Today we walked 11 klms, from Rúa to Lavacolla. We’d decided, all those months ago, that the last few days walk heading into Santiago, would be relaxing, rather than strenuous. A very good plan, as it turns out. We arrived here at 11.30am, after walking through some wonderful countryside, even if it was a bit muddy underfoot from yesterday’s drenching. Our accommodation in Lavacolla is at the unfortunately named, but highly comfortable, Hotel Ruta Jacobea.

We had the great fortune to meet 3 delightful Scottish men, Gerry, Martin and Frank at San Paio and walked the remainder of the way today with them, a distance of several kilometres, chatting all the way. Before leaving San Paio, each had been very interested to understand why we had undertaken this trek and, after explaining, at least in part, the reasons why we had decided to do this, Gerry opened his backpack gave us both a small gift, a ‘holding cross’ that he had hand carved.  When we are in Europe, I do love to go to mass, or just sit quietly in a church for a time, as the sense of peace has such an impact on me.  Gerry’s gift was a surprise, but also overwhelmingly emotional, and I will treasure it, both for the response it provoked and the kindness of the act.

Tomorrow we arrive in Santiago, so our long hike will finally be over. Before we arrive though, we need to cross Rio Lauamentua, a river where, historically, pilgrims stopped and cleansed their ‘nether regions’ and their feet, before arriving at the cathedral for mass. My nether regions are quite clean, thank you very much, so will not be seeing the light of day there and, given the temperatures we’ve been having, I’m very certain I won’t be dipping my tootsies in, either. I have a perverse hope though, that we see some hardy soul brave enough to take the plunge!

Tonight we are going to have a pilgrim’s menu for dinner, usually €10 for 3 courses, including wine. No skinny pilgrims, then, or their wallets, either! Too much food for us though, as each course is the size of a main meal, so we’ll likely share, depending on what dishes are on offer. It’s not expensive, either way..

Someone mentioned recently, that this pilgrimage is all about mind, body and soul. I’d have to agree. Initially it is quite daunting, with so many kilometres to walk and doubts start to creep in ‘can I do this?’, ‘what on earth am I doing here? etc, so you really do have to get your head around that. Secondly, once the walk has started, it is most definitely a physical challenge and, as I learned early on (and unfortunately, had reinforced several times along the way) your body can let you down in ways never imagined and certainly not planned for, but you just need to get up and push on. And then thirdly, the people you meet, the spectacular scenery, the fresh air, the birds singing in the trees, the smells (yes, cow poo and all!) are all wonderful for the soul.

I’m proud of us. We’ve done it , without any major injuries and, more importantly, with our long friendship firmly intact. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve whinged, we’ve sworn, we’ve reflected and we’ve talked for hours on end.

That’s a pilgrimage, right there…

xxx