Walking again!

Feels like everything is back to normal.  I did have a nice three days of forced rest in León.  I got to visit some of the things I had never made time for, my favorite being the Museo de León, it is a really great little museum with things from León dating back the Stone Age, and moving on up.  I had some good food, talked with a lot of peregrinos, and inspected my toe every hour or so to see if it was looking better.

On Friday night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I had a crazy thought -- what if my boots are too small or don't fit right?  This seemed unlikely since it's the same model and size boot I've been walking in for about 4 years.  But I decided to spend Saturday morning checking out the hiking boots stores.  Found a pair from Italy, Salewa, which felt heavenly, but seemed ridiculously expensive at 170 euros.  So I kept poking around, getting lots of advice, and finally in a Foot Locker type store, the saleswoman brought me a pair of low Salomon hikers, closeouts, on sale for 69 euros.  I swear they felt better than the Salewas.  So I hemmed and hawed and obsessed, worried about the "dangers" of changing hiking boots on the walk, but in the end decided they felt so much better around my pinky toes they would have to be an improvement.

Two days walking, and all is well.  They feel great, my toes are doing much much better, and I'm so happy!  Without intending to, I did a long day yesterday, about 37 km, and was no worse for wear.  It just seemed silly to stop at 1 in the afternoon in a tiny town where the excitement had just ended (I was there resting in the main square when a procession and lots of kids in communion clothes came by). 

So on I went for a few more km and wound up in the town of Pola de Gordón.  The pensión I had slept in four years ago had raised its price from  15 to 18 euros but still had the barking dalmatian dogs at no extra charge.

Last night I went down to the bar to see what was going on in town.  It was Spain vs. Italy in the Eurocopa (they tied).  There was also a lot of news reports about the EU lending Spain up to 100,000 million euros (I don't even know how many billion that is, will someone please tell me?  They don't use billions in Spain).  Which event do you think got more interest and attention?

Today's walk was one of the most beautiful I've ever done.  Though I have done this Camino before, the last time I was walking with a couple of Spanish friends, and we missed a turn and wound up for 8 km heading up the mountain pass on the side of the national highway.  It was awful.  I was determined not to repeat that mistake.  And thanks to a lot of new markings, I was fine.  The mountains were just loaded with flowers, with lots of rocky peaks shooting out. Just incredible. 

 And I would be totally remiss if I did not point out that lovely yellow arrow on the right side of the picture right above.  The Camino Angel, Ender, made a million of these arrows and has placed them throughout the remote mountain stretch you see.  As a result of his labor of love, people like me can walk this mountain glory alone and never have to worry about getting lost.  It is a gift to the Camino that is appreciated over and over again. 

So I'm in an albergue in the tiny town of Pajares, just over the mountain pass on the Asturian side.  I will be in Oviedo in a few days and will be spending time visiting my favorite pre-romanesque churches.  That's probably not a big draw for many people, but these are pretty amazing.  If you saw Vicki Cristina Barcelona or whatever the film was named, you saw some of these ancient buildings.  The last time I visited, the guide/curator told me how awful it was when they filmed up there and just let Javier Bardém put his hands all over those stones.  She still got agitated just thinking about it.

Time to see if there is anywhere to get some lunch/dinner.  I'd be happy with a chorizo and cheese sandwich, but it may not be quite that fancy.