Author: consad05

I’ve been taking it easy out of Burgos. Our walks the last few days have been miles and miles of the flat plains on the plateau of central Spain, known as the Meseta. There is very little shade, and we walk along dirt roads with crackled mud and geckos darting about. The usually cloudless horizon is met by endless grass fields. The repetitive scenery makes hard to feel like I am making any progress at all.

This morning we procrastinated the inevitable and didn’t leave town until 11. We only made it 3k before the shade and beer at a roadside albergue won us over for our first break. While savoring the shade a little black pup peeked out from the corner of the building and excitedly bounded over to us after we started cooing at her. I have been missing my own four-legged best friend the last couple days and I think this pup could pick up on that. She returned the belly scratches with loving licks and happily chased the stick I was throwing up and down the driveway. Nothing flips around moral like a good dose of pup. We continued on, passing more fields and hiding from the same sun until lunchtime when we stopped at an albergue that advertised “a paradise with no wifi”. The place was complete with hammocks, a slack line, free roaming donkeys, a pond and ducks, art covering every wall, and the tunes of Bob Marley coming from the bar. The host grinned and danced his way around the property, making conversation with the handful of pilgrims there and loving up the donkeys who were obviously fond of him as well. After eating lunch, taking a yoga break, and sipping beer in the hammocks, we realized that a few hours had snuck away from us. Off we went in the late afternoon heat. We took an alternate route that went along a small river so that we could avoid walking along the road. It was a little longer but completely worth it; we couldn’t resist the cool water. I was too excited running in that I slipped on the muddy, grassy riverbank and end up on my butt in the river. I swam up the stream and floated the current back down over and over while Harry, not fortunate enough to fall in, inched his way into the water. After our refreshing dip it was 5 pm and we still had 10k to go until the town we were aiming for. 10 hot, dry, roadside kilometers. We finally got into town around 7 and devoured bacon, egg, and beef hamburgers that felt as big as my face. A day that began with low moral turned out to be filled with smiles, and this unpredictability seems to be everywhere on the Camino.

Today is my last day in Italy before I travel to Toulouse, France. I have enjoyed 4 sunny days exploring Roman ruins, admiring detailed Italian alley ways, and sampling an endless spectrum of cheeses.

My first stop here was a water taxi to Venice; one of the more well-known Italian cities which was apparent due to the flocks of travelers and the whirlwind of different languages floating through the streets. Every building I walked by in this aged city had intricate detail incomparable to our cities in the US— delicate railings around balconies lined with petunias and daffodils over looking canals with gondolas decorated in velvet, gold fringes, and swirly carvings. Most buildings reached three or four stories high, each one with worn edges, faded paint, or other signs of hundreds of years of life. I can’t help but imagine how wonderful it must be to live in a city with only canals for transportation; no dangerous highways or loud engines.

The next day I went to Lake Garda— a lake so expansive it felt like I was looking at the ocean. This lake is home to Roman ruins built in 100 BCE…how does one even comprehend a date like that? I was dumbfounded as we walked by pillars that had been standing for centuries, thinking about how our modern architecture barely lasts 100 years.

I savored my time spent with cousins and my aunt and uncle who reside in a town near Venice. They helped me order all of the best pastas and pizzas, which exceeded my expectations. The next couple days they helped continue my tour of their beautiful country by bringing me to a handful of the best historic sights: a Roman amphitheater that has been used since 30 AD and is still hosting faces like Justin Bieber, the “Casa di Giulietta”, or Juliet’s House from William Shakespears famous writing. The street around her house was overflowing with love notes and locks from love birds that had come to visit.

Today I was able to go to the theater in the town of Vicenza where the original Shakespeare plays were performed. The theater displayed impressive architecture that almost overwhelmed my eyes; the optical illusion of the background looking like a mile long city street although it was only 3 feet long and statues of gods and emperors lining the room. This town is also hosting a Van Gogh exhibit where I saw 100 original Van Gogh pieces.

The history and art in every corner of these Italian cities has felt so surreal. I feel like I have been living in a perfect painting these last few days. Thank you Italy for giving me a greater appreciation for the incredibly talented people that walked this earth before me!

1. I’m sitting in the Munich airport tiredly waiting to board my flight to Italy after wrapping up a wild 3 days in Germany. I haven’t eaten a single vegetable since I landed here on Thursday because Germans literally don’t see vegetables as part of the food pyramid. Instead, my hosts have excitedly replaced that portion of my diet with authentic german beer. Being vegetarian for 2 years, and vegan for a few months before this trip made it hard for me to cheerfully nom on meatloaf for breakfast, sausage for lunch, and schnitzel for dinner….3 days in a row (although the wonderful array of sweet, sour, and spicy mustards made it bearable). I stayed with 2 german brothers that I met & hiked with for a couple weeks on the Pacific Crest Trail last summer. They were so excited to show me this beautiful country that they are so proud to call home. Our first stop after the airport was for beer (surprise!) which we shared over many laughs about our time shared in the mountains last summer. After allowing my mind to catch up to my body here in Germany with a 14 hour slumber, I was ready to dive in. We took a train from their small town of Vilsheim into Munich. We took part in the tourist activities and climbed a tower for a view of the city, visited the Olympic Games site of 1972, and even found the ‘devils footprint’ in the main church. There was much less english throughout the city than I expected, so I solely relied on my friends to navigate the metro & translate all the plaques and signs for me (thank goodness I had them!) That night I got to see how 20-somethings in Germany enjoy their Friday nights, and Germans definitely know how to have fun! All the young people speak pretty good english, because it is required for their school. I was very thankful for this because it allowed me to have fluid conversations with all these special people, most of whom were exited to talk about the US (and make fun of our healthcare). Saturday brought sunshine… and more meatloaf for breakfast. We spent the day in a town called Landshut which was built in 1200 and the main streets all have the original buildings. This town is also home to the tallest brick building in the world! It is a church that was built in 1300 and the story is that they wanted to build it so high so that they could spit in the soup of the dukes who lived in the castle up on the hill. I also got to visit this castle which was breathtaking. It still had the torture chamber, the well, and a magnificent view over the town. It was so surreal to be standing on the same brick that someone would have stood on almost 1,000 years ago- how different their view would have been! Although I am excited to give the sausages a rest, I have fallen in love with german architecture and their general happy-go-lucky spirit through life. Thank you Germany for reminding me that I can live everyday as a party!