I’ve been off of the Camino for 10 days now. Thats longer than I was ‘on,’ and we have yet to see how far I will make it. But tomorrow I’m moving closer, if only spatially. My original schedule had me arriving in Puente La Reina (where the Via Tolosana which I was on in France meets up with the popular Camino Frances) either tomorrow or the day after. So, if I started walking again on Sunday I would be exactly back on track. Interesting to think about, although I think I still need another day or two of rest.

I saw an osteopath today who thinks the problem is originating in my hips, which are, and have been since I was a kid, crooked. She cracked my back, massaged my calves, manipulated my kneecaps, loosened some tight hip flexors, etc. I felt so good and loose after! She recommended some specific stretches and echoed what everyone else has told me, that I need to strengthen all the muscles around my joints because I’m hypermobile (or ‘very elastic’ as she said). She re-did my kinesiotape and put on these little chinese things meant to change the energy of the tissues to positive:

Feels pretty good so far! She did tell me to take it easy for 2 days to let everything ‘set,’ so I’m going to extend my stay in Pamplona a day or two. My biggest concern is still going down hills/stairs, which is the only time I feel pain now. If that doesn’t improve I’m thinking about skipping over the next week’s worth of walking to the city of Burgos. That is roughly the start of the region called the ‘meseta’ which is basically a flat plain. So I have options C and D now (I think I’m already on plan B)!

Before the appointment I did some final sight-seeing; two more of Gaudi’s buildings along the main upscale drag, as well as a few other famous bits of architecture.

I wanted to go inside the Casa Batllo (the second and third photos above) but the line was longer than I had time. You can check out some photos here. Next time!

Then we had our final Spanish class. One of the students in my class brought in a bottle of Cava (local sparkly wine like champagne) and berries. Did i mention that we were a completely international group? Two from Russia, one from Japan, one from Holland, one from Germany, our Spanish teacher, and me!