It was a short bus trip from Finisterre to Muxia, a charming fishing village in Galicia in north-western Spain.
Muxia is off the mainstream Camino path and not many pilgrims actually go there, so there were no albergue ‘recruiters’ waiting at the bus stop. It took us a while to find the Tourist Information Centre and from there decided to go to a private albergue on the marina. After a short wait the hostess/owner made an appearance and we could check in. I did not like the look and feel of the place; it had a very small kitchen which was almost inaccessible because the owner and her partner lived on the premises and it was actually their kitchen. She prepared fish for their evening meal and the whole establishment had an overwhelming ‘fishy’ smell. Nevertheless, Leni liked it and none of the other options were any better so we decided to stay.
Based on information Leni received from her assistant Gerhard back home, we decided to visit the acclaimed waterfall Caldeiras do Castro which is about 10 km out of town. With the help of our hostess we got a taxi with a driver who could not speak a word of English. He was rather a charming chap and when we got to the falls he got out and escorted us instead of waiting in the car. I am convinced he had never been to the falls before, judging by the obvious pleasure he derived from seeing it and being there! He took numerous photos and ‘selfies’ and was in no rush to leave. We heard afterwards that he posted photos of his experience on Facebook.
Back in town we spent the afternoon visiting all the other points of interest.
A Ferida symbolizes the wound that had been inflicted on the sea by the spilling of 66,000 tons of oil when the tanker Prestige broke apart off the coast of Muxia on November 13, 2002. The sculpture is 11 meters high, and weighs over 400 tons.
Legend has it that one of the apostles was trying to Christianize the local inhabitants. He was having no luck and was discouraged when the Virgin Mary appeared to the apostle to comfort him. The Celtic stones near the church are now said to be the remains of the Virgin Mary’s stone boat.
This is officially our last night together so we ended the day with a meal in a restaurant overlooking the harbour. I thoroughly enjoyed Muxia!
Leni flies home tomorrow and I will be spending a day in Madrid.