming to an end, too because
sleeping in a tent stops being pleasant when the temperature goes below 7 in
the morning.
Today is
supposedly my last real biking day and this also brought me some kind of nostalgia.
As I biked in silence, I went through all the moments from my trips that stuck
in my mind. For breakfast I bought in a small village a baguette and some kind
of a Spanish pie with ham, tomatoes, chicken and corn. It was like two pizzas
put together and it was absolutely delightful. If I just had remembered the
name of this cake … By the way, Spanish baguettes pale in comparison with the
original French ones.
For another
break I stopped to buy some food in a local supermarket. Well, I would not
really call it a supermarket, it was just a smaller shop owned by the locals.
Today, there were no bigger towns on the route and because I did not have
anything to eat, I had to acquiesce with paying a little bit more than I would
dash off in Lidl. To enjoy the Spanish food to the fullest, I bought Jambon
Serrano (prosciutto), some local biscuits, milk and toast bread. When I was
about to pay by the cashier, the woman said something in Spanish which I could
not follow, but as I later understood, she wanted to persuade me to buy a
baguette instead of toast bread. I thought she wanted to talk me into buying something
extra I did not really wanted, so I refused. Later, I understood that she
probably wanted to sell out fresh bakery products that can easily go off and
changed the toast bread for baguette by myself. She looked happy about that and
gave me some nectarines as a reward. That was really a win-win situation,
supposing that I paid 1 € for two nectarines in Estella. For me it did not
really mattered whether I have a fresh baguette or never-go-bad toast full of
preservatives, even though that kind of toast bread would match better to my prosciutto
than the Spanish baguette, but I was happy to help out.
In the
afternoon I went through various little villages in Galicia and I can confirm
what the Korean guy told me in the cathedral yesterday. He was wondering how it
is possible that all houses looked so pretty despise the economical crisis
about which he had heard so much. This stroke me as well – the villages were in
a significantly better state than other villages I had a chance to see in Spain
or France. I suppose this is because the agriculture is thriving in this region
due to the fertile land. All the way I could see fields which clearly points
out to the fact that the locals can actually do better with growing crops than
the other regions from Camino tourism. Even though the trip to Fisterra is
famous for all pilgrims, I have fortunately not seen endless streams of
touristic pseudo-pilgrims anymore. Those pseudo-pilgrims have probably taken a
bus, instead. I would like to mention one interesting thing that is very
typical for this region. Almost every house had a special silo with a cross for
keeping the crops and all looked the same. Also, I have seen people in the
field farming in the old-fashioned way. No heavy machinery as in France or
Germany. Maybe those I have seen were just small farmers, but I definitely did
not envy working on the sun all day long. Galicia is also very well known for
its culture that bears striking resemblance to the Irish culture with bagpipes
and colors. Also, I have spotted countless images of witches and different
ancient symbols on local souvenirs - no idea why, but it looks as if ancient
cultures and religions had enjoyed a proud tradition in this region.
Arriving at
Fisterra was easier than I expected. I did the route remarkably fast. Then, I
finally enjoyed my lunch/dinner with a magnificent view over the ocean from a
cliff at the end of the world. I have also realized that not every prosciutto is
of the same quality. That luxurious stuff from Pamplona was definitely way
better than this one I bought today, for around 28 €/ kg. But still, I needed
some proteins for my already tired muscles and this was the best (and most local)
way to get them. Yes, I feel tiredness, indeed. When I push on my thigh, it is
hard as steel and it hurts a little. But now it is over, I will not do much
biking besides trolling in the city, and maybe in two days in Barcelona I will
have a small tour around the coast, but that will be basically it.
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