When your husband looks at your feet and asks, “How is it that you’re even standing?” you know it may be time to give it a rest.  Not throw in the towel, just give it a rest.  I will spare you the graphic details because quite frankly I’m sick of writing about my sick feet, but suffice it to say there was no longer any question that we needed to stop for a few days in an attempt to heal.

Not by the Power of Our Feet

We left Burgos on Monday morning, not by the power of our feet, but with our Eurail passes on the train. I was pretty sad and feeling disappointed about not walking out of Burgos, but we both knew if we were going to finish this thing, we’d have to take a break.  And, since we don’t have unlimited time to work with, we knew it meant skipping ahead to Leon.

Life is What Happens

Once on the train the motion of traveling the rails reminded me we are on an adventure.  It’s not exactly what we planned, but I believe life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.  Walking the Camino de Santiago across Spain has proven to be no exception to that philosophy.

What’s the Point?

Originally, we said we wanted to take our time walking the Camino, but it’s super easy to get caught up in the thought process of getting to the next destination, no pain no gain, sort of mentality. Our Camino adventure was becoming more about my feet than about the experience.  What’s the point?!

So, we’ve checked ourselves into a hotel, in the historic center of Leon, for four nights. (We gained the four nights by not walking the meseta.) We’re forcing ourselves to slow down and embrace the moment.  And, from what we saw as we walked from the train station to our hotel, Leon has a lot going on.

If I Can Wear a Shoe

It is our hope to start walking again on Friday, if I can wear a shoe and walk reasonably well. Since we jumped ahead we have a few days to play with if we need them, if not we’ll try to use those days to shorten some of our walking distances. In the future when people ask us if we walked the Camino de Santiago across Spain, I will proudly say, “Yes, we did!” I will have to add the caveat though that we did not walk across the meseta and that will always be a bit of a disappointment for me, but there it is.

Does it Really Matter?

I had to dig a bit deeper to channel my inner Pollyanna on this one, but as we walked through Leon yesterday I noticed a man who was prostrated on the sidewalk silently pleading for money.  He had only one hand.  It humbled me and I remembered how much I have and how grateful I am to be in this moment.

We didn’t walk across the meseta.  Does it really matter?

April 27 – 30

Days 16, 17, 18, & 19

Days of healing

Highest elevation: 2, 746′

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