It was the shoes that first caught my attention. They lined both sides of three wide steps which led up to platform on which sat a tent. A sign on the top step said, “Please leave shoes here,” and people had – sandals, boots, flip-flops, sneakers. What was this place? Could I go in? Any…
Category: The People I Thank
Smoking Hot
In the junior high cafeteria, I sat alone every lunch period. I knew no one and no one seemed interested in getting to know me. I had braces, no fashion sense, and a body that was all out of proportion. I ate my lunch as fast as I could without making eye contact, then stuck…
Changing Tastes
I scoured the shelves on the door of the refrigerator. Dijon mustard! Score! I smiled as I squirted it into an empty salad bowl. I hate mustard. But I always have some in my fridge to make this very dressing – one that I loved from the moment I tasted it sitting in my host…
The Joy of Blogging: Grandma and the Camino
Before my parents took off for the weekend, they asked if I could do them a favor and drop something off at my grandmother’s house. I agreed – not just to maintain my #1 Daughter status, but also because I was moving in less than a week and visiting Grandma was something I needed to…
A Down Day
Walking the Camino, like walking any other path in life,can sometimes have its “down” days. Today was one of those days. I just didn’t feel like walking anymore. I opened my pedometer to see I’d only walked 200 steps since last I checked it. The route was descending steeply and full of rocks. It took not…
On Walking
As we walked toward Piazza Venezia, I flipped open the pedometer on my belt. “How much?” Daniel asked. “Nine miles.” I’d made a mistake earlier of telling him that I set a personal record ten days ago when my sister Jessica and I walked seventeen miles one day in Rome. He, of course, wanted to…
Another Cinque Terre Tale
“This is ridiculous,” I called down to Scott, thirty feet below me on a trail of our own making. “This is the kind of stuff you hear about on Dateline NBC.” With that, he and I started to create the opening monologue of the program that would tell our tale and subsequent demise. It was…
Slip ‘N Slide
Maybe hiking a steep stone trail in the rain wasn’t my best idea. But it was my first afternoon in the Cinque Terre, and I wanted to get out there. So off I went climbing up and up and up towards the Madonna di Montenero Sanctuary high above Riomaggiore. The light rain didn’t faze me….
Serendipity – In a Train Station
I could feel him behind me. He and I obviously didn’t have the same idea of ‘personal space.’ As he got even closer, I wondered if this short, tanned, elderly Italian man was trying to cut in front of me? I stood my ground in line for the automatic ticket machine. He shifted behind me,…
Pack Lightly
I know it went out to the masses, but I feel like he wrote it just for me. And I wanted to share it with you. Here’s a recent post by Leo Babauta. I get inspiration from a lot of people and places. Leo is one of my favorites from the blogosphere:) Empty-Handed, Full-Hearted Posted:…
RenaissanceRebecca 