Last night we were in in Padron at Casa Antigo de Monte, a “rural” hotel. Not really rural, but it is off the beaten path, such as there is, in this little city. But we'll take more “rural” any day if it’s like this. It’s quite the compound, if there are a few too many..
A Tale of Two Caminos
I’ve found that one of the really amazing things about the Camino is the mental quiet and calm… [Spanish teenagers laughing, yelling and generally being rambunctious.] Yeah, uh, as your mind calms and resets, as you’re surrounded by nature… [Loud bagpipes playing a quite danceable tune, appreciative clapping by onlookers.} You can begin to see…wait,..
Getting to Vigo
It’s hard to believe we just left Baiona. The rest day was much needed, and our calves thanked us for the break. With a good dinner in our bellies, we spent our last night there sitting on our balcony overlooking the beach and harbor. We can’t emphasize enough the cumulative effect of eight days of..
Sitting on the dock of the bay
As we start this post, we’re in Baiona, Spain, and it’s our first rest day on the journey. We’re looking out over the harbor on a Saturday, with the nearby beach well populated with folks swimming and wading into the calm waters, and a marina chock full of boats in the background. We’ll see where..
“No, it isn’t fun. It isn’t fun at all.”
Please note the quotation marks--this is a quote overheard in a hotel lobby early one morning. We have no idea what she is talking about. She surely cannot be referring to the 9, 10, 11, miles of walking each day. Day after day after day. Or the heat -- it has been in the 80s..
On The Road Again
Just finished day 4. We'll start chronologically, but the highlight (so far) comes at the end day 3. The company we used to help book hotels, etc, provided a very helpful "roadbook" detailing each leg of our journey. We quickly discovered the distances were a little misleading and referred to the time spent on the..
A new adventure
Last day in Porto, overlooking the Duoro River. Mid-afternoon and it won't be a surprise to anyone that we are sitting in a plaza having a cerveja. This will likely be a longer post as we want to catch up on the last few days. Tomorrow, we're starting the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, beginning in..
Some things exist on a sliding scale
When we’re traveling, we do our best to pack light. That was even more important on this trip because, while our luggage is being transported for us while we are on the Camino, we will be lugging it around ourselves when we’re done. Which brings me to the topic of this post: what counts as..
Auckland and The Island of—you guessed it—Wine
After Ahipara we headed down to Auckland to spend our last few days of the trip in New Zealand’s largest city. And large it is, with nearly 1.7 million people - more than a third of the nation's entire population. The evening of our arrival started the last leg off right, with dinner at a..
And Bilbo said…
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." Tom: Back when I was in 6th grade, I found this dog-eared paperback book at school one day while browsing the library shelves. From..