Nine days since I finished walking and less than a week since I returned home, I’m starting to get my head around what I’ve done. So before the busyness of life, work and ministry overtakes me again, I thought I’d post one last blog to try to bring together what I’ve learned over a week of walking the Camino Frances. It’s an eclectic list - some of it practical, some of it spiritual, some of it unclassifiable! But, for what it’s worth and in no particular order, here’s what comes to mind:

A pilgrimage often starts out as one thing and becomes another - many of those I spoke to started off going for a (very long) walk and ended up having a deeply spiritual experience. If you walk the Camino, pilgrimage will find you, even if you don’t know what it is or whether you want it when you start.

The peace of walking alone or with undemanding company over long distances is the most powerful aid to good thinking and to prayer that I have ever experienced.

Once you get home, stopping is not an option! My feet have been itching to get out of the door each day since I got back.

It’s surprising how little you need for a week - my pack weighed about 6.5kg fully loaded, including water, and I still brought back a few items unused.

Preparing your mind and spirit is optional - that happens along the way. Preparing your feet is essential!

Just because folk are walking the Camino like you are doesn’t mean that they are ALL your kind of people - but mostly I met lovely, kind, open-hearted fellow pilgrims as I walked.

God is as much, if not more, present in the people you meet and the natural world you encounter along the way as He is in the churches that punctuate it, especially as many are sadly not open.

Being vegetarian / pescatarian in northern Spain is manageable, but monotonous. I suspect being vegan or gluten-free / dairy-free might be a lot more challenging.

Next time, I’ll learn more Spanish.

Long-distance walking turns you into a Hobbit - second breakfast become a very important feature of my Camino.

One Camino isn’t enough! I didn’t meet a single person who didn’t express a desire to go back, including me.

And finally … tarta de Santiago is absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make. So I’ll finish with a bonus - the recipe for my favourite Camino dessert.

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm springform cake tin.

Whisk 4 medium eggs and 200g of caster sugar together until pale, creamy and about doubled in volume. Fold in 200g of almond flour / ground almonds and the zest of one lemon, taking care to retain as much air in the mixture as possible. Pour the batter into the lined tin.

Bake for about 30 minutes until pale golden on top and until a skewer comes out of the cake clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out and remove lining. Once completely cool, dredge the top with icing sugar. Traditionally, the top is marked with a cross of St James - to do this, print and cut one out, place it on top of the cake, removing after adding the icing sugar.

Goes extremely well with a strong cup of coffee!

And, for one last time, Buen Camino!