Today was a rest day.

I woke up at sunrise, still feeling somewhat ill. My eye wasn’t as swollen as yesterday, but it was causing me a bit of discomfort. I decided to call a doctor - thank goodness for telemedicine! I got a prescription for antibiotic eye drops that will hopefully relieve symptoms within the next day or so. I was initially very worried because the first pharmacy I tried did not have the medication I needed, but luckily the second one did - one of downsides to exploring smaller towns!

For my rest day, I took light walks through the town of Santarém, since I was too exhausted to explore last night. I spent a lot of time in the beautiful Jardim das Portas do Sol - a garden sculpted around the ancient ruins of the fortified walls of the city. The lookouts were amazing - I could see the path on which I walked into the city, and the path on which I will be leaving! My time was spent trying to plan my stops in the weeks to come. I’m glad I didn’t do much research about the Camino before I left - it probably would’ve intimidated me too much! These first 7 days or so are very strenuous, but then will start to lighten up as I get closer to Porto.

I made sure to hydrate and eat well today so that I can hopefully get back to the Camino in the morning.