astorga

This is Not My Beautiful Wife! – Camino Days 26-28 (Astorga)

One of our favourite couples on the Camino isn’t a couple at all. Zois & Gemma met nine years ago and found they had similar walking paces and life outlooks. They enjoyed walking the rest of that journey so much that they agreed to meet up on another camino in the future. And unlike most…

Simply Walking

Simply Walking – Camino Days 23-25 (Mesita)

Pack – walk – eat – walk – eat – walk – nap – eat – sleep.  Repeat (times 38). The Camino is that simple. No wondering what we should do tomorrow. Each day will unfold with its own wonders and blunders. Landscapes softly transition from field to forest, hill to plain, green to brown…

Singing Nuns of Carrión de los Condes

Singing Nuns and True Caring – Camino Days 19-22 (León)

At the end of a long day of 27 km and 39,000 steps, we stumble into Casa Susi in Trabadelo. As the owner glides down the stairs, I preemptively answer the question they always ask, which is, “Do you have a reservation?” As I rush into this un-greeting, he doesn’t even answer, he just smiles…

Castrojeriz

Retirement Role Models – Camino Days 16-18 (Castrojeriz)

Foggy pre-dawn starts up a final hill and officially onto the Mesita – the flat table-top plains that some find boring and is supposed to challenge us mentally for the next ten days or so. A time to ponder big questions, and for these first few days it seems that the How and Why of…

Burgos

Ugly-Yummy-Real – Camino Days 14-15 (Burgos)

This 2-day walk from Belorado to Burgos is one of great contrasts – in landscape, emotions, history, geography. We leave yesterday’s windy open hillsides and plunge uphill into beautiful forest land.  So many branches and trees down, thankfully no-one was hurt in yesterday’s gale force winds.  In hindsight, we maybe should have taken a safety/rest…

Belorado

Against the Wind – Camino Day 13

Today’s test was wind.  Constant 35-50+  mph headwinds had us bent over, pushing hard on poles, and sometimes doing a quick about-face to withstand the strongest gusts.  It never let up for more than a few seconds for an entire 6 hours of trekking, sometimes pushing us a few feet to the side, making us…

Lagroño

Bright Lights, Big City – Camino Days 8-11

Slipping out of a 12-bunk-bed dorm room at 6am without a light is a fine art, but with minimal rustling we can be on the road under the stars for an hour before the gentle blue awakening in the east behind us starts to chase the stars away.  Slowly the shaggy world shakes itself from…

Villamajor castle

Castles in the Sky – Camino Day 7 (Villamajor)

The new ankle brace and effective cream have me feeling positive and strong as we leave town through the medieval “Saint Nicholas Gate.” To be safe, Sarah’s made me agree to just a 10km walk today, and to send my big backpack ahead with the “donkey” transport company that shuffles packs between hostels for just…

Camino Section 1

Let’s Get Physical – Camino Days 2-6

“What are you, a mountain goat?” asks Shelley as I bound ahead up the rocky slope to capture a picture of our fellow pilgrims on one of the steepest and most dangerous part of the pass over the Pyrenees Mountains.  Not sure if she’s impressed or exasperated, I answer honestly “This is PLAY!” The first…

Camino day one

Starting a Family – Camino Day 1

A professional trumpeter, a Catholic marriage counselor and a physiotherapist start hiking and get lost at the first intersection…  It’s not the beginning of a joke; it’s the beginning of our five-week adventure hiking the Camino Francés to Santiago (Spain).  Martin Sheen’s movie “The Way” promised us a quick quirky family, each with a burden…

Bordeaux banner

Atlas Obscura – The best travel hack for Bordeaux and everywhere

Finding good wine, visiting the impressive National Theater and a few of the 362 historic monuments, walking the vibrant old streets, and putting together a fresh local charcuterie tray for my wife’s breakfast are all easy and obvious things to do in Bordeaux. But to find the odd, quirky surprises, I turned as always to…

Noah and the Rainbow: "an ellipse which underlines the first alliance between God and men: the curve of the rainbow corresponds to that of the body of Noah sleeping.  The angel, manifestation of the divine Word, is white like the rainbow (Chagall shows here that he is not unaware of the theories of color that make white the sum of all colors). He announces the happiness promised by this alliance, visible in the upper part of the painting, but also, in the lower part, the misfortunes of the Jews, described in the Bible by the prophets and actually experienced throughout history."

Nice! (France, that is)

When you get invited to Diana Ross’ 170th birthday party in a swanky boutique hotel overlooking the French Riviera, the only possible answer is Yes! My mother Diana turned 80, and her foxy beau Ross turned 90, so they brought us, my brother and Ross’ granddaughter to Nice for a week of luxury, food, a…

Genoa

Genoa Italy and Movie Sites

When Galen found out we were in Genoa Italy, he insisted we visit “the multi-coloured fishing village” but didn’t say why.  It wasn’t until we arrived that we immediately recognized it as the beautiful setting for the animated film Luca (fish boy grows legs, rides bike, defeats the town bully…) On the earlier bike ride…

Rome colosseum

Rome in a Day

If you were raised in North America in the 70’s, you might remember eagerly plunging your dirty hands down to the bottom of the Kellogg’s cereal boxes to pull out the “Seven Wonders of the World” cards.  Tony the Tiger at the Taj Majal or Egyptian pyramids, the Fruit Loops bird nosing a Greek acropolis…

Wolf's Lair cycling in Italy's Abruzzon region

Cycling “The Wolf’s Lair” in Italy

A week of bikepacking “The Wolf’s Lair” in Italy to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday?  YES!  Do I know where the Abruzzo region of Italy is, or who are the other 3 Rugged Men I’ll be sharing meals and beds with, or how to say “Flat Tire” in Italian, or how to ride a bike…

Rocca Calascio, Italy

Rocca Calascio – Italy’s Castle in the Sky

Day One of cycling through the stunning Italian countryside ended at the fairy-tale “Rocca Calascio,” which has been declared one of the 15 most beautiful castles in the world by National Geographic. The first day of any ride is always hard as muscles and mind take time to toughen up.  Leaving L’Aquila was particularly gruelling…

L'Aquila

L’Aquila, Italy

For the next 8 days I’ll be cycling way up in those Abruzzo Mountains of Italy.  For now, here’s a quick photo dump from this beautiful city of L’Aquila. It took 6 hours and 3 trains to get here, but oh so worth it!  After a devastating 2009 earthquake destroyed much of the town, and…

Ireland

Living the Legends of Ireland

For a wee tiny nation, Ireland has a huge footprint in global consciousness.  In Canada we grew up with Lucky Charms cereal, the Irish Rovers music, leprechauns on 4-leaf clovers, green McDonalds milkshakes for St. Patrick’s Day, and sturdy men in outdoor showers lathered with Irish Spring soap.  But a two-week house sit in Schull…

Ireland

Perfect Day in Ireland

On a lazy Saturday in County Cork, Ireland, we decided to do a Camino training day by walking 20 kilometers.  After a half-hour morning dog walk (not part of the 20 km), we drove half an hour along the coast to hike the 14km Goortdubh Loop out of Goleen. The winding one-track road took us…

House-sit home-making in Cork County Ireland

Turning a House-Sit into a Home

We come through the door timidly, respectfully.  The host family welcomes us into Their Space, introduces us to Their Dogs, informs us of how to find and use Their Stuff.  They are entrusting Their Precious Home (and animals) to us, their Trusted Housesitters, and in exchange for a free place to stay, our job at…

Going for slow movement in Paris

Paris and the Slow Movement Movement

Paris seems like an odd place to muse upon Going Slow.  But a Joy of travel isn’t just seeing new places; it’s how they help you reflect and reshape your understanding of your own wacky ways and world. Slow is not my habitual gear.  Whether on the soccer field or plowing through the endless Things…

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain: Medieval Magique

Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche fell in love here in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain.  Belle lamented that “there must be more than this provincial life” in a French town just like this.  For one week at least, there was nothing to lament about this Peaceful medieval town. A few hours by fast train South-east of Paris, the long…

Iceland in 3 days

Iceland in 3 Days

What can we say about Iceland, or any country, after just three days?  For our 25th anniversary we treated ourselves to a stopover in Iceland, just long enough to know that we want to come back for months, not days.  A friend asked us for one word to describe Iceland – I’ve managed to winnow…

25th Anniversary

25th Wedding Anniversary

In celebration of our 25th anniversary, here’s something I wrote just 4 tender weeks into our union.  Still every bit as enraptured 25 years later. This time four weeks ago i was a single man, camping with a growing number of close friends old and new along the paths of Mt. Ranier, preparing for a…

Currently in...

Philadelphia

Heading to...

Costa Rica (Monteverde) till Christmas, then Thailand (Chiang Mai), Vietnam (Hoi Ann, Feb-Mar). Please share any sites, people or ideas by email.