After waking several times in the night, I wake and surprisingly feel well rested. My left foot, which was quite swollen when I went to bed, seems to be much happier now.
I open my beautiful little window and see that the sky is clear and the sun is shining. I make a mental note to make sure that I put my rain-cover on anyhow. Same theory as going for a walk without your umbrella, it's just asking for trouble!
After quickly packing my things, I pop into the bar to pay my bill and get a quick breakfast. As I sit there, alone in the bar, eating my pastry, I notice the bar tender prepare a cafe con leche and warm a Neapolitana and place it on the bar. I look at the clock and its 7:58am. Within seconds a policeman comes in and without saying anything, quickly eats his breakfast and then heads out of the door without paying. Pretty nice life this guy must have!
As I walk through town I think to myself to be on the lookout for a bank. I have only 8 euros left and am not sure if there will be banks in the small towns coming up. The sun is shining and I am enjoying hearing the birds sing while taking photos of all the beautiful things I see as I go. Before I know it I have left the town and notice that I am walking through a valley with beautiful flat topped mountains around on all sides. The sky is bright blue with puffy white clouds slowly blowing across and forming different shapes as they go. I can see for miles ahead and can clearly make out the Camino snaking through the valley and then up the side of the steepest flat topped mountain. As pretty as it is, it's not a good feeling to be tormented for miles by a huge hill with tiny little any like figures crawling their way up. Soon enough I am at the top looking back over the valley and can see most of the distance that I've covered in the past two days.
The walking, after the big hill, is easy in the beautiful weather and only 20k today which feels like nothing in the end. Everyone is cheerful and chatty as they walk since the sun is shining.
Along the way I met an American named Cheri, who is a yoga instructor in San Antonio, and we chatted for a brief time before parting and wishing each other well. I also met two older Italian men walking together, one quiet and fairly shy, the other named Malio, who is not. I saw them several times at different points today. Malio is from Rome and has two grown daughters who also live there but not with him, he has two blisters on his right foot, and just like me, he has a strange rash on his ankles and all his laundry is dirty.
As I come into Boadillo it dawns on me that I never stopped for cash. This means that I have about 8 euro to my name and the albergues do not take credit cards. I keep my eyes open for a bank as I walk through the tiny town but there is none. When I get to the albergue I see that the price for a bed & shower is 6 euro, but laundry, dinner, & breakfast are more. I ask the man registering me if there is a bank anywhere and he says not until Fromista 10k away. "But" he says, "No problem! You have whatever you want and need while you here, then Edwardo make a bill for you with special envelope, and then you pay he friend at bar in Fromista."
"Ummm, seriously?" His reply, "Yes, yes, you see, no problem!" And then the biggest smile ever.
So by this time Cheri & my Italian friends have shown up and as I tell them, I still am not really believing it myself. After my shower, I put on my lovely sundress and sit shivering in the common area next to Malio who is wearing next to nothing as well. We make idol chat, compare funky ankle rashes and our various tubes of cream while we wait for our laundry to be returned to us. When we get our baskets full of warm clothes fresh out of the dryer, we both immediately put every single item on. This is to get warm and also a much easier way to carry it all back to the building we are sleeping in. I find it pretty funny that we have picked up this same weird habit. He does as well. I think our friendship is now sealed.
On a very bizarre and uncanny note, it turns out that Cheri knows my Canadian stairwell friend pretty well. She shared a separate story with me about him and the difficult position he's found himself in with a Camino friend. It seems that he's been walking with someone who is dealing with a horrible divorce and Cheri feels like he's a really good guy who may have been reaching out for a reprieve from his walking partner. So, now I'm forced to see things from a different perspective (Gosh, I just hate it when this happens!) just like I was feeling so desperate to be away from everyone, he probably just needed a bit of a break from his daytime walking partner who is struggling with a lot of anger. All he may have needed was a few minutes alone, or else a few kind or positive words from someone & I was really quite awful to him. I'm feeling pretty bad about the way I spoke to him that night and I'm hoping that at some point I will see him again & have the opportunity to apologize. Cheri also shared with me that he split with his Camino friend a few days ago & is now walking alone. I'm hoping I get the opportunity to make amends.
Dinner at the albergue is just amazing. We have garlic soup and/or chickpea soup (which I mixed together in my bowl!) then a huge salad with choice of chicken, trout, or beef and then flan for dessert. I have the chicken and it is, no kidding, the very best chicken I've ever had. Slow cooked with garlic & onion. It's simple and so delicious. Life is good.
After dinner I met another American, Annette, from Stevenson, Washington. She is calm and soothing and I feel like I've always known her. I also see the two beautiful Canadian boys that I left Jenny with in Burgos. One of them, Josh, says that he spent the day in Burgos with Jenny, Fabby, & Benedict, and that Jenny missed me and told him so many stories that he felt like he knew me already. This makes me smile. I've missed her company so much, but I am very glad to hear that she met up with Fabby and Benedict but still no news on Marek who got sick & stayed behind in Beldorado.
As I drift off to sleep I can't help but think that I'm only 6 days away from Leon. I am booked at the Parador, but this time I am feeling confident and strong about the remaining distance. It will be my second nice hotel stay and I will be well over halfway to Santiago by then. My plan is to arrive early afternoon on the 25th and stay one night in the albergue before checking into the Parador on the 26th. This should allow plenty of time for sightseeing and relaxing. I feel like I'm actually ready to let myself relax this time!
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