Magical Kingdom for Pilgrims

I haven't written as its too cumbersome to do on a little Iphone, but I felt so moved by the last three days, it had to happen, no matter how difficult.  I've not been walking much first because of my tendonitis, then yesterday because of my knee. I walked 30 kms two days in a row first from Burgos to Hontanas, then Hontanas to Boadilla and both days I ended up in magical auberges. Then the day before yesterday I did a very slow 20 kms that took me about 8 hours because of pain and I stopped in Villacalzar de Sigur. I met two wonderful boys, Chris and Andrew from the UK and South Africa respectively. We immediately talked as if we had known each other for decades. We laid in the grass and exchanged adventures and then I walked to the church and had dinner at a bar right next door. When I returned from a terrible dinner and after making my decision to stop walking and instead take a train to Santiago and welcome pilgrims, Chris and Andrew caught me before I went to the bedroom and asked if I wanted some pancakes. Pancakes, I guess in South Africa are actually stuffed crepes and they had found some Nutella type filling and made these marvelous pancakes, then some hot chocolate and just a ton of good conversation and laughs. I should be able to upload pics of them growing old together in rocking chairs, but if not, imagine two adorable 20 something boys rocking in chairs in front of a fireplace, it was fantastic.
Anyway, the next day I walked to Carrion de Los Condes with every intention of carrying onto Leon on bus and contemplating my next move when a friend I last saw in Santo Domingo de la Calzada called my name. She was taking a bus to the next stage and I decided to do the same except one town before. We chatted for a long while and talked about all sorts of camino things and had churros and chocolate and tea. One of the raddest thing on this camino is that you can eat all you want, because you're likely to burn it all off on your 13 to 18 mile walk. So we rode the bus and I got off before her, said my goodbyes, wished pilgrims a 'buen camino' and went to the halfway point. I totally forgot to get a stamp there, but I have a picture of a sign so that's good enough.
As I passed the town, I decided I didn't want to stay there and began to walk. About 2 kms jn my leg gave out and I was in total agony. There happened to be a town and a new  hostal and something kept naggjng me to walk in. I walked into the place and this sweet German lady said all single beds were booked and I couldn't see myself spending 45 euros for a double. She told me about the auburge owned by an Italian and this place callled 'peaceable kingdom'. I walked a bit down the road and fohnd the sign and rang the bell. An English man about 60 was feeding two young guys lunch and invited me in. He said yes, told me to drop my stuff and brought me a full plate of food. We ate and talked and drank wine and basked in the sunshine. It was incredible to say the least. 

After lunch I took a bath, a nap and when I woke I asked the host if he knew anything about the homes in the hills. 'Bodegas! We have one as well, maybe we can go have a glass of wine later'. One of the young guys from lunch left and the other stayed and we walked to the bodega. Turns out they made an amazing restaurant deep in the cave of the hill and when I walked in there were two English pilgrims I had met on my second day. They invited us for drinks, the host showed us his bodega, and once again I was exactly where I needed to be. We returned to the restaurant for the dinner and order a spread of amazing seafood and wine. After about 3 hours of this really indulgent experience, we went home and I slept all the way to 9:30! The latest since the camino started. 

The strangest part of all this is that I'm allergic to cats and my host has 2 and 5 dogs and I had a few sniffles yesterday, but slept well and woke up with no problem. Then about an hour ago I started sneezing and eyes started itching and I knew it was time to go. So I'm off, not walking, but hitching a ride to the next town to rest my leg for a few days. It's just like life, it gives you these little subtle signs of what your next step should be and you decide if you want to listen. 

My Journey to Camino De Compostela