2022 Camino Day 8 (20)

Well, today was a shorter day, only about 13 miles, but by it didn’t seem like it.  I left about 8 am because I had the breakfast at the hotel.  Once I got to my albergue, I was lucky to get a space with only one other person in it, and no one above me. 

I finally decided to try to do something about my foot pain… There is a hunting store across the street and I paid a visit.  Fortunately, they weren’t busy and had a huge selection of hiking shoes.  I decided on a wide width and larger size.  I think they will be much better.  My toes aren’t scrunched together in this pair.  The gentleman that owned the place was kind enough to ship my old ones, along with some other items, back to my hotel in Portugal for me.  He was a saint. I wonder if it was a coincidence… His name WAS Jèsus.  I think he may have saved my Camino for me.

My body and legs feel fine, it’s just the constant blisters on my toes that are problematic.  I’m hoping my new shoes fix all that.

I’m sharing my bunk space with a 60 year old Spanish gentleman.  I offered him some bread and he politely declined and says he was a celiac.  I am amazed that he’s been able manage this far.  He said he carries a lot of his food in his pack.  It’s easy for him to get food in the bigger cities, but the small towns are tough. 

There’s a Russian guy here, Ivan (not his real name).  He said he left Russia September 24th after he got the mobilization letter.   He decided it would be a good time to do the Camino.  I don’t blame him.  He’s a writer and explained that he’d like to write about politics, but in Russia you can only write what the government tells you to write.  He says he’ll go back when it dies down so that he can help his country go in a different direction.  Also said the Ukranians are not his enemy, Putin is a dictator and he wished it would be over soon.  We can only hope there are many more like him.

I didn’t take to many pictures today because it’s not too picturesque.  The town I’m in kind of looks like a truck stop in a highway, but the albergue it’s really nice.  It’s just been built last year and it’s fairly clean.  The hospitaleros (volunteers working here) are very nice and helpful.  I’ve got about 20 mines ahead of me tomorrow so I hope the new shoes work out.  I love hearing from all of you back home.  Thank you for the posts and texts and calls. 

The pics I did take:

My cool video:

I’m going to watch an episode or two of M*A*S*H and hit the hay. Goodnight