Severe pain, hallucinations and the man flu on the road to Fromista

Yesterday me and Nadia played cards all day as the camp site was a bit of a walk from the city centre, though she went to the town to get some stuff to make us breakfast. It is like having my mother here with me! Just kidding, she is more like a big sister. The pilgrims menu was lovely and we sat up playing cards and eating dorritos till 9:30pm. It was only us in this huge warehouse full of beds and it was really creepy, especially as the lights kept turning on and off. The area was full of cats too, one of which kept jumping up onto my lap as we were eating, it stole my leftovers, had my empty ice cream pot to lick and then ran off. So the sleep was good (no snorers) but it was very cold sleeping in such a big empty room. We had breakfast and then left rather late at 8am, after I again stood and looked at the stars seeing two more shooting stars.

I was abolutely full of cold this morning (still am), lots of phlegm (sp), sore throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, headache and dodgy voice. I also have found that it really saps my willpower and energy, you know, a real case of the man flu. I walked with Nadia as I thought that I should take it easy and the first stage of todays 15.7miles to Fromista was a very steap climb 12% and then a very steep descent of 18%, we took it slow but it was hard when I was finding it hard to breathe when standing still. I have found that I no longer sweat on these walks apart from the palms of my hands, much to Nadia´s distaste when I hold her walking stick, I guess my body has got used to the exercise. I then began to get the pain in my left shin that I reported a few days ago, not too bad but we stopped for a drink. As I was feeling so drained I had a coke and a coffee which did very little to pick me up. I started to talk rubbish again to take my mind off the walk, I enjoy making up stories to tell Nadia. I guess they are white lies as I am obviously not telling the truth but I like to be brutally convincing, today I told her how I entered an 'eye spy' national tournament in England and came 2nd to an 85 year old man who had been doing it since he was 18, his technique was impecable. She laughed and asked how I manage to keep so serious when telling her such rubbish, which is funny as I am a terrible liar but can fake a story pretty well. She thinks I should become a writer as I have a good imagination, I explained that my understanding of grammar is too poor and I am not sure I would know how to construct something worth reading.

So this exchange and many similar kept me going today and I was grateful once again for her company. Not sure I would have had the stones to stay in that warehouse alone last night, was just too damn creepy. I soon began to get a much sharper pain in the front of my left shin, so painful it made me swear and I had to limp. We stopped 6km from Fromista for the rest of our breakfast which we had saved for lunch, which leads me off topic for a second to ask a question. Does anyone know why virtually every smaller Spanish town or village has houses that have collapsed into a pile of rubbish yet are just left in a heap? Literally every town has at least one, like Harry Potter's parent´s house, just left as it fell. I find it so strange.

We continued, walking most of the last 6km along a canal where I learnt living on canal boats is a very British thing to do. My shin was even more painful now, as if someone was stabbing me with a knife in the front of my left shin. What I can't undertand is why it hurts, there is no muscle, tendons or joints here just my shin bone. So I limped most of the way. Walking along the canal on elevated ground alongside a field which ran below us, I looked ahead and saw a dark blue van parked alongside the nearest edge of the field with its left back door open. After walking further I asked if we had passed the van and I hadn´t noticed, Nadia asked what van and I spent the next 10 minutes looking backwards and trying to find this van which just didn´t exist. It was so surreal, it was as clear as I see this keyboard now. I guess it was a combination of cold, pain and tiredness.

This albergue is really nice, very spatious bunkbeds and I am sleeping on the bottom for the first time since my trip began. The bar/restaurant is very nice too, done in a medieval theme. My routine has been done so now I sign off to play cards till dinner time. Not as much time to kill today as we were slower, though the albergue is empty apart from one other person.

I love reading the comments, especially after a hard day. It keeps all the people I care most about in my mind, reminding me that none of you want me to come home before 24th October which is the date I should reach Santiago. All being well and assuming I stick to the stages in my book.

Tomorrow is an easy 12.7miles of flat land to Carrion. Hopefully my cold will have died off a little and my shin will be ok. Though I guessed I asked for this pain when I was complaining that I was finding the Camino too easy. To be honest the added hardship did add a kind of sadistic enjoyment. I feel that I have achieved a lot more by completing today´s stage through the pain.

Thank you again for your comments. I miss you all.