The Ham Museum, Madrid
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My New Art Kit!
I’m enjoying wandering around Madrid during these few preparatory days before the official start of our retreat. I went to the Prado today to drink in art for a few hours with my co-leader Andre. She and Brenda and I are meeting every day to go over last minute details. Our group starts arriving tomorrow
First Walk in Madrid
I arrived at my hotel jetlagged, grubby, and tired (I only let myself sleep 4 hours on the plane to help me adjust to the time zone here). But it was a pleasure to unpack, do a bit of handwashing in the sink, take a shower, step out of my airplane clothes and into shorts
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The Camino Walks You
It’s my last full day at home, time to let go of months of preparation and to embrace the actual experience before me. Regardless of what I hope this experience will be for myself, my two co-leaders, and for the women hiking with us, I have no idea what it actually will be. For instance,
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Last Hike Before the Camino
At Bryne-Milliron Forest in Corralitos today with our visiting daughter Eliza Bristol Davis. Walking again felt great. I can’t imagine better company or better weather. It was a perfect day.
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My Feet
I’ve had the funny experience of going around Santa Cruz the past couple of weeks and when I see people I know, they often greet me with, “So how are your feet?” My first thought is, “How did you know?” But then I realize—oh yeah, I wrote about it! Two weeks ago, when my feet
Foot Bath. 6 AM.
This morning, I’m soaking my feet in epsom salts and lavender essential oil while reading a terrific book I was gifted for my birthday: The Emerald Mike by Kevin Fedarko, all about the history of the Grand Canyon and the river guides who run it. And the politics of dam building and conservation and a
My Feet Hurt and I Haven’t Even Started Yet
Okay, I’m leaving for the Camino in two weeks and I’m really freaking out about my feet. My two reliable pairs of shoes that I trained in were worn out by my training. And so I’ve been back and forth to REI, trying out all kinds of shoes. After tons of advice and many fittings,
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Prepping for the Camino: What the Hell Should I Do About Shoes?
In the past ten months or so, since I started actively training to walk the Camino de Santiago, I’ve walked hundreds of miles. I write that with a lot of pride. I’ve walked in the woods, on trails, up mountains, on city streets, on the cobblestoned streets of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I’ve hiked
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Homeward Bound
It’s the end of a long, wonderful trip. It actually feels like I’ve been in Italy a lot longer than I have. What an amazing group we had the honor to travel with. It was an honor to create this retreat with Graseilah Coolidge and Karyn Bristol and Virginia and Rodolfo, our wonderful hosts who
Our Last Day in Florence, Italy
A tour Of Boboli Gardens …
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Florence: You never know what you’ll find behind a closed door
Today, we had the privilege of getting a private tour of the Palace, one of the properties owned by the Budini-Gattai family, who also own the Villa where we just had our ten-day writing/yoga/cultural exploration retreat. Rodolfo, our host at the Villa, the 12th of 13 children of his generation of Budini-Gattais, and his wife,
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The Last Full Day at the Villa
I’m going to miss these meals—today is our last full day at the Villa. We transfer back to Florence tomorrow. 10 of us will be doing an in-depth tour of Florence for four days. Everyone else flies home or goes on to other destinations tomorrow. This is the very beginning of olives-the flowers are coming
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Doorway Man
Yesterday, because we had an all-day outing to Lucca, we didn’t have time for our usual sit-down writing class, so I gave my students a travel assignment: “While you’re in Lucca, look for a story. Find a moment in your day that you can write about. It can be something you experienced, an interaction you
Every Day at the Villa
Every day at lunch and dinner, my co-leader Graseilah Coolidge rings a fork on a glass to get everyone’s attention, stands and describes what we’re eating for each course of our three course meal. Here she is introducing the second course of our lunch today. Turn up your volume.
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