Hills, blister and extraordinary mosaics

This has felt like a tough day. The first 2.5 miles were through the city of Vigo and I just wasn’t feeling it. Then we turned a corner, walked up the first section of a long, long hill and suddenly, there was greenery, flowers, trees. Immediately my spirits were lifted. And then… the hills.

It was the kind of hill where I felt like I needed to lean forward the whole time for fear of toppling over backwards. It was tough, really tough. I used my usual ploy - walk slowly enough to trick my body that it’s not walking uphill. That works. To a point. I took breaks and slowly, slowly got to the top of the hill, trying not to be jealous of the young, spry folks who whizzed past me.

What followed was much more manageable, mostly flat with a few gradual inclines and declines.

The photo above is of one section of the hill - it does not look as bad as it felt 🤣.

By about mile 5 my right foot with the blister was hurting quite badly, not just the blister area but other parts of my foot that were compensating and taking more pressure. Overall, a mess 😩.

We ended up at a lovely little restaurant at mile 7, had a hearty meal and then took a taxi back to the hotel. This was not the planned destination for the day.

After a nap, Kate and I ventured out and ended up unexpectedly at Mass in maybe the most stunning sanctuary we have seen on this trip so far. My photos do not do it justice unfortunately. These mosaics are in the Concatedral - Basílica de Santa María de Vigo. They were created by Santiago Padrós Elias, a Catalan painter and mosaicist.

And of course, what struck us most, were the clear and bright rainbows 🌈! But the whole effect was quite stunning.

So… hills, a pesky blister and soaring beauty inside a church. Sounds about right for a day on Camino! Praying for a heart that remains open to all that each day brings 🙏.