Today was a day of backtracking. Finisterre marked the end of my official Camino trip, but I still had to get home. I had booked a flight out of Madrid for the evening of the 18th. This gave me a week longer than the "5 weeks" it takes to walk the Camino, an extra week which I used on rest days and my walk to Finisterre. Now it was time to start my journey home, beginning with a return to Santiago. I left Finisterre on the early morning bus, along with everyone else. There were many people who apparently simply bused over to Finisterre for the night, because there were far more people leaving in the morning than had been on the trail the day before.
I was planning on exploring Santiago and watching the Pilgrims Mass on my return visit, and I even booked a stay at a 5 star hotel, to contrast the spartan nature of my Camino (I was also looking forward to swimming in a pool, and probably getting a massage). But all those weeks of travel had finally caught up with me, and I was feverish and nauseous the whole day. So no Pilgrims Mass for me, although I did manage to barely pick up the box of stuff I shipped ahead. I also stumbled across a cafe that I wish had been open:
I wound up not leaving the hotel room once I checked in until it was time to leave the next morning, but at least I got to experience the 5-star sign!
