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On the Camino de Santiago, Day 18: Despite feeling ill, this pilgrim passes the midpoint in her 500-mile journey on foot

 
Published July 24, 2017

Day 18: Lédigos to El Burgo Ranero: 34.3 km, 12.25 hours (Total for Days 1-18 = 428 km (266 miles)

Today was a struggle.

The goal to reach León on Friday night required us to have a few long days in a row - something you can do on the flat stretches when the weather is right.

Keaki and I made it to Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente in good time. We set our things down, talked briefly with the woman working there and she wished us well. A quick photo between the arches that mark the geographic center of the Camino and we were off.

It wasn't until we were about 1K or so out that I realized I had left my walking stick in the church. After some cursing and debating whether to leave it or not, I dropped my bag and ran for it. I passed dozens of pilgrims, all confused as to why I was running the wrong way. I passed our dear friend, Italy, and a fellow from Ireland I had met two weeks prior. I ran into the church, smiled at the woman, grabbed my stick and ran right back to meet Keaki.

Somewhere in between Sahagún and Bercianos del Real Camino, I began to feel as if I had swallowed a rock. I arrived at the next cafe, drank some water and slept for a few minutes. I told myself it was the tortilla de patatas and that it would pass soon enough. It did not.

There was another 7.4 kilometers left to go until we reached our home for the night. I spent most of that time swallowing my discomfort, considering whether to make myself throw up and telling myself it wasn't too much further to go.

Albergues and bars have always been very well marked upon entering a town. As we reached El Burgo Ranero, I was counting the steps 'til I could drop my bag and collapse. We found one albergue, but it was full. We found another, but the hospitalero was nowhere to be found. We walked together with another tired pilgrim in desperate need of a place to stay until we found a lovely, little place and a smiling hospitalero waiting for us.

We were well taken care of there. I showered, gave my laundry to the hospitalero to wash and dry - a real luxury - and crawled into bed for a nap.

I woke up freezing and burning up a couple hours later. I forced myself out of bed to find some medicine. Thanks to my minimal Spanish, the hospitalero's minimal English and some help from fellow pilgrims, I was quickly seated with a cup of something fuzzy to drink and two pills to take throughout the night. What were they? No clue, but they helped.

I crawled back into bed and fell back asleep, hoping that I would be back to normal by tomorrow.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Tree sweaters covered several trees in a Moratinos park.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Tree sweaters covered several trees in a Moratinos park.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Woman with flowers walking on the Camino in Moratinos.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Woman with flowers walking on the Camino in Moratinos.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente in Sahagún.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente in Sahagún.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Stone flooring of Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Stone flooring of Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Woman stamping my credencial at Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

The tally of pilgrim visitors for the day at Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente. (Keaki was the one from Japan.)

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

Woman stamping my credencial at Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

The tally of pilgrim visitors for the day at Ermita Santuario de la Virgen del Puente. (Keaki was the one from Japan.)

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

These arches in Sahagún mark the geographic center of the Camino.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

These arches in Sahagún mark the geographic center of the Camino.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

One pilgrim's opinion of the Camino.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

One pilgrim's opinion of the Camino.

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

My Camino passport after 18 days

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

My Camino passport after 18 days

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

The stamp for Hospederia Jacobea El Nogal in El Burgo Ranero

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi – Special to the Times

The stamp for Hospederia Jacobea El Nogal in El Burgo Ranero

Kelly Osborne-Rozgonyi, 29, of St. Petersburg, FL., is a teacher at Country Day School in Largo, FL. She is currently in Europe walking the 500-mile Camino De Santiago. She is sending the Times a daily blog post about her solo journey, which is expected to last 33 days, ending on August 4, 2017. You can e-mail Kelly at kellys2017camino@gmail.com, though you might not hear back until after she returns.

Read the post for Day 19 of Kelly's Camino.