Day 24, May 19, part 2. Yet another day of rest in Muxia

Day 24, Thursday, May 19, part 2. 

Continued from part 1. 

So River went off on a walk to scout the first mile and a half of the Camino from Muxia to Finisterre. She found some beautiful beaches (photos 1 and 2) and an amazing big green lizard (photo 3). 

 

 

 

She also discovered via her various gps apps that there would be essentially no cafes or bars for the 10 mile walk to Lira (where they would sleep the first night), so she would have to plan provisions for three rest and re-fuel stops. 

Then she pointed out the big green lizard to two passing pilgrims (who turned out to be a father and daughter, Rob and Katie, from Seattle). As they walked into Muxia together,  she mentioned Chris's foot and Rob asked very intelligent questions and of course turned out to be a doctor. He said he'd be happy to look at Chris's foot and advise us whether more walking would be really dangerous. 

River left Rob and Katie at the municipal albergue and came "home" to discover that Chris had decided against walking. Though disappointed, Chris really thought it was the wise choice. River was both disappointed and relieved. 

Later Rob and Katie showed up at our albergue (the municipal was full as it turns out) in beds beside ours. Rob took a look at Chris' foot and supported her choice: though the symptoms could be tendonitis, they were also compatible with a stress fracture, and in that case it would be a mistake to put that kind of stress on the foot until it had time to repair and heal. 

Photo 4 shows Rob and Katie at the albergue. 

 

So now we are planning our ride to Finisterre -- choosing between leaving tomorrow afternoon and going by bus, or waiting until Saturday (when the buses won't be running) and taking a taxi. 

The other high drama of the day consisted of River's attempt to get her Spanish vodaphone SIM card for her iPhone (which would expire tomorrow) recharged. She asked the sweet man who administers the albergue and he sent her to the supermarket. The cashier at the supermarket was utterly perplexed, and had no idea where it could be recharged. She turned to the others in the line: they too had no idea. River thought she remembered the vodaphone salesperson saying she could recharge it easily, even in small towns, in banks or stores, so she went next to a bank. The banker too looked perplexed. Then he came out from behind his counter, grasped her elbow, guided her out the door and half a block down the street to a clothing store that did indeed have a poster that said SIM cards (from various providers) can be recargado  (recharged) here. Except the store was closed and would reopen at 5pm. So, after Chris and Riv had their afternoon stroll, they returned to the bank and found their way to the clothing store and -- voila -- River's card was recargado!