Carrion de los Condes to San Nicholas 32K Day 14

We started our day with an 19K walk with no cafe can leche or food places along the way. In order to pass the time, I hooked up with this Spanish marathon runner from San Sabestien, which I had long ago deemed the most romatic place on earth. It was really just to practise my Spanish lol In order to keep up with this guy, I had to increase my pace and in so doing lost my group of Canadian Chicas. As a result, I continued on with this Spanish guy and his group, but trying to understand so much Spanish was exhausting. Left the Spanish group at the Alburgue where we were supposed to spend the night only to find that ´there was no room at the inn´. I was very sad as it was sooo hot, I had already hiked so far, and had no idea where my friends were. Started racing for the next town as I was afraid there would be no beds there. Apparently my new-found Spanish friends had heard on the way that my Albergue was full and they included me in their reservations for not the next town, but the town after that! oh la la.....

I had such an amazing time sharing the evening with them. They celebrate friendship, food, wine, and life with such passion. They listen so attentively and when they speak to you, they touch your arm, caress your back and make eye contact that seems to be searching your soul. We were all exhausted because of the day and sat around giving each other foot and leg massages, and of course drinking vino! Again I marvelled at the sense of community, love, care and compassion on the Camino. My blister was quite a mess, and they had quite a discussion about how to treat it. They finally agreed to pour this red antiseptic all over it, dry it overnight and put on a compeed in the morning. Wait till you see the picture! At this point, I was ready to relinquish the care of my blister to someone else as my methods did not seem to be all that successful. I certainly hope the new treatment works! They felt that I should go on to Leon with them because they would be able to show me a better time in the big city, but I said they didn´t know how much fun the chicas from Canada were.

The rest of the gang made it to the Algergue that was full later in the day and luckily the owner offered them a place to sleep in the dining room. First, however, was a wonderful meal with four delightful Frenchmen who charmed all the chicas! Therese came alive in the midst of a bad cold as the official translator. Later they slept on mattresses on the floor and Linda and Monica said it was one of the best sleeps they have had.