Still hobbling along

So, I last left you at the Joe Mantegna albergue in Torremejia. It was a beautiful old building...a former palace connected to the church. Again, I was the only one there. I set off, with my blisters, towards Merida, one of my very favorite places in Spain. Merida was a very important Roman city and the evidence is everywhere...an impressive Roman theater, aqueduct, two Roman bridges, etc. I stopped at a shopping center for about an hour to look for new socks but came up short. I thought, maybe, my socks weren't cushiony enough. But I continued on. I toyed with the idea of checking into a hotel in Merida and staying a couple of days (or, MOm and Dad, looking for the pension where we stayed and the owners had to go out for a birthday party and gave us the keys and left us in charge of the place, and, I believe,with instructions on how to register new guests) but alas, I decided to walk several more miles and arrived in the town of Aljucen where, miraculously, at the albergue, I found some other people. There's a very nice mother and daughter from Hamburg. There was also a young guy from Hamburg. I walked about 20 miles yesterday, in the sandals, and although it did provide some relief from the blisters, the sandals are not as supportive as the boots so I figured I shouldn't stick with that plan. So, today I had planned to walk about another 20 miles but boy, my feet really hurt. I headed out with the German mom/daughter through a nice encinas forest with a fairly decent dirt track but each step really hurt. People have all sorts of motives for doing these Caminos...mine are mainly that A) I love Spain and B) I feel really have fun here. Today, I figured out that I wasn't really having fun. So, I walked just 12 miles and am now in the town of Alcuéscar staying at the monastery along with the three Germans and a Spanish lady that I had seen at a restaurant a few days back but had not seen since. Oh, and there are a bunch of priests there too but, of course, they live there. They will have a group dinner for us tonight at 7 which will be nice for us. I am thinking that tomorrow I will do a short day...very short, about 10 miles and stay at a reportedly nice village along with the Germans. The following day, if my feet are not feeling great (well, even if they are) I will arrive in Caceres, a city that I love. If I am not feeling great, I think I will stay there for a couple of days. The thing is, that I scheduled this trip without any room for error, so, if I miss a day, or do too many short days, I will, eventually, have to take a bus or train and skip a few legs. I really don't want to do so but if the alternative is being miserable, I might as well. Then, if I do that, I won't mind skipping a couple more days to visit my friends who live near Salamanca where I should be in about a week. So, yeah, I've decided the pain is not worth the not having fun. I did go to the pharmacy this afternoon and bought various bandaid type products which may or may not help. (To add to the previously untouched baggie of band aid products that I brought on all previous walks) The biggest worry about the blisters is that even if I take time off for them to get better, I fear that once I start walking again they will come back. I cannot believe how fortunate I was in not getting them before.
Okay, people seem to like mentions (perhaps not as much as I love getting your comments) so, Delaney: sorry you are not here for nightcaps. Leef: LOVE the kids' message, I commented on your blog. Brian: you don't love being mentioned but as I walk each day, I'm busy in my head planning a (non-walking) trip to Spain for us for next year. So, tomorrow I am thinking of a short walk to Aldea del Cano. Must run for the festivities at the monastery.