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…
A Date To Remember
I glanced at my phone, opened my texts. “Happy anniversary my beautiful, wonderful sister-in–law!” Wait. That’s today?! “How the f*** did we mess that up?” my husband Michael said to me. I could barely answer him I was laughing so hard. For some reason, neither Michael nor I can remember if our anniversary is on…
Oh, The People You’ll Meet (Part 4)
I spotted them ahead of me–easily identifiable by their hiking shoes, walking sticks, and the telltale scallop shell hanging from their backpacks. Pilgrims! I thought excitedly. They paused, the man checking something on his phone, the two of them conferring over whatever was on the screen. This is my chance! I thought, picking up my…
The Rain in Spain
Dear Asturias, Michael and I know your secret. We’ve seen your glossy ads in travel magazines: lush, green hills under blue skies; a tagline encouraging visitors to “Return to Paradise.” And like so many others, we’ve heard–and believed–the rumors about what it takes to create these verdant landscapes: rain. Lots of rain. In the winter….
Cesari Street (A Grandma Gallo Memory)
Grandma explained to us that it was a tradition to give a gift to the priest who says your spouse’s funeral mass. So just before she left for a trip to Italy with four of her grandchildren, Grandma asked Father Peter, who said Grandpa’s funeral mass just eight months earlier, what she could get him…
RenaissanceRebecca 