For Devonna and Justin...

... who, we´re quite sure, are checking our blog on their wedding day.

We wish you the happiest of days, the best of weather, the greatest feelings of peace, on this, your day. We want so much to be there with you... but instead we will pretend (and the weather in Spain has been pretty spectacular, so perhaps not much of a stretch from Jamaica?).

May you know love all the days of your life. We walk this day of our Camino for you.

Happy Valentine´s Day!!

A smoocheroo in the shadows from Spain!!

We are having a great time walking... feeling good and so happy to be enjoying the countryside of Spain. We are in the mountains now, so some invigorating climbs and beautiful views from the top. We both agree... this is the hardest thing we have ever done, but this is the best thing we have ever done.

Slow and Always

That´s the German way of saying, ¨slow and steady¨... and that´s what we´re doing today. We´re back on the road! We walked all 21 km from Astorga to Rabanal today and are settled into our albergue, preparing for 27 more km tomorrow.

Why the miracle progress, you ask. Yesterday we made a visit to a physiotherapist in Astorga. He basically wrenched the tendonitis right out of my achilles, no mercy. Well, it´s not gone. But he gave us some good advice, taping techniques, and stretching ideas. And, most importantly, he gave us the go-ahead to walk.

And David... the antibiotics seem to be working well, the swelling has gone down, and he has no pain walking so far.

Yippee!! (Slow and always, of course.)

We´re very grateful for our new feet, still pondering the slow down, asking if it was good for us, that sort of thing. One thing we are very happy about is that this has put us on pace with Andras, a pilgrim from Hungary. We have limited communication (mostly pictionary and charades) but he is joy to be around. And - he´s a priest and will celebrate Mass with us this evening (in Hungarian... with charades). David can´t wait to hear "Uraaaaammmirrr..."

Tomorrow, we will reach the highest elevation on the Camino. We´ll be able to see Canada from the top!!

The view from our resting place in Astorga. The sun is nice and warm... we are so lucky. Many people have told us there is usually snow here at this time of year.

Thumbs up! We´re back on the road! And it´s cold in the morning! (As opposed to our resting schedule, which had us taking naps after breakfast, our walking schedule has us on the road around 8 a.m... it´s quiet and peaceful and pretty.)

Leaving Astorga... the Cathedral is in the background... the sun is in the foreground (or really, really in the background, depending on your point of view).

We´ve gone from the prairies to the forests. And tomorrow... mountains. We are topographically privileged.

Laundry day at the refugio. Actually, almost every day is laundry day, because we only have two sets of clothes. And no one likes a stinky pilgrim.

Still Resting ...

Despite the rest from walking with backpacks, Gillian´s ankle didn´t seem to be getting any less swollen, so on Saturday we decided it wouldn´t hurt to check with a doctor to get a professional opinion (all physiotherapy and orthopedic specialists were closed). The doctor told her to stay off it completely for 48 hours ... no walking, no sight-seeing ... nothing.

So in our albergue, rest we did ...



But not before we had one last good Spanish dinner ... with wine of course (for Gillian anyway ... David´s taking antibiotics, so no wine for him - that´s his water in the background). We enjoyed some typical food from Leon, as well as some delicious soup. David enjoyed the various kinds of meat and sausages and Gillian especially enjoyed her new-found favourite - arroz con leche (rice with milk) - which is just like rice pudding, but somehow better.



Then we headed back to our albergue, where Gillian started her stopwatch for her 48 hours of rest. David scanned the small library at the albergue for any english books to keep her busy. He found one right up her alley to keep her nice and busy ...



David also found Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict, and this is what Gillian is doing (between naps) as David types here at the internet cafe. And if she´s not reading or napping, you know just how hard it is for Gillian to sit still, so she pretty much looks like ...

Gillian´s ankle has gotten less swollen since the 48 hours of rest started, and David´s ankle is no longer red and is starting to get less swollen, so things are looking up. Tomorrow we plan to go to the physiotherapist to get an opinion from a professional who understands active people and who can get Gillian´s achilles back in shape to start walking.

Thanks so much for everyone´s prayers ... we´ll let you know when we´re back on the Camino!

Resting

Despite a beautiful, peaceful day of walking on Ash Wednesday, we woke up on Thursday morning and made the difficult decision to travel to Leon (via taxi and train, not by foot) to rest and care for our poor feet.

Once in Leon, we went to the hospital to have David´s swollen, red ankle looked at by a professional. The doctor took one look at it and said it was cellulitis, an infection of the skin that enters from a combination of open wounds (like blisters) and stressed joints, both of which David has had during the first week of the Camino. The treatment: rest for 3 days and begin 8 days of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

Gillian was told a few days back at a medical clinic to rest as well so this break in our Camino will be good for both of us physically, though we are both still having a hard time just sitting still and ¨resting¨. When we had originally planned this journey, we planned to walk ...

The people in the albergue here in Leon in the Monastery of Benedictine Sisters have been so welcoming and accommodating ... they told us to stay as long as we need to recuperate and, last night, they gave us a pilgrim blessing after evening prayer. We can´t predict how long it will take for David´s ankle to heal, but we will definitely be here until Monday. And in the meantime, we are reading and writing in the square, going to Mass with the nuns, playing checkers in the albergue, and, for a treat, strolling slowly, hand-in-hand, Gillian with her cane, down the streets of Leon. Just like we will in 60 or so years, so it´s good practice, we suppose.

So... absolutely not what we pictured our Camino to be like, but who´s to say we should have been the ones in charge of planning anyway. We´re here, we´re making the best of it, and we´re trying to follow God along this Camino.

For those not familiar with cellulitis, this is what it looks like. No, it is not an infliction causing you to have hairy legs or a fish tattoo, but rather the red, inflamed skin.

And this is Gillian´s stupid, big, fat ankle (left...)

After leaving the doctor, we went to drown our pilgrim sorrows with Telepizza and pepsi (they didn´t have coke... sheesh... nothing is going right for us).

So, here we are, wearing crocs and strolling around town with a cane. We would never do this in North America.

The Cathedral of our Lady, in Leon.

Inside the Cathedral... beautiful.

You can expect more pictures from Leon... we´re here for at least three days, after all!!

Fotograficas

A few photos to catch you up on our travels...

"Mommy, where do storks come from?" No one ever asks that question. But if they did, the answer would be "From church." That´s where they live. On many of the churches along the Camino route, the steeples are decorated with these gigantic nests (we tried to guess... maybe 4 feet wide and 4 feet high) with one or two storks visible. Normally birds are scary but ones that hang out at church can´t be all that bad. And they are beautiful to watch fly... they seem to glide slowly through the air... like jumbo jets.

We were in Carrion de los Condes on Ash Wednesday. We started out our morning with Mass at the Monastery of the Poor Clare Sisters. Just us, the nuns, and one other woman from the town. No cross marked on our foreheads but a very large sprinkling on our heads.

And then it was a peaceful 27 km walk in the fog. A good day.

Somewhere between Carrion de los Condes and Terradillos de los Templarios. We actually missed seeing one of the towns along the way because the fog was so dense. But also so pretty.

(Sorry for the sideways picture...). A lunch stop. We eat on rocks, pilgrim signposts... whatever we can find, really.

Gillian´s supper. Trout. With eyeballs. (I didn´t know that when I ordered it...)

Rooftops in Terradillos de los Templarios. It was a beautiful sunset.

David always finds the most helpful people to ask questions. Thank goodness he knows Spanish.

On train toward Leon... a tough decision but it was good to sit down. And the train goes way faster than our little legs.

A whole week of walking

That is what we've done. We can hardly believe it... just how quickly the week has gone and all that we've seen and all the places we've been. We're really enjoying our time and getting into the routine... it is a simple life of eat, sleep, walk, but it is a good life.

Our daily schedule is something like...
7,00 - up and pack our bags. Usually a small breakfast of fruit and pastries or bread and a cup of chocolate.
8,00 - on the road.
11,30 - break time, usually a sandwich and fruit we packed the night before or something small from a restaraunt (like some delicious homemade sausage soup... yum).
2,00 - Gillian needs a snack... Fanta and chips... I'm being fueld on this Camino by carbonation and salt.
5,00 - roll into town, arrive at the refugio, set up our beds, shower, eat (a full meal of pasta or fish with vegetables).
9,30 - lights out and get some good sleep to do it all over again the next day.

Some days have gone fast, some days have seemed like an eternity. An example, you ask...

Well, on Sunday we left Burgos feeling a little too sore to do our pre-planned 29 km. Maybe we would stop in Hornillos in stead of Hontanas. But when we reached Hornillos, it was siesta time and there was no one around to ask about a refugio or a place to eat. So we sat by the church... and watched the rain start to fall. Knocking on the door of the albergue, we did find one reluctantly hospitable volunteer who said, ''It's closed.'' We prompted him with suggestions until he finally opened the door to us to let us rest while the rain let up. He assured us that the albergue in Hontanas was open so, once the rain let up a little, we started out on the 10 km walk. Halfway in, the rain started to fall. And fall. And fall. And the wind started to blow. And blow. And blow. Do you know what blowing rain feels like... bullets, that's what. We limped along (we now use walking sticks), the rain pushing us back a bit with each step, face forward into the wind and the rain. For two hours.

Never has a town been such a welcome site. We came over the crest of the hill to see a sign for Hontanas, and the refugio just down the rainwashed street. Three women (like the Spanish CWL) ushered us in and took our wet things and showed us our rooms and cooked us these giant plates of pasta and fries and eggs and bread... it was like two meals for the each of us. Then, they left for their heated homes and left us alone in the giant, stone, ice cold refugio. Well, at least we were out of the rain and our sleeping bags are super warm.

But, of course, there are the good days and the good walks and the good talks. The day that we left Hontanas the sun was out (the wind was still blowing... but that just helped dry all of our wet things from the day before) and we had a good walk into Itera de la Vega. We are in some beautiful countryside here in Spain... pictures below!!

Today was a bit of a rough spot... 13 km in and too much pain in the achilles for Gillian to go much further. Reluctantly, we took a taxi into the next town and we are here, in Carrion de los Condes, staying with the Sisters of Quality (quality, not quantity... the nun who answered the door was literally half the size of David) at Holy Spirit House. We took a trip to the Medical Clinic next door and a doctor took a look at both of our swollen legs (my left, David's right) and said, ''Rest.'' So right now we're debating what ''rest'' means... I think it means keep on going!!

Tomorrow we will start our day with Ash Wednesday Mass and then be on our way... maybe not far but we will at least set out and see how far we get. It's a tough decision. We don't want to be quitters, but does taking care of our bodies mean we are quitting... or does it mean we are learning more about ourselves through the excersion of this camino and experiencing the walk in a different way.

We shall find out. Please pray for us. Buen Camino!!

Snow day... at the top of a mountain (or at the very least, a very tall hill). We got to the top, rounded a corner, and then back down the hill and that was the end of the snow.



This picture does not even begin to capture how wet, cold, and windy this day was... or our joy at seeing this sign for Hontanas, just 0,5 km away.



David, on top of the world after our 100 m climb outside Castrojeriz. Another windy day, so this was quite a daring pose just above the same 100 m dropoff.




Sure, she's smiling but I believe the comment right before this picture was taken was, ''My hair hurts.'' (Seriously, after a while, everything hurts.)

Sometimes the signage isn't so good... sometimes there is an excess.