Camino Day 12, Caldas de Reis to Padrón

By now all the days have been running together, the blisters on my toes are at an all time high. A day or two before I got a new blister on my left foot. No matter what I did to protect it, the blister kept getting worse. Not to mention the blisters on my little Kung Fu pinky toes. I had switched shoes yesterday hoping that would elevate the blisters, but nope, I think they were too far gone for that. They were kind of turning into a science experiment. They hadn't popped yet and was wondering when that was going to happen. Leaving Caldas for Padrón was a cold one, it was in the 50's but we knew it was going to get hot. We walked out of Caldas and past the big church and we happened to be leaving the same time all the students were walking to school. It seems the kids around Caldas don't ride a bus, they all walk. In case you're curious kids in Caldas look and act like kids anywhere else.

When we finally got out of the city center we were right back where we left off yesterday. A mix of dirt trails, gravel and pavement for the next 12.4 miles. Oh and 1,394 elevation gain. Yeah we were still going UP UP UPHILL!

One of the cool things about Padrón is the cool history it has to the whole Camino. St James, or Santiago as he's known in Spain. The St. James story kind of starts here in Padrón. After Santiago was beheaded in Jerusalem, and his disciples brought his body to Spain the boat they used was moored to a famous rock in Padrón. Sadly no, I didn't get a picture of it because I and my travel companions were WAY to tired to be doing any excursions off the main route. Santiago also used to evangelize in Padrón as well, so the city is a big deal in the Camino lore.

I should mention that the hotel we ended up in Padrón was way confusing. I mean it was cool, but way confusing. Trying to find the elevator was a chore, and then trying to find my room after getting off the elevator was a chore. When I was going to meet the group for dinner, I couldn't find the damn elevator, but managed to accidentally find the stairs so I took those. By the way, when took the stairs to get back to my room, I got lost again. I really should have left some breadcrumbs.

Everyone attempted to go to sleep early this night. Tomorrow morning was the last leg of the Camino trek. It was going to be a 17'ish mile day. People kept saying they didn't want it to end. Hell, I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and be able to go a full day without leuku tape on my toes and feet. I had been wrapping my toes and wrapping my Achilles for the past 2 weeks. What a joy that had been. Oh speaking of toes, I forgot to mention sometime during the day or evening the blisters on my left pinky toe finally gave up and.....well it was all just loose skin now. I didn't notice it had happened but it was still kind of gross.

Until next time, stay outta trouble, and if you can't do that. Don't get caught.

Tim

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