Something hurts every day. Fortunately no blisters but the feet and toes have hurt, as have hips, calf muscles and backs. Some for days on end and some for just a while, long enough to be noticed.

And most days some pain relief has helped me to take the edge off.

It’s definitely a test to acknowledge the pain and not get caught up in how bad it is. There are many more kilometres to go and nothing to do but put another foot in front of the other.

We have learnt… the distances each day are now shorter, no more 30 km days. It means for a gentler day and more time to explore when we arrive.

The scenery continues with outlooks of towns, villages, rural and woodlands. It is neither dull nor drudgery. It is human life we are passing, beautiful at every turn.

Pictures of our days…

Day 7: O Porriño to Redondela 16k

Day 8: Redondela to Pontevedra 20k

The route has become busier with the coastal and the central Camino routes come together at Redondela, as well as people doing just the last 100km, which is enough to get them their camino certificate.

The bridge is Roman and in it’s current form dates from the Middle Ages.  A battle between the Galician troops and the French army during the peninsular war took place here in 1809.

Day 9: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis 23k

Up early to beat the rain but alas the rain starts just as we leave. Time to test the wet weather gear – rain pants and jackets on and the pack covers in place.

This marks a change in the weather with varying degrees of rain for the rest of the walk.

Day 10: Caldas de Reis to Padrón 19k

Although the pictures don’t show it, it was A Crowded House day… “Four Seasons in One Day”. From warm sun to dark black clouds and hail storms.

We walked through the hail. The temperature dropped so much that stopping wasn’t an option. Walking was the only way for me to keep warm. We hadn’t planned clothing for such extreme weather.

And then the sun shone again and the fingers eventually thawed out.

Day 11: Padrón to Pedreira 15k

Day 12: Pedreira to Santiago de Compostela 12k

Nearly there…

We got our passports back in Porto, at the cathedral, and each night they have been stamped as proof of your pilgrimage plus one other stamp during the day. Conveniently a-lot of cafes have a stamp.

Holy Week is a particularly important time for some pilgrims to end their pilgrimage. Most churches we have passed have a list of activities planned to commemorate this week in their spiritual calendar.

So amazing to be here! 256km done!! (from our official watch tracking info).

Off to the Pilgrims an office for our official certificates.

There are 2 certificates, one in Spanish confirming which pilgrimage we have walked and the offical distance of 240kms and the other is the certificate is in Latin, just because we could.

Usually there is a pilgrims mass held in the cathedral a few times each day but not this week. A combination of works being done at the cathedral and the Holy Week celebrations.

Instead we stayed on for another day and were able to have a look inside the cathedral. And being Good Friday we did manage to find ourselves at the midday mass.

As I stood in a church towards the end of the walk, after being out of sorts with myself for a couple of days the word faith came to mind.

We all need faith, right? Faith may be a god or texts, it may be knowing you’ll say hello to your neighbour tomorrow, or knowing that when you put your hands into the soil, you will be connected. We are all different and it seems our faith will be too.

But while meditating a couple days after finishing the walk it occurred to me that faith is inside us. Faith that we are ok, faith that we love ourselves just as we are – that we believe in ourselves, however we are each day, each moment, a sum of all our life experiences.

I tend to forget this, I am me and I am loveable just as I am. There is more work to do here… but then life is a pilgrimage.

At its heart, the journey of each life is a pilgrimage through unforeseen sacred places that enlarge and enrich the soul

John O’Donohue