Dear Family and Friends,
I am pretty sick with how much of my message yesterday was lost. WeeFee (Wifi) seems to be very iffy here and although I can keep typing, the info is not saved. Obviously I cannot always rely on this blog to record all the stories, so will try to keep this short and get the information down in my journal.
I stayed in Fromista longer than normal today, deciding to have breakfast before I left. It was a beautiful day and Sheila (my Irish friend) and I set out about 8:30. The moon was high in the sky even though the sun was shining and it lasted till well past noon. There was an alternate route alongside a river bank and I encouraged Sheila to come along with me. Obviously not many pilgrims took advantage of this alternate route which was off the main road because it was quite overgrown and many burr bushes and long grasses had to be trampled down. I was wearing my sandals because my feet are much happier in them and by the time we reached the next town my feet were quite wet. But my pinkie was very happy. The pharmacia in Fromista was amazingly well stocked. He suggested a little finger bandage that was lined in silicone. It was wonderful, though by the time we arrived at our destination, there is no way around it, your feet are very tired.
The route we chose was otherwise very peaceful and was lightened also by many birds singing. It opened up to a better road, but we decided to follow the main camino route through to Carrion de lost Condes. It followed the roadway, though it was not a very busy road - no major highway. But to look at it, it looked like a camino throughway - with markers as far as you could see. Still, the scenery was very peaceful with rolling hills of ploughed fields.
We stopped in Villalcazar de Sirga for some lunch. We stopped at a bench at the edge of a park along the walkway and Sheila went to get a sandwich and some drinks for each of us. I had bought a boccadilla, and was sitting eating it while I aired my feet and rested them on my walking sticks. A Japanese woman came up to me and asked me if she could massage my feet? Do you really think I would say no? I agreed and she put her things on another park bench and got out her cream. It was heaven. She lives in Hiroshima, and learned to do 4 kinds of massage since her last Camino walk two years ago between Roncevalles and Santiago. This time she left from Puy France, beginning near the end of July. She returned to Hiroshima in September I think when she went to honour Hiroshima, then walked once more, and returned again to Japan in October for a tea ceremony. She would accept nothing for her service. I bowed to her and honoured her.
I did pass her as I walked into Carrion, and offered to give her a massage. I thought she agreed, but once we entered town we stopped under a tree and she was about to massage me again. She refused a massage, so this seems to be an important offering she is making. You can never tell me that angels don´t exist. My feet were dancing.
Otherwise it was a quiet day on the Camino today. I´m not sure where I will arrive tomorrow. I was going to stay in Terradillos de los Templarios, but I couldn´t get a booking. I may stay in a private auberge, but it is 26km so I will have to see how my feet are feeling.
So until next time. Buen Camino. Heather
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