Category: Travel
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Camino de Santiago: Santiago de Compostela
After finishing our pilgrimage we stayed three nights in Santiago de Compostella, which gave us two and a half days to explore. On Saturday morning we did Optimus Tours Santiago Full Experience. We met in the main plaza and toured the old town finishing in the market. Our guide was great and we learned a…
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Camino de Santiago: O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela
Date: Fri 18th October 2024 The last day of our pilgrimage! The first section was once again through forests dominated by gum trees, but soon we were skirting the airport and from there we were in and out of rural and urban areas. Late morning we reached a bar at the 10km to go point,…
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Camino de Santiago: Arzua to O Pedrouzo
Date: Thurs 17th October 2024 Our accommodation was almost 2 km from the Camino, but they provided a shuttle service which we took advantage of to get dropped into town on the path. The walk was similar to previous days with rolling hills, alternating forest and farmland, interspersed with small villages. Many of the houses…
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Camino de Santiago: Palas de Reis to Arzua
Date: Wed 16 October 2024 This was our biggest day on the walk—30 km. It rained off and on for a lot of the day. Once again we passed through little villages, with stone homes, churches and horreos. Today there were also multiple stone crosses along our path. We bumped into the “Ladies from Shep”…
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Camino de Santiago: Portomarin to Palas de Reis
Date: Tues Oct 15th 2024 It was very misty in the morning. The countryside was similar to the previous day and would remain that way as we made our way through Galicia towards Santiago de Compostella. The walk passed through a mix of fields and forest punctuated by frequent villages with small Romanesque churches (most…
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List #19: US National Parks (AND Historical Parks) we Visited
In 2009, we took the kids on a road trip from San Francisco to Utah and Arizona and back to LA via San Diego. The kids were 10, 8 and 6 and visiting the National Parks was one of the highlights. I was so impressed with their Junior Ranger program, which allowed the kids to…
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Camino de Santiago: Sarria to Portomarin
G and I had no intention of stumbling through the countryside in the dark, so we waited until full light and left at 8:40 am. As we stepped out of our door and turned up the hill, we found ourselves behind a mass of people. Fortunately, a large portion of that mass was a school…
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Camino de Santiago: Leon to Sarria
The transport options between Leon and Sarria on a Sunday were not great so we organised a private transfer with a stop at Ponferrada, a little town on the Camino just over 100km from Leon. The main attraction in Ponferrada is Castillo de Los Templarios, the Templars Castle. The castle was commissioned in 1178 to…
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Ask Me Anything: Vol 2
I’m finally getting around to answering some more questions from San. What place have you travelled to that surprised you, and why? This was a tricky one, but I will say my second trip to Hangzhou. I first visited Hangzhou in 2000, and my second trip took place in April 2013. I was blown away…
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Camino de Santiago: Leon
Before Christmas I left off my recap of our Camino in Burgos. Our train from Burgos was running late, so we didn’t get to Leon until after 6 pm. We were staying at Hotel Real Colegiata de San Isidoro, which was the monastery in the Real Colegiata de San Isidoro complex. The complex also includes…