(This post written on May 4, several days later.)
Yep, that illness was not going away!! I didn’t feel up to moving on on the camino and we had to be out of our great apartment. It was May 1 which is Labor Day in Spain. Terrible timing! It was a 3-day holiday weekend in a popular Spanish tourist destination city. Hotels were either booked up or very expensive. But we did find a comfortable place to stay for 361 euros for 2 nights, including breakfast. A lot more than we usually pay in Spain, but not outrageous, at least by USA and other European country standards.
Of course, nearly everything except bars and restaurants were closed on May 1 as well and I was still running a fever and it seemed I had developed a sinus infection and conjunctivitis. The AI was screaming “see a doctor!” Luckily, when I asked the AI where to find a doctor in Burgos on Labor Day, the AI told me that Spain has great on-line telehealth services. I did some research and ended up contacting virtualclinica.com. It was great. Fast and inexpensive (35 euros). I reported my symptoms and did a video call with a doctor and he prescribed antibiotic pills and eye drops and decongestant. We found a pharmacy that was open (every city has at least one that is open no matter what). Total cost for all three prescriptions: 12 euros. Health care is affordable in Spain!
We moved to the hotel, Crisol Mesón del Cid, which is next to the famous Burgos cathedral. We stayed there May 1 and 2 and I rested and we tried to figure out the rest of our trip.
So sorry your Camino came to an end, but staying across from the cathedral in a nice hotel isn’t all bad. And your story about health care in Spain is uplifting. Long ago Moira had a minor medical issue in Germany. The receptionist at the doctor’s office was so upset because she couldn’t figure out how they would deal with the insurance. I asked how much the bill was. 40 Deutsch Marks (before the Euro, but roughly $20). I just paid it and said that in America the co-pay would have been more.
Hope you are finally on the mend and enjoy your week in Zamora.
So glad you are feeling better but sorry that you’ve ended the Camino. I hope the rest of your your stay in Spain is smoooth. When do you head back home?
Thanks, Henry and Ella. It was fun to stay at the hotel by the cathedral. We also stayed at that same hotel when we walked the Camino in 2013. It was funny that was the one that came up as available on May 1. It was weird. We saw it on Booking.com so I called the hotel thinking I’d book directly with them and they told me they were “completo”, no rooms. So, I went to Booking and booked the room there and … No problem. Even if they can’t take a room back from Booking, it’s strange they didn’t say ” you can get one from Booking”.
I was hoping that health care experience would be of interest to others. We found it interesting.
In 2000, I went to the emergency room in Italy because I’d taken a bad fall on a wet bathroom floor and hit my head pretty hard. They did an x-ray and an incredibly handsome doctor examined me and declared me ok. They told us we could go and didn’t ask for money. I said “but what do we owe?” and they just laughed at us and said “health care is free in Italy.” (I doubt that is still the case, at least for travelers.)