St. James, the Greater

We’re off like a herd of pregnant turtles!

We escaped our hostelier aka “Dr. Driese” and his hangover, and the time warp of the 60’s about 7:45am this morning. Funny he had agreed to provide breakfast at 7:00am and when I saw no one moving at 6:30am, told Claudia let’s leave. Before we got packed and left he had the table set for 7 pilgrims and we felt obligated to stay. We had paid.

Before long he whipped out a display of a toaster and bread, coffee, orange juice, milk, jams and butter. It was good and welcomed. So, we stayed and helped ourselves before we left Casa Alternativo.

Before I left, I made sure and thanked him profusely for the help on my feet. What he did really did make them feel better and put me in great shape for a good day walking. For further information on the miracle blister cure, see the post script below.

The Camino and God provided again.

Our day got off to a great start feeling well and pretty much stayed that way until we stopped for the day. Our pace was good moving from about 2.3 mph to 2.7 mph, which was about what we did the first couple of days.

A big chunk of the morning was walking through the “industrial area” which included granite mining, automotive assembly and who knows what else. A relatively smooth level walk which was good for the feet. As we moved out of the industrial area into the country we continued to see beautiful neighborhoods and yards. The most amazing thing about all the housing and fence construction is it’s all granite. So they are well, solid as a rock.

We continued on our steady pace and finally passed the way mark that said we had less than 100 km to go. The Camino gets much busier from here on out because a lot of pilgrims walk the requisite 100km to receive their Compostelo. So, they start in this area.

On the way we met some pilgrims and talked with them as they walked by. And we also saw many pilgrim friends we had met from the first day. Sean was one and he joined us for lunch. We had a great time getting to know him and enjoyed hearing how the Camino had enriched his life. This is his fourth Camino and I believe in many ways each one has truly been a spiritual experience. I’m beginning to see for myself how it is doing the same for me.

So, the day had gone so well that where we stopped for lunch at 11:30 am was across the street from where we were going to stay tonight. We re-calculated our route and decided to continue on to Saxamonde.

A beautiful town. The albergue, made of granite, is on a very steep hill and as it turns out we are the only pilgrims here tonight. Good thing we didn’t take up the hostelier’s offer of a private room. We have the whole place to ourselves.

The amenities are great. The first hot shower I have had since Sunday night. She washed all of our clothes for us. The beds have sheets and are comfortable, especially with the extra pillow from the bunk bed above us. The best was we asked her where the nearest bar was and she said it was hers across the street. We asked where the nearest restaurant was and it was hers also. So, we had greet tapas and beer when we arrived and a great meal on top of that.

Overall, these pilgrims/herd of pregnant turtles moved very well and got farther than planned sooner than expected.

12.1 miles/almost 30,000 steps

BOM CAMINO!

P.S. DR. DRIESE’s MIRACLE BLISTER CURE
Guaranteed to stop the pain

#1 - Do not ever pop them! If you do and you continue walking, the blister will tear off and leave you with an open wound.

#2 - If you are stupid enough to think popping them will help while walking and the skin does tear off, take off all of the bandages.

#3 - Take a shower and clean your feet. Then let them dry.

#4 - If you didn’t take off all the bandages from both feet, take them all off and go wash your feet again and let them dry.

#5 - Once dry, have a friend spray some antiseptic on any open wounds. Be sure they grab and twist the toe with their bare hands so it hurts enough until you scream.

#6 - Without looking or knowing have them whip out a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and as they mumble “this is gonna hurt” start pouring it all over the wound, continuing to twist your toe. You will scream like a baby while you’re alleged friend makes an evil laugh and comments on your manhood.

#7 - Let it dry and you stop screaming.

#8 - When he comes back, he has cut a chunk off of his aloe vera plant with the same dull knife he has done God knows what else with and walks over to you with an evil grin.

#9 - Again, he grabs your toe and starts rubbing the aloe all over the wound like a mad man. All whilst you are screaming again.

#10 - He orders you to do the same thing with the aloe every 10 minutes. He goes in and continues cooking dinner using the same knife he had used for the aloe.

#11 - Leave your toe open overnight to air.

#12 - Wake up the next morning, walk out the door and walk 12 + miles with virtually no foot pain.

As Dad used to say: “Thar you go!”Read more