Bus tour from Santiago de Compostela

Today was just being a tourist. We had prebooked a bus tour out to the coast from Santiago de Compostela. The coach left from a park very close to our hotel at 9.00am and we didn’t get back until 6.30pm, so a long day. Unfortunately it was a foggy and slightly drizzly day. The coach sat 60 and it was full, and we had a driver and and Ivana an English speaking guide. Ivana made quite a few announcements and commentary during the day and they were in four languages, Spanish, French, Italian and English. As you can imagine each announcement took quite a long time. She also varied which language was spoken first. The main highlights of the trip were:

The Muros estuary with many beautiful beaches and it would have looked great on a nice day. We stopped at a fishing village with time for coffee.

The Horreo de Carnota at Carnota. This is the second largest horreo in Galicia and was the result of two parishes competing to be the most important.

The Erazo Waterfall. This is located in a fiord and is a little unique because it falls into the sea. Dozens of these in Milford Sound when it rains.

Finisterre, the end of the earth. It was very foggy here and we could hardly see the lighthouse. Traditionally pilgrims walked from Santiago to Finisterre where they burned their clothes and shoes and bathed in the sea. Burning is now banned. We did see the steel boot and the 0.000km marker.

Then down to the fishing village of Fisterra where we could go to a restaurant for lunch. They allowed one and a half hours for lunch!

We went to Finisterre and Fisterra eight years ago and the weather was exactly the same, foggy and drizzly.

Muxia also on the coast which has a lighthouse, a charming Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Barca. There is a new monument there to the hundreds of pilgrims who came to help clean up the coast after a tanker accident. In 2002 the Prestige Tanker spilled 70,000 gallons of oil into the Atlantic Ocean. The biggest industry in Galicia is fishing so this was a disaster for the province and it was five years before fishing could restart.

The final stop was the village of Pontemaceira, considered one of the most beautiful villages in Galicia. It has a wonderful medieval bridge and of course a few legends relating to the bridge. Pilgrims who carry on walking from Santiago to Finisterre cross over this bridge and stay in the village.

The highlights were Muxia and Pontemaceira. It was a sleepy sort of day. At least this is how we feel when we are in a coach for a long time. We got chatting with two America guys who had also walked from Porto to Santiago. The older one was 84 and his young mate 79. They didn’t look very sturdy on their feet and took ages getting on and off the coach. One had a steel knee and the other a replacement hip. I thought they were an inspiration. Barbara thought they just didn’t know when to call it quits.

When we got back from the tour we found a nice bakery and bought two pieces of cake to celebrate Barbara’s big O birthday. A sort of apple crumble cake. It was scrumdiddlyumptious.

It was probably not too bright doing the coach tour today as we are back on a bus tomorrow. Leaving Santiago de Compostela at 9.30am and getting back to Lisbon at 5.45pm  – a distance of 608 kilometres.