Distance: 35.0km (78.4km / 1219.0km).
Weather: Cloudy and rainy.
In a way, the long wrong turn, walking in the opposite direction and having to sojourn out in the rain to get food, only added to the exitement of yesterday. So I was the last to go to bed yesterday, needing to have a moment to myself, calming myself down. Today, I was the first to wake up, seeing the need for time going against the current towards A Coruña. Thankfully a shorter distance today. Most of the other people here will head for Siguero. As it was a pleasant company yesterday, it would have been great to walk together with them today.
Albergue de Peregrinos de Hospital de Bruma in the morning.
Finding the junction where the routes from A Coruña and Ferrol intersects was my first complexity today. I had talked to the hospitalero and he had given me some information, containing one important fact. The Camino has been rerouted, and both routes now joins before As Travesas if you walk towards Santiago de Compostela. It is on the same road that I had to walk up to yesterday, only in the other direction. It was raining quite the amount outside when I ate breakfast, but when I leave the ancient pilgrim hospital it has lessened some.
The descent through woods from As Travesas.
After As Travesas (the walk here mostly constisting of walking next to the road) there is a signpost pointing towards Ferrol, but not for A Coruña. Scrutinizing the map closely, I do manage to find the way, confirmed by a welcoming yellow arrow sometime later. As Travesas is also the highest point on the English Way, at 450m. Fronting farmland and acres on both sides first, the Camino soon starts to make a long descent on a forest path. The Camino emerges from the woods into a small farmland hamlet before finding cover under the trees again.
Looking back at the Camino coming down from As Travesas, coming from A Coruña you will go up that hill.
That this is the ultimate day of my walk is hard to fathom, or convince myself that it is, accustomed as I am to this way of life after so many days of walking. Weather has been nice to me so far. Much kinder than the forecast, but that I will be spared rain today is not possible. The horizons are bleak. And it soon starts to rain. Not suspecting to meet any one, one lonesome pilgrim trudges past me. I stop for a coffee and some food at a bar in Sardones, a small village featuring some old buildings with worn facades. I know I will miss the Spanish café con leche when I am back home. Missing the waymarker out of the village, or rather the ones into Sardones, I go a short stretch on the road before having to retrace my steps.
Old buildings with worn facades in Sardones.
Angles can sometimes be misleading, signs may appear logical when viewed from one angle, but not from another. Coming from the opposite direction, this is such an angle. A large yellow arrow painted on a fonte entices me to follow the road next to it, where a short steep descent follows. Placing me at the mercy of a junction with no waymarks. I spend some time finding the correct route from here, backtracking once up to the yellow arrow. If coming from A Coruña, I would have seen the arrow from another angle, the correct one after walking through a section of forest path. This was just before Sergude, you will get here afterwards. There is now an albergue in Sergude, nice if you want to split the 32.5km to Hospital de Bruma.
A long gone house.
During my search for the Way, the rain intensified.
Dark clouds coming rolling over the horizon.
More walk through farmland and villages, before I approaches the area on the map looking like continuous settlements all the way to A Coruña. Here I go the wrong way again, it is easy to make these mistakes when walking in the reverse direction, but this one was more or less my own fault for not paying enough attention. I end up in Altamira on a very busy road, but manages to find my way back without the need to backtrack.
A rainy day on the Camino Inglés.
Rain arrives for full before I get to Sigrás, where I head for a bar for shelter and an exclusive lunch. On the 43rd and final day, I feel that I have earned it, I have about 14km left of my quattro Caminos.
The old well outside the Church of Santiago in Sigrás.
Sun is then miraculously appearing in holes above. Welcoming after so much darkness on the sky. Again the route does not match my map, making it difficult to get onward through an industrial area. Finding the way, I also finds two other pilgrims. Now near the airport, i have quite good views of the weather ahead. It looks promising, but that promise is surrounded by dark omens.
Church of Santiago in Sigrás.
Down at the Ponte de Burgo, another nice old bridge, the Camino joins a riverside promenade. It must be great to get here after the walk throgh the cityscape of A Coruña and its outskirt. It is welcome to me too. It feels like the announcement of the end of my journey, although a nice one at that. Gentle weather and relaxed people about. Out in the river, or in the small wetlands next to, are various birdlife, with the then mandatory birdwatchers lined up on the promenade.
Peregrino in painting on wall before the riverside promenade towards Portazgo.
Without having been a spectacular walk, the promise of bad weather and uncertain routefinding has made this day exciting too. Now, with A Coruña almost around the corner and good weather, I loose some of my tension. The river promenade ends, after about 3.5km, chasing me up into Portazgo and nothing but a city walk from here on. The route rises a little, gently, providing views back down to the river.
Ponte do Burgo.
In A Coruña, already starting in the outskirts, I have to follow the directions I had jotted down. Finding the way is not straightforward. Passing by the busstation confirms the way and stir up some memories. Ironically, it is finding the route through the city that proves to be the most difficult. If I were just to go straight to the Santiago church, it would be easy, I know the way there. If I want to follow the Camino properly, it is not.
Ría do Burgo river promenade.
I spend quite some time trying to maneuver myself through the streets, both nrrow and broad, and bustling with people. Always on the lookout for a confirmary waymark, which is not so easy to spot. On the positive sand, I get to see a lot more of the city on the way in than planned. At the large Praza de María Pita, I know that I am close, but still asks for a map at the tourist office (got tired in the end).
John Lennon statue in A Coruña, almost looking like he has grown horns.
A long journey is at its end when I walk up the narrow street to the Igrexa de Santiago, 43 days after I set forth from Lisboa. It is apt that I end up here at the church dedicated to Santiago, when I have not walked to Santiago de Compostela itself. The square in front of the church is far smaller than the Praza do Obraidoiro, but I still need to sit down in the same fashion as there. Only me here though, and no other pilgrims arriving, finishing their Camino. A short and quiet contemplative moment, before I sit down at the café next to the church for a beer. I gratefully arrived under a blue sky.
Igrexa de Santiago in A Coruña. The end of my four Caminos starting from Lisboa in Portugal.
In my mind, I had thought it would be great to walk further, to end my Caminos at the Torre de Hércules. Also a fitting endpoint, but I see the time has been running faster than I had. I consider taking a taxi out, but dismisses the notion. Good thing too, I would not have made it before what little is left of the light would be gone. I have seen the Tower of Hercules before too, so I start walking towards my hotel. It starts to rain. A lot. It makes the Praza de María Pita beautiful.
Rain over the marina in A Coruña.
Reflections are like windows or openings into an alternate version of what you see.
Praza de María Pita.
Luxurygrim the last night, well earned. In the evening, I walk around in the Crystal City as A Coruña is also called. Due to the glass-enclosed galleries on the facades next to the seaport. I like it here. Also in the narrow streets where I look for a pizza parlor for my dinner. A short walk over to the Porta do Sol reveals anything but sun, here a strong wind blows filled with rain.
Concello da Coruña at the Praza de María Pita.
Sitting down, I reminisce of my four Caminos, and become aware that they resembles a cross in a way. Lisboa is the southern end of the cross. The Camino Portugués the lower cross arm. Ponferrada is the eastern end, the Camino Real de Invierno the right cross arm. Muxía / Finisterre the western end and the Camino de Finisterre the left arm. A Coruña is the northern end of the cross, the Camino Inglés the upper cross arm.
The Crystal City in the evening.
I have had a truly varied pilgrimage (or pilgrimages).
<< Hospital de Bruma
No comments:
Post a Comment