Day 23: To León

Saturday morning, I started off on what would be a 15 mile walk to Leon. So far, I’ve been really fortunate avoiding the common ailments that are common if not predictable with such long daily walks. I’ve only suffered one small blister. Unfortunately, shortly after starting out this morning a tightness/pain developed in my left shin. I walked/limped through a few little towns on the way in. Mantilla Mayor had me seeing spots when I briefly stopped there, and it also had another nice mural. I passed another bell tower that was home to massive stork nests and the “new” bridge into town. (It was built in 1778). I also met a new Camino family member (Sally Jo from Houston) that helped take my mind off my aching shin. By the time I made it onto Leon (it seems to take forever to get from the rural countryside into the heart of the big cities), I wasn’t sure if I would be able to continue without giving my ankle a day or two of rest. (The standard prescription for what I am pretty certain is a “shin splint” or tendonitis). I stopped by a Farmacia and picked up some Ibuprofen, stopped by a bar and had lunch and a Tinto de Verona (basically red wine and lemon soda) and then rested awhile in my albergue. I also confirmed with them that I would be able to stay an extra night or two if needed and would let them know in the morning. Before long I was getting restless and the local 400mg ibuprofen had kicked in so I walked to the Leon Cathedral (it was spectacular) where I ran into my Camino buddy Kelly. We walked around the old town, took touristy photos, and acted silly (it was a great distraction from my shin). We then met up with our friends Collin from Austin, Sunny from Amsterdam, George from London & Bryan from Australia, and another pilgrim for dinner. Afterwards I hobbled back to my albergue, got off my feet and was in bed by 7:30. Hopefully tomorrow I can continue onward…Read more