Day 15: León - Villadangos del Páramo 5 hours | 29,490 steps | 12.86 Miles (20.7 km) Shorter day today since my mother developed a blister between her toes. We know we will make it to Santiago in plenty of time, so adding some rest days is no problem. The pharmacist gave us a syringe, and my mother drained the blister and added an iodine mixture back in. It looked awful, but was not painful and hopefully will allow us to continue with every tomorrow. We made large Greek salads for lunch - vegetables have been weirdly difficult to come by in the restaurants, so we have enjoyed cooking our own food in the Albergues!
Day 16: Villadangos del Páramo - Astorga 7 hours | 39,349 steps | 17.16 Miles (27.63 km) My feet are absolutely killing me today - but I am realizing what an exercise in gratitude this Camino has been. How lucky am I to be able to do something like this? And to have such wonderful company and beautiful weather. Great coffee, great pastries, great people. It’s hard to be upset about painful feet when everything is so wonderful. Update: my ankle is sprained. Also the albergue has no heat, and we forgot to ask for blankets so it was very, very cold. This is the first night I wish I had a sleeping bag because now I am sick.
**update: my ankle was sprained
Day 17: Astorga - Rabanal del Camino 6 hours | 29,893 steps | 13 Miles (21 km)
Today was good, and my taped up ankle gave me no problems. The weather was nice, and it was a shorter day. My mother and I are loving the opportunity to make our own food - we listen to music and cook whatever the local tienda offers.
Day 18: Rabanal del Camino - Molinaseca 6.5 hours | 36,000 steps | 15.7 Miles (25.27 km)
Today was up and down a mountain! Going up is much easier than coming back down, surprisingly. I am so exhausted and sore, and fresh rain made all of the stones on the path slippery. Luckily, my ankle seems to be alright!
Day 19: Molinaseca - Camponaraya 6 hours | 25,521 steps | 11.13 Miles (17.91 km)
Today rained ALL. DAY. We stopped in Ponferrada to buy fleece shirts and leggings, and pick up some McDonald’s fries. Their hiking store Decathlon has incredible prices on all hiking clothes, we couldn’t believe it. I wish I would have bought all of my Camino gear here in Spain! Also, the McDonald’s is super fancy - we are really missing out in America. All of our clothes are being machine dried tonight and we are enjoying our warm new clothes.
Day 20: Camponaraya - Trabadelo 6 hours | 35,908 steps | 15.6 miles (25.11 km)
Beautiful day, sore feet. Much of the Camino was through the vineyards, which was incredible!
Day 21: Trabadelo - O’Cebreiro 6 hours | 31,059 steps | 13.55 Miles (21.81 km)
Today was BRUTAL. Steep uphill, rocks, raining, and a cow in the road. Unreal. It wouldn’t have been so bad if my ankle wasn’t in pain, but this was a rough day. At the top, a shopkeeper gave my mom and I free pins with a purchase, and a man brought all of the peregrinos at the municipal albergue free bread, cheese, and wine. What an incredible community to fall into at the end of a long, hard day. One more week until Santiago!
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