coming home

hi you guys,
well, barb and i had an awakening at the nurse´s office today. we realized that the nurse was trying to help barb´s foot heal, not get us ready to walk some more. i asked if we would be able to go to santiago soon and she asked 'how?' i said walking and she looked exasperated. she said if barb had any pain we had to quit.
we came back to the hostel, barb went for a walk to think, and came back saying no, she couldn´t do it. while she was gone, i came to the same thought. there is too much risk, it´s too isolated an area and there are still 400+ kms to go. too far.
so, as sad as i am, i know it´s the right decision. walking in pain, i think, keeps a person from being totally here. and to me, the only point of the camino is to be here.
we have had a great time, we laugh all the time, we´ve made friends, we did everything we wanted except arrive in santiago. yesterday, a store clerk gave barb a scallop shell, we thought it was a sign that we would go on to santiago. now i think, maybe it´s a sign we will be back.
the happy part is coming home to my girls and those beautiful little boys. we have no idea of when and how we are coming, but we will be there soon.
happy mother´s day beautiful daughters. i´ll be home for my birthday! and happy mother´s day to all of you other mothers reading this blog.
thank you for spending this time with us.
love,
mom, nonna, mary

good news

hi
we went to the clinic and the nurse redressed barb´s feet. things look so much better to me. the nurse said come back tomorrow same time. so i think we will continue to visit the clinic everyday until barb is healed, who knows how much longer. but we have time and we love everything about this city, including it´s internet cafe.
that´s all for now.
love,
mary

good morning my friends,
i forgot to read my last blog to know where we left off. but i think we were in caceres, saying goodbye to michael and paul and waiting for our bus to salamanca. we decided that with barb´s sore toes, we couldn´t walk long distances and so we would jump a bus to cut out a lot of km´s. that way we could walk easily to santiago. we arrived in salamanca, found a lovely hotel with a jacuzi,free laundry, and a very helpful man behind the desk.all for 40 euros. we walked around the town. it is really too big for a pilgrim, if you can call us that, and we wanted to start walking in the morning. so we didn´t see much of the town.
that night i talked with a man in the hotel who was living in the hotel for a year so he could study spanish. he was from canada and wanted to talk. he told me that he had wanted to walk the camino but had a bad accident while living in south america. he showed me his scars- on top of his head, his arm, his leg. he said his arm hurt so much he wanted the doctor to cut ift off. he asked if we were pilgris, why were we in a hotel. i said my sisters foot hurt. he said -why didn´t she train? i said well she did, but sometimes, things happen that are out of our control. then he said, did you know the americans killed osama bin laden and buried him in the north sea. the navy killed him. the whole conversation seemed from another reality. he was living in a hotel for a year? what, you have to show me your scars? what? osama bin laden was killed by the navy and buried in the north sea? i went back to our room. barb was in bed.the room was dark. i said osama bin laden was killed and buried in the north sea. we just laughed. ( not as much as we did the next day when we saw the cbs animation of his body falling into sea, during a break in a soccer match on tv in a bar) it was all too weird.
the next day we walked to the cathedral, got our stamp, and out of salamanca. (the photo is of the salamanca cathedral. it was huge and beautiful. how did they build these buildings?)
we walked 15km across the meseta. the meseta is awesome to me. you can see forever, but there is nothing to see but green grasses and blue sky. the temperature was 65 or so and there was a light breeze. what a grand day for walking.
we arrived in a dusty, low town. the albergue was full ( 15 places) so we were forced to the hotel bar at the end of twon. a pouty man showed us the room. it was 3\4 the size of a cigar box. it was orange. he said it was 40 euros, the same as the nice room in salamanca. i tried to say -you have to be kidding? or you can´t be serious? but i didn´t know the spanish words for serious or kidding, so i said ok.
barb took a shower and a seiesta, i left and sat on the plaza in the sun. later, barb came up, said she had stopped at an emergency medical clinic, and the doctors their told her she had to stop walking. i was shocked, but not shocked.
we talked about our options. decided to take another bus, here, to zamora, and get a second opinion. we are doing that this afternoon. we will tell you the answer later.
but, here we are in one of the most beautiful, friendly, easy towns i have ever been in. we walked into the plaza yesterday, and stood as we always do, with a map and a quizical look on our faces. a very small lady, 4 foot 8 or so, came up and started talking. she had white hair and looked like one of my deceased aunts. she asked, were we french, no we said. we couldn´t hear her well because there was a very loud demonstration on the plaza. the bomberos want more equipment and clothes and they were banging drums, blowing whistles and blowing a siren to get attention. anyway, finially the lady said, i have a hostel. we followed her to the hostel la reina, to a tastefully decorated quiet room. and there we are. barb says we should just stay here a month and write a bogus blog, but no we can´t. we will go to the clinic, and see if we can walk. if not, we will come home early.
i,ll let you know.
love,
mary mom nonna.

santiago, storks, friends, and handsome men

hello again,
well these pretty much cap what we did today, plus i added a photo from yesterday of paul and michael sitting on a roman bridge.
today is a holiday, both the day of caceres´patron saint, san jorge, and then may day. there was a long mass last night, the cathedral was decorated with countless roses, all red, orange and pink. the church glowed with red, and candlelight. there were so many people you could see very little, we didn´t stay. we walked around the old walled town, stopping here and there for wine and tapas. today the sun shined and we walked some more. the small statue of santiago is from the door of the church of the same name. it is the image i love -the gentle santiago, not the moor slayer. (there are always two variations of st. james, one of the pilgrim and the other of the man who supposedly led the christians to battle against the moors. ) i did think it looks a little like st. james is carrying an umbrella, which is appropriate for this way. maybe this is a third variation.
i can´t take enough photos of the storks, flying, standing in their nests, feeding there babies, whatever they want to do. they are so graceful. there are nests everywhere. never have i seen so many.
the young men in the photo were not only very handsome, but they had amazing voices. we heard their music from far away and were drawn to them. they are flamenco singers. such strong voices and sound. i have to buy a cd some day.
we walked and walked all day, from coffee con leche to beer and chips. we saw cisterns, and manor homes, and churches, and confirmation ceremonies, people walking and sitting in sidewalk cafes, and children playing in the plazas. i have a million photos of children, i think i am very lonesome for oscar, jude and arthur.
barb and i have decided to take a bus tomorrow to salamanca and start walking again from there. we will cut 100km from our journey which should give us plenty of time to get to santiago in a month, which is how long we have. i have walked about 300km so far, i think. mas or meno. barbs toes look really good- pink and healthy. we want to keep it that way.
so, although we have been tourists today, tomorrow we are pilgrims again. i look forward to it.
with love,
nonna, mom, mary

photos from yesterday

we are in caceres today, the arches are from plaza mayor. out pension is just above this restaurant. the granite is a photo of the roman militario, with an opening for mail. isn´t that crazy? they say it is dated from 28ad.
i am going to post another photo now.
mary