Not sure where to begin, so some general thoughts first!

I don't think I have experienced such a diverse range of emotions in such a short time for a long while.


I have found it very hard to find one single word to encapsulate our journey from our departure 10 days ago to our arrival in Santiago last sunday morning followed by our return to Ireland last night.


The closest single word is the the one currently popular with the younger generation---

Awesome!

Make no mistake though, it was tougher than I thought it would be.Had it not been for my 2 amazing fellow walkers I am not certain I would have reached Santiago, at least not in the allotted time scale. They were exceptional with their acts of kindness and love, I feel very privileged that we shared our journey.

Along the "Way" I learnt to appreciate some of the simplest things in life.
Never again will I say I don't drink water!. I even became thankful for a bit of rain!
In the baking sun, on the days we walked to Portomarin and then Palas de Rey, the tiny patch of shade from a remote tree or bush was so welcome. The occasional breeze, even though it was laden with "good farmyard smells" provided a bit of relief from the intense heat.

The 3 of us have very different walking styles- "Grainne the goer "was the fastest and fittest of us, I was definitely "Trudy the trailer" and Linda was somewhere in between.So at times we made our own pace and shared some steps with other walkers from all over the world, of all ages, all abilities, all languages, all of whom watched out for each other.

I am so glad that I invested in the hiking poles on the advice of Camino forum members. I really don't think  I would have been able to manage without them and I named them Peter and Paul after my oldest son and my nephew.

My "penguins" rain poncho also became an essential and aquired the names of my other 2 sons.

The microfibre mini hand towel was indispensible as I wore it around my neck to prevent sunburn and when sprinkled with water cooled me down for a few moments.

Plasters, aspirins, compeeds, sun lotion and sudocreme were never far away!

Finally my Legionaires hat whch looked a tad ridiculous when I bought it, proved to be the perfect hat for the journey providing shade and shelter against any elements we encountered.

the Penguin Poncho

I always carried it with me after Portomarin

Thought for the day- If you believe you can do it, you are right. If you believe you can't do it, you are also right.