It´s raining, it´s cold, and I am so over this!

Not really! But it has rained a couple of days and it has been cold!

Health update: I am completely over the food poisoning and have moved onto a cold! Seriously! I AM NEVER SICK! 32 countries in 3 1/2 years and not one instance of illness of any kind! I train for a marathon and not once was I ill! I go on vacation and BAM! Fortunately, it´s not too bad and I´ve been able to talk to a pharmacist and get some cold meds. In Spain, one has to go to a Farmacia for and speak to a pharmacist even for something as simple as cold medication. It´s a bit silly.

Anyhoodles, the last few days have been rigorous, but thrilling. Ute left us in Leon. Paul and I left Leon in a down pour and walked along a highway for almost 4 hours. We could have gone a more scenic route, but it was longer and I was still trying to get my appetite back. We passed through a beautiful medieval village, Hospital de Orbigo, complete with a huge stone bridge and jousting field! they must do a festival there. Most pilgrims seemed to be stopping there. But we kept going. We managed to go about 33km by the end of our day! My appetite may not have been back, but my leg and foot strength was! We stayed in Santibanez de Valdeiglesia at what the books had descibed as a basic albergue with ¨mixed reports¨. Well, it was one of the best so far! Yes, the accomodations were basic (shower outside), but we stayed in a room for four with a german couple and NO ONE SNORED! (hey, itñs the little things one becomes thankful for on the Camino!). And best of all, there was an Italian cook! He made a delicious meal for about 8 of us (2 other Americans, a Mexican, Paul (the Brit), and 3 Germans). And being a bit of a crazy Italian, he made sure we all had MORE than our fill! He kept bringing out dish after dish! YUM!!!!!!!!

After a wonderful night´s rest and some perky Spanish coffee (which we stop for about every 2 hours, if possible!), we set off again. We passed through a lovely town, Astorga, that has one of the most beautiful cathedrals iñve even seen from the outside. And right next to it is another Gaudi building. We´d been walking for about 3 hours, so we stopped at the cafe across the street for a pan du chocolate and coffee. We pressed on and managed 27km for the day! We stopped in a sleepy little village (almost a ghost town really), El Ganso. Had a great pilgrims meal at the only restaurant in town. The bartender could see that I was a bit cold and ushered us into a small room and lit an ancient gas heater - just for me! The people in this town were exceptionally friendly. A group of us climbed to the top of the bell tower in the church and the view of the valley was spectacular. A local woma of about 50-60 greeted us as we came down. Between all of us and our poor Spanish, we managed a conversation. She wanted to know where we were all from and where we had started the Camino. she was very sweet.

The next day was very difficult, physically speaking. A tough uphill hike to one of the most important places on the Camino, La Cruz de Ferro. At the doorway through the mountains, tradition states that pilgrims should carry a stone from home and place it on a pile below a huge pole with a simple iron cross atop. The stone can symbolize many things. Once we had placed our stones, we began our downhill hike. It was very difficult and I ended up running part of it. Gravity made me! I found it easier to use my poles and almost run/ski down the mountain. After about three hours of this, we were ready to stop! So we stayed in another sleepy village, Acebo.

This morning, we had more of the downhill run/ski fun (it extremely exhausting). We had planned on a short day and are staying in a hotel (we both needed it!) in a mid-sized twn, Ponferrada, which had a lovely castle built by the Templar Knights! Which I am about to go tour!

Bye for now!
Dawn