Day 17 Villarente to Leon

Woke up at 0540 had a quick shower got ready, my ankle was really hurting and I was dreading putting my boots on,luckily the boots are rigid and acted as a splint and the pain eased a bit ,hot on the heels of two painkillers

We had arranged to meet at 0615 in the Albergue fo have a quick breakfast ,Jason being his usual spirited self rustled up breakfast from nothing,we were soon on the road again.

At last we began to see hills again, we had not climbed for the last 3 days.

 

I took some wonderfu pictures of our shadows with the sun behind us.

After an hour we arrived at Arcahueras and had a very tasty breakfast.

Then we were Leon bound,I could not wait to get there a lovely hotel awaited me and a much needed break.

What a great person this Spanish lady was, well at last you can see the  Spanish do actually exist.

It was at this point I realised looking at my gps that I only had 199 miles to go,I devote this photo to Jeremy because without him I would never have got this far. 

We walked round a corner and Leon was in front of us,I cannot tell you what this moment meant to me

,when we had been planning this trip Jeremy and I knew that if we got this far we were going to spoil ourselves and that we were in with a chance of completing the Camino, I had done it!!!

We were soon entering the suburbs of the city..

As happy as I was I kept thinking of Jeremy at home and that we should have been walking in together .This one is for you again Jeremy and I know you will get the message.

Just before we entered the old part of the city we were greeted by the civil police who gave us information on the city and told us how to get to our hotels,we were made to feel very welcome indeed it was a really nice touch.

Then over the bridge and we were there,just to be different I had developed a shocking thirst.

It is that time of day again for dog on a blog.What a beauty.

At last we arrived in the square and it was time for that drink and some foot repairs.

It was amazing to note that as I  was sitting there I was seeing so many familiar faces of fellow walkers.I went to the bar and Fleur walked out of the loo it was so nice to see her again plus her terrible blisters.I then said goodbye to the team to find my hotel.We arranged to meet again at 2pm.

Then the moment I had been waiting for so long ,The Paradore was in front of me.

What a stunning hotel,it had been worth the wait.

I had a quick bath then went to meet the team for lunch,There were five us but soon our numbers swelled as people who we knew joined us ,lovely to see Petra again.

Cindy an American lady who I had passed on many occasions joined us ,Petra and myself told her our story and Cindy had seen the poppy I had placed on the marker and understood its significance .I felt  so happy that someone had seen it.

It is now 2100 hours and I am going to go for a walk.

Today had been a great day I have really made the most of it and tomorrow is that lovely day off,sadly it is the last one I have got until the end of the walk some 12 days hence.

I feel great in myself my ankle is still not right but I have got painkillers and lotions and potions for my aching limbs that Mariet helped me buy earlier.

It has been really lovely walking with Jason and Mariet.

Stats for today

Walked 9 miles

Av speed 3 mph

Distance to go 192 miles