DeBoards in Spain

It’s Thursday morning, and we’re slowly getting back to the normal routine. Coming home Monday night was slightly disastrous, because I thought it was be a good idea to just take BART from SFO to Castro Valley; it’s always been our long-term parking go-to. But the BART blue line trains weren’t running with regularity and…

We’re home. The dogs are happy to see us, the house is intact, the laundry has been washed and assembled into a giant heap that neither of us is intent on folding, and we’re slowly getting over our jet lag. It’s good to be back. You look at your life a little differently when you’ve…

All good things must come to an end, and it is time to head for home. To be honest, we’re both ready for it. You can only live in a hotel for so long, and I think we stayed in 14 or 15 places on this three-week trip. I felt like the first time we…

Today was about wandering. The weather finally cooperated—it’s a good 30 – 40 degrees cooler than yesterday, perfect for walking everywhere. Good thing the Camino has conditioned us for hills. We went to El Rastro today—Madrid’s open air market that goes on for blocks (and blocks). The last time we were in Madrid, we were…

After a couple days in Madrid, the first two weeks of this trip have faded to some serious farmer’s tan, no problems walking up hills, and a little less belly fat than before. Oh yeah, and an entirely different angle on viewing life. Today was another hot one. So warm, that Paula and I decided…

It was a day of museums. (It was punishingly hot, so it made sense to wander around in cool marble using hushed voices.) We were about a ten-minute walk from Reina Sofia in one direction and Museo Prado in another, and I’m happy to say we didn’t give into the temptation to hail a cab…

Paula and I woke up a little later than usual today. No big walks on the schedule; in fact, it was supposed to be 104 degrees today. Instead, I hate to say this, dear reader, we didn’t do much of anything. Sure, we had lunch and had a fruitless search for a post office, but…

I didn’t blog last night, mostly because I thought we were done with the blog. And then Will pointed out that we’d named our blog “DeBoards in Spain” and we were still in Spain. So literal. 🙃 Another reason I didn’t blog last night was because we went out with Janet #1, to her favorite…

We left Santiago de Compostela this morning. On our walk to the train station on the other side of town, we randomly ran into Brantley the professor from Bucknell. One last Camino friend to see before heading back to the real world. Or maybe one more to come. Madrid is a wild and vibrant city.…

We remain in Santiago de Compostela for one more day. Paula is still recovering, but she’s clearly on the mend. I’m still testing negative. I’m sure the mask is working, but man it’s a drag to sleep with one on. We attended the pilgrim’s mass at the Cathedral. This is an impressive church, but also,…