9-30 Avignon, France

9/30 Avignon
Today the weather was great! I slept in until 8 or 9 and was slow about getting up and around knowing the town here is relatively small. I figured I would get out on my feet and get a jog while I feel good and the shin doesn't hurt. I jumped out, immediately got lost between some gigantic structures and felt trapped, so I took the quickest exit which was the outside of the wall, and made a loop around the town. After that, I still felt great even though I was being fueled by a couple of donuts so I headed west and went up the hill that went on for 3 miles or so, and came back to town. All in all, it was about 10 miles and was pretty. The rest of the day I walked around and snapped some photos. I neglected to go in the Palace of the Popes because it was between 10-20 euros and I'm not too religious so didn't pay much attention to it. It is a mysteriously simple gigantic structure from the outside though.
This is when I got claustrophobic...

What was the point of building 3/4 of a bridge?

9-29 Madrid, Spain to Avignon, France

9/29 Madrid to Avignon
Today was a long day on the train. I got up and packed my bags to finally be on my way east. I chose to take the metro and force myself to learn the train systems. It's starting to get easier with less panic when people line up behind me, that's when I finally will ask for help. I read a lot on the train and left the fantastic beautiful weather of Madrid and as I headed east it grew more cloudy and colder. When I finally got to Avignon, there is no easy way in from the TGV station and you have to pay 1.50 euro to get to the main station to walk into the walled city. Walking in, the hostel was pretty easy to find and a decent place. 

9-28 Leon to Madrid

9/28
Leon to Madrid
Today, I went and hopped the train to Madrid to start heading East. It was a nice ride with an Italian named Alejandra living in London. We talked about the Camino and why we were both in Leon. It was a pleasant few hours on the train. In Madrid, I ditched the jacket as it was significantly warmer for some reason and hit the walking tour with my hostel mate Alejandra from Mexico. Kind of a funny coincidence. No new food today. Pretty nice hostel in downtown Madrid for only 20 euros. I'm cool with that.

Nice hat...

Contrary to popular belief, this is not the Stanley Cup.

Yeah man! Thumbs up! I'm with ya!

9-27 Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon, Spain

9/27

Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon

Today, went well. A last 20k push into town. Nice and flat and hit the road with James and Ashley again for a sunny easy walk. We grabbed a coffee about halfway and made it to town around 12. We seemed to have stumbled into a renaissance street fair that was pretty memorable with tons of meats being cooked on the greets and cheeses and crepes being made everywhere! We made our way to some hostels and again they were full. Finally, on the last one they had an opening. On the last night of the Camino I splurged the 20 euros for the single room to have some peace and quiet. I was in the room by 9 and hit the sheets. It was a fun filled day.

I will give a rundown of basically the first half of the Camino in a later post... Stay tuned!

This got really weird!

Trying some octopus!

9-26 El Burgo Ranero to Mansilla de las Mulas

9/26

El Burgo Ranero to Mansilla de las Mulas 

Today, I teamed up with the Aussie, Shaun and his mum. That was a pretty funny time. Only about 20k and a pretty nice and mellow day. Weather was great. Finally, I went to the municipal again. Spent the night playing cards again and laying out the rest for the trip. 

Warning: NOT a house for Hobbits!

A saw got involved when a lady complained about her foot!

Something wasn't quite right about these stairs!

9-25 Sahagun to El Burgo Ranero

9/25

Sahagun to El Burgo Ranero

Today, I went out Lone Wolf. All by myself. I walked from about 800 - 1300 and finally just stopped in El Burgo Ranero about 20k out or so. Pretty warm day. Nothing really enlightening happened. Just more flat badly farmed land. Started to realize I may not finish before having to embark on my other adventures. When I got to El Burgo I hit the municipal albergue for the first time and it was donation based. I sat across the street at the cafe and played Gin with a few new friends I had seen along the way, James and Ashley. It was a pretty fun game and easy to catch on to. Overall not a bad day. I did get scolded in Spanish for showing up to the albergue at 9:58 when it closes at 10. That was absurd.

This doesn't seem structurally sound.....

9-24 Ledigos to Sahagun

9/24

Ledigos to Sahagun

Another slow day on the Meseta. Icing and stretching the shin but still is a pain in the butt! Sahagun is supposedly halfway. Made it there about 1 PM and parked it at the newly renovated albergue... It sucked! They don't show you the rooms usually until you pay, and this was just a gigantic room with bunks everywhere. Also, the front gate was open the entire day so it didn't seem very safe. Met a doctor from South Carolina (Paula) and had a good evening speaking with her. The kid working the desk and restaurant didn't seem too pumped on working so that was kind of off putting. Still had a good night speaking with this doctor and talked much of the time of the Appalachian Trail. That would be fun to do, but so long.

9-23 Carrion de los Condes to Ledigos

9/23

Carrion de los Condes To Ledigos

Today was a slow day. It's starting to really grind out here in the Mesetas. They are just boring flatlands. There's an Italian man named Toolio out here, that cracks me up. He caught me twice and he claims I'm very meditative because I'm a Virgo and quiet when I want to be. He is very loud and purposely tries to get historic with everything. His name is from Roman times. When he caught me the first time, he made sure to ask if I would like to talk or he will overtake me if I do not wish to because I'm so quiet. I'm trying to grind out this shin thing which is hit or miss throughout the day. Ledigos was nice. The guy running the renovated albergue was a hair slick backed smooth operator. Anything you wanted, he could make happen. That was cool to see. He took pride in the place and the albergue had a face of an older lady as the symbol, I think must have been his mother. It was cool to see, and a very nice place for 7 euros!

9-22 Boadilla del Camino to Carrion de los Condes

9/22  Boadilla del Camino to Carrión de los Condes

Today was a slow day for 26k. We took the "scenic route" by the river which was 1k more and the river was dry and not scenic, but oh well, it was nicer than walking on the road and having to watch out for cars. Once we hit Carrión we met up with a lot of people we've known from the trail, and it was good to have some fun and relax and talk. The shin seemed to get a little better with the cold water of the pool last night. We will see.

 Check out the ramp to stair ratio here... Couldn't decide? This makes zero sense to go half and half!

9-21 Castrojeriz to Boadilla del Camino

9/21 Castrojeriz to Boadilla del Camino
Today wasn't a bad day either. Up and going by 8 and it was a pretty nice warm day, not a cloud in the sky. Met an old Italian man from Rome who was intent on talking with me. Pretty interesting conversation as he was trying to teach me about the world and I was all ears. My shin hurt again most of the day, but it's not getting worse so that's good. The 30 pounds on my back is starting to be heavy. Went about 20k today and was done around 1. Overall, not too bad. Jumped in the pool in a very nice albergue tonight!

9-20 Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

9/20 Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

Today was a very slow and painful day because I tried to keep going with the shin. I only made it about 20k today before becoming too frustrated to continue. I parked it at the only albergue I could find and it was a disappointing night. There wasn't much to do and only the food was good. I shared some time with another Caminoer named Shaun (Australia) and talked about life. It was actually nice to watch the finals of the Europe basketball cup or something.

9-19 Ages to Hornillos del Camino

9/19 Ages to Hornillos del Camino
Today was a long day and the sun was pretty dang hot the second half of the day. I headed out around 7 AM and quickly met up with fellow travelers. The first stop, I had what I can best describe as a breakfast sandwich. It really was on of their tortillas which is like a potato quiche in a sandwich with an egg and of course ham. That fielded me and I met back up with Gil the Dutchman and company. He always has a following of people around him. We shared the last 10k walk into Burgos with it all being the industrial side of town. It wasn't very photogenic. The funniest was seeing a broken down hotel called the Las Vegas Hotel. Burgos was a bustling city with a lot going on, but I quickly walked through it. After Burgos, there wasn't much scenery. It turned into these rolling mesas that seem never ending. The last 5k my shin started to hurt a little. People that I talked to said shin splints. It's never happened before so we will see if it goes away. I had a reservation which is nice because the town appeared to be full. There weren't many restaurants in town but the albergue was very comfy and the owner was very very helpful.