Day Eleven

On the eleventh day they rested.

We've now hiked 220 km since Oviedo, averaging about 22 km a day through rain and sun. We think we deserve a break. And in a nice hotel, to boot.

Lugo has wonderful Roman walls, a Cathedral, lots of cafes, and a couple of museums.

We began the day by sleeping in and hand washing all our clothes--a fresh start for the home stretch. And then brunch. There was more, this was just the first course.

The museums were closed on Monday of course, but we still visited the Casa de Mosaicos and the Cathedral, and the market where we bought fruit. Estelle found a spa near the old Roman baths and booked a massage there. It is, after all, a rest day--although hers was in the modern spa, not here...

And we're aiming for an early night and an early start for tomorrow, because the weather for the next few days is going to be hot. How hot? Maybe up to 100, but that's later in the afternoon. We'll hike early in the morning, and hopefully we'll finish before it hits 85. Fingers crossed.

We survived yesterday's hammerfest surprisingly well, and solved a few problems along the way.

The top of one of my toes had rubbed a bit raw, but a band-aid solved that perfectly. Estelle's shoes had begun to wear down, but some new insoles and carefully positioned pads made of napkins solved that neatly. And I had one extremely painful muscle in my back, but a mid-hike 30-second massage from Estelle and some Advil made that disappear. We're still on schedule!

We wash the day's clothes every night, and they're close to dry the next day, so we always have a clean backup. We eat when we're hungry, don't hold back, but I'll bet we've both lost weight on this trip.

And tomorrow we hit the home stretch..