When 83-year-old Grandma Gallo wondered who would care for her very spoiled chihuahua should she predecease him, the only taker she had was my brother Jeffrey. But as Grandma got to 95, then 97, then 98, we worried she wouldn’t, in fact, die before her beloved Nicky-wicky (named after her deceased husband Nick because, she…
Walking Into the Unknown (aka the Camino Invierno)
In Spain, there exists a monthly magazine about the Camino de Santiago. The articles are beyond my level of Spanish comprehension, but the charts and graphs. . . those I can follow. This is how I learned that 438,000 people walked into Santiago de Compostela last year. Seventy-three percent of them arrived via the two…
A Camino Fail
Blog posts written about my first walk on the Camino de Santiago: 32 Blog posts written about my second walk on the Camino de Santiago: 0 —— My second Camino was a disaster. The route I chose was not well marked. Not that I would have seen the trail markers–it was raining so hard I…
Unplanned
“You should join us for Tuesday night dinners,” he said. “This Tuesday?” I asked. “Any Tuesday. Just show up at my place and they’ll be food and people.” “I’ll have to check my calendar and get back to you,” I said. “You don’t have to tell me if you’re coming or not. You can just…
If They Build It. . .
I have recently acquired a fear of blind curves. More specifically: blind curves in Spain. In the US, such road hazards are preceded by one or more signs: an image of a curvy road, the words “blind curve ahead,” or an encouragement to beep one’s horn to alert oncoming traffic of your impending arrival. Unfortunately,…
Dating Barcelona
Barcelona and I didn’t start our relationship off on a high note. Within an hour of arriving, one of her esteemed residents stole my then-boyfriend/now-husband’s backpack. I got it back only minutes later, but still. . . not a great first impression, dear Barcelona. The next day, I met my then-boyfriend/now-husband’s family for the first…
Crossing Paths
Camino invierno Day 10: Depending on whose calculations you trust, at one point in today’s journey, I was either 57.1 km or 60.512 km away from our destination (Santiago de Compostela, Spain). I saw the faded wooden sign first. Directly across from it sat a more modern trail marker: one of the stone monoliths that…
Wants and Needs
Camino Invierno Day 9:Today’s Camino wisdom is thanks to Joe, an American I met yesterday with whom I walked most of the day today. When people ask him what a Camino is like, he says, “Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? It’s kind of like that. You keep doing the same thing over…
Wants and Needs
Camino Invierno Day 9:Today’s Camino wisdom is thanks to Joe, an American I met yesterday with whom I walked most of the day today. When people ask him what a Camino is like, he says, “Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? It’s kind of like that. You keep doing the same thing over…
The List
Note: I wrote this post over a year ago. After you read it, you’ll understand why I never got around to publishing it! “While you’re here, we have to fix the home phone,” my Dad said as he was driving me from JFK airport to my parents’ house. “What’s wrong with the home phone?” I…
RenaissanceRebecca 