Someone had too much time on their hands …

Carrion de Los Condes to San Nicolas del Real Camino, 32km

So I was expecting the worst this morning, a 17km stretch straight up with nothing to break it up and feet that were plotting a bloody coup.  But today has, in fact, turned out to be surprisingly delightful. 

Whether it was Dominic’s magic cream, the antibiotics or just a day of rest, my feet have put in very few complaints today.  I have to confess to procrastinating for about 15mins rather than put my boots on this morning, but when I finally manned up to the task, we all seemed to get along OK. 

Even the 17km slog wasn’t too bad.  There was just enough breeze to keep the wheat fields rippling and give me something to look at and in a strange kind of way – because I had set it up for being so awful – it just seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was settled in a cafe on the other side with a man-sized chunk of tortilla and a green tea … all served up by what may well be the happiest cafe owner on the planet.  Found myself grinning like a loon when I looked at myself in the toilet mirror (and not just because I saw a hint of re-emerging cheekbones!) 

Beyond that first stretch, the countryside has gone back to the beautiful rolling hills we had in La Rioja, but now with the occasional fields of dark orange soil setting off the deep greens of new wheat growth. Add a bright blue sky and the occasional strategically planted tree and I have probably done around forty paintings in my head this afternoon. 

Have worked out that distances on the camino aren’t just relative in terms of how much energy it takes to cover them, but also in terms of how they are interpreted along the way.  Two days ago I passed a sign that read ‘Santiago 401km’ and yesterday another that said ‘455kms to Santiago’ – slightly dispiriting to say the least (and not the first time this has happened!)  Still, having consulted my guidebook, the sheets provided by the pilgrim’s office when I started and a bit of random Googling, I am relatively confident in saying that today I passed the halfway point.  Think that reassures me and freaks me out in equal measures, but there you go. 

Have realised the mental challenge in this is actually about getting out of bed (early) every day for five weeks in a row and doing exactly the same thing, rain hail or shine.  Have to admit yesterday I was ready to pack it in – I was missing my home, my boyfriend, my kitchen and even my job (yep, it was that dire)

 I couldn’t get my head around the fact that I still had more than two weeks to go and was convinced I was going to be in pain for every one of them. There was serious consideration given to calling it a day and allocating the rest of my leave to something that normal people do – ideally involving a pool and some cocktails!

But today I am back on board with the whole camino action … have learned that if I take the time to look after my feet and myself, this is actually an amazing privilege and a jolly good adventure.

So at the end of a beautiful day’s walking I am sitting in a lovely sunny garden with a cold beer, tiny birds chirruping in the trees overhead and the smell of my dinner wafting out of the window. Nope, not much to complain about really!