Camino a Santiago - caminoasantiago.com

Ponte Maceira.

One of the enchantments Santiago holds for me is that once you've walked ten minutes out of Obradoiro you're already in the countryside, and this is what characterizes the Way to Fisterra.

After passing through the oak woods of San Lourenzo, to which Rosalia de Castro dedicates a poem in "Follas Novas", one of her most famous works, the Camino becomes completely rural. In Trasouto is the country house of
San Lourenzo, of medieval origin, with a church containing baroque and Renaissance works of art, and a beautiful boxwood garden.

Autumn in Negreira

You walk among cultivated vegetable gardens and green meadows where cows graze tranquilly. One of the characteristics of Galician cows is that they often
have their own names, since these are family operations with very few cows. It is pure poetry to hear country folk calling a cow by its name: "Come, Bright Star!" "Gid-up, Pretty Girl!" It should not be
forgotten that one of the most representative works by Manolo Rivas is "A Million Cows."

In Ponte Maceira one should stop and have a refreshment on one of the terraces beside the river, with its bridge, dams and the ancient mills. The entire town is very well preserved. I'm surprised by
this because the rest of Galicia is known for an architectural ugliness that mixes houses of cement, glazed tile, stone and timber with roofs of tile, slate, uralite and metallics in a style that some
define as "eclectic," and that I qualify more as an eyesore.

Church of Saint Julian in Negreira

Negreira is an example of this, because next to well-preserved stone houses and historical structures like the city hall and the Pazo de O'Coton, you find blocks of diverse heights, colors and architectural styles.

From Negreira the Camino coincides in several stretches with the ancient true Way to Fisterra, as attested to by towns such as Camino Real and Portocamino.

The pilgrims' refuge of Negreira can be found on a hill on the way out of town, across the Barcala River a kilometre from the town centre - a small distance if one is going at full strength, but a tiresome trek if your energies are starting to be tested.

I saw no pilgrims during this stage of the walk, which no longer surprises me because on the Silver Way I ran into only two female pilgrims in 8 days. But upon arriving in Negreira I observed a lot of activity. And except for a Basque boy, all the pilgrims, some 10 of them, were foreigners.

Family group of granaries

The route to Fisterra is recommended in all the foreign guides, and it really is worth doing the extra 3 or 4 days, if we pass through Muxia, to arrive at "Land's End."

Besides, the guides say one must bath (in the sea) in Fisterra and burn some personal effects, and foreign pilgrims follow the tradition to the letter, even if it's the middle of November, raining, windy, stormy and white foam on the Atlantic water. Crazy people!!

A curious ram

After Negreira you will notice the large quantity of granaries, at times stuck together. As you can see in the photo, I was able to fit four in the same picture, and there were more in the surrounding areas.

Once we've conquered the Aro mountain, 556 metres up, we enter the district of Terra de Xallas, with the river and the impressive reservoir of A Fervenza as visual references.

This stage - which we did in a rainstorm that in Galicia we call "xiada" or a drizzle, for obvious reasons, since at first it feels like you don't really get wet and when you finally realize it you're soaked - ends after crossing the 16th-century bridge over the Xallas River in Olveiroa, which has one of the most unique pilgrims' refuges of all those I've seen, and
I've now seen many. It consists of several buildings of restored stone, with stables for horses, places for bicycles, and a kitchen with "lareira", a mix between heating and cooking place.

The pilgrims' refuge at Olveiroa

But the most unique aspects of this refuge are the decorative details. The hospitaller has placed flowers, figurines, vases, sheer window curtains,
etc., around the place so that you'll feel at home. Also, the gastronomical offering is simple, local and not very diverse. There's always a pot of hot soup at the pilgrim's disposal. I can guarantee you that after a long stretch of walking in the rain, it will taste heavenly. It's the only case where I don't agree with Mafalda, the cartoon girl that hates soup writen by argentinian Quino.

If you want to see the photos of the Way to Fisterra-Muxia, click here.

¡¡Ultreia!!

Onwards!

Olveiroa, 11 November 2003

Translated by Ana Young (ayoung2001@yahoo.com) on March the 24th, 2004