Camino 2014: Day 4 Pamplona to Puente La Reina (Lanie)

Camino 2014: Day 4 Pamplona to Puente la Reina (Lanie)

Miles today: 15.0

Miles Total: 57.6

Last night, the guy who got the bed across from me came in really drunk at around 9:30-10pm. He sat down and tried to pick his things up but he kept missing. He offered me his chips and I said No, no thanks.. He couldn't walk straight to his backpack without losing his balance and he kept muttering "too much".. Although I can laugh about it now, I was very uncomfortable at the time. I can't stand being around that kind of stuff. My heart was beating so fast and pounding in my ears. I finally got the courage to ask March if he wanted to switch bunks and he said sure. (Thank you so much March!) I slept pretty good. Haha, I wonder how far that guy walked today with that hang-over... 

Anyway, we all got up at 6am, as usual, and out of the hostel and walking before 7pm. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but the sun came out quickly and it turned into a very hot day. We decided to turn this 15-mile day into five 5ks with breaks in between. On the outskirts of Pamplona was Cizur Menor, where we had out first stop. I ate some of my Belvita crackers and the others had some of their sandwiches. Then we were on our way. 

Today was a better day for me because the soreness in my shoulders and legs is going away and I got a little tan! Haha. The hills today were nothing compared to the last few days. We stopped to eat lunch halfway up the hill in Zariquiegui. (I didn't even want to try to pronounce that) I sat in the sun in front an old church building and ate my sandwich. We could hear doves cooing up in the windows and it sounded funny. Speaking of funny.. Sahra, Mimi, and I went around to the out house to use the restroom and when Sahra went in, she lifted the seat and pretty much jumped out the door yelling EWW!!! Mimi and I asked what was in there and she said, I quote, "Toilet paper and crap was piled to the top so if you sat down to use it, you would probably touch the pile." That is the nastiest thing ever. I was laughing but I also had my disgusted face on. Us three had to go into the hostel there and buy an item just to use the bathroom. I got one of those sugary muffins again, which I was fine paying for. Mimi and Sahra bought strawberry popsicles. Then we started the next 5k. 

At the top of the hill, there was an iron representation of medieval pilgrims with their heads bent to the west wind. From the top I could see the mountains we walked over and the mountains we were headed too. It's crazy to see it all in one big picture. Just by turning a full circle, you can see miles and miles of Spain. We started heading down the steep part of the mountain to Uterga. We met a pretty white horse there that would try to bite people. I ate another sandwich there. We stopped a couple more times along the way to refill water bottles and to take off our packs and stretch. 

When we crossed a bridge into Puente La Reina and we walked about 10 minutes to our hostel which is also a nice one with a kitchen, clothes lines, and a backyard area. Luckily it was close to a super market. After I showered and they napped, we walked to the market and I bought some bread, meat, cheese, gummies, and apples. I also got some pasta with shredded cheese for dinner tomorrow night. The whole buying and preparing my own food thing is hard. It's hard to figure out what will last and what is cheapest. I was really homesick today and I just wanted my mom to come and make me a sandwich. I miss my parents so much right now and it's hard to do everything without them. It's a hard lesson. 

I washed some clothes and hung them to dry. I journaled about life. I spent most of today walking alone and just thinking about everything, all the people who mean the world to me and myself and who I am and what I want to achieve. I was down in the dumps in the evening, but I cheered up when March and Sahra asked me to pump up the volleyball and pass it around out back. It was so much fun. A guy named Thomas who was from Italy asked to join in so we were all just passing it and trying out trick passes and sets and I hit a couple solid hits. I was sweaty after so I took a second shower and sat in bed. I read a little of March's guide book and organized my things for tomorrow. We are gonna leave a half hour earlier tomorrow to see if we can beat the heat. Let's hope we do. 

Lanie

Special thanks for the day go to:

Grandma Kyser, Ron and Sherry Newcomer, Dave and Rachel Schiffer

Thanks to our mile sponsors as well!   

Doug Harmon, Eldon and Jimmie, James Oasha, Mark and Darbie Elmblade, and Auna Godinez

Camino 2014: Day 3 Zubiri to Pamplona (James)

Miles today: 13.5

Miles Total: 42.6

Pamplona! The running of the bulls! Hemingway! Tapas bars! 

We are here in the hostel called Jesus y Maria, a stone's throw from the cathedral inside the walls of the famous old city.  The main square is the epicenter of activity with a Sunday crowd of all ages, toddlers running free from carriages, and old men in khakis and sweaters tied over their shoulders.  It's car free streets were perfect for the girls to freely explore, which they did soon after a quick nap at the end of the hiking day.  One might get the perception that all we do is walk all day and sleep, but there are many of things the kids are responsible for before they can go out into he streets of Pamplona for that ice cream shop they saw on the way in.  

First thing we tend to do after checking in is dump our gear near our beds and get ready for a shower.  Every place is different, but if we get there early enough we don't have to wait too long for a turn.  After that, we check in with our daily laundry needs.  Most hostels have some sort of handwashing stations or large sinks to handwash clothes.  It's best to do this early to make sure clothes will dry on the line. Anything that doesn't dry can be tied to your pack during the hike for the next day.  After that, we have to go through the plan for the next day's hike as that will determine what kinds of food we need to shop for that night.  For instance tonight, the girls had to plan their meals for breakfast and lunch tomorrow before arriving at the next destination.  Any other time is used for napping, journaling, blog writing, and further exploring of the villages, towns, and cities we happen to stay in.  The girls are just getting used to this rhythm of life, but they will soon be pros.  

What is hard to get used to is the hiking itself.  It's just plain tough.  There is no other way around it.  In addition to the families strolling the streets here in Pamplona is the occasional pilgrim, easy to spot for his/her tender limp.  By the end of today, which had us ascending and descending rolling hills under the threats of rain from dark clouds, we had a nearly 90 minute walk on asphalt into the city.  This might not seems like such a big deal, but after 40+ miles of hiking over three days, our feet are a little tender and we were anxious to put them up for the day.  The good thing is that the girls have shown a great deal of fortitude and have continued on each day and for that, I'm immensely proud of them.  Sure, they might not have taken every step with a cheery smile and sunshine attitude, but they did make it.  Over time, the physical side of this journey will subside, leaving room to see the journey as something more than just a long, hard walk.  We just have to be patient and trust our little feet to take us to a place where despite the aches, we feel at peace.  

As a teacher, I couldn't be happier with our adventure so far and the progress made by everyone, and I mean that in more ways than one.  In the most basic sense, we have walked about 10% of the Camino.  It may not seem like much progress when you look at a map, but it goes by quicker than you think.  We will be in Santiago before we know it so let us enjoy every step we get.  

Buen Camino,

James

Special thanks for the day go to:

Adriel and Heidi Gaines, Stacey Giles, and Ron Harmon 

Thanks to our mile sponsors as well!

Toni and Joseph Connole, James Oasha, Linda Knotts, Eldon and Jimmie, and Doug Harmon 

Camino 2014: Day 2, Roncevalles to Zubiri (Mimi)

Miles today: 13.5

Miles Total: 29.1

Camino 2014: Day 2 Roncevalles to Zubiri (Mimi)

Well we defeated day two and charged in like a gallant steed, just barely defeating our enemy.  We arrived in the form of a half dead horse, pleading for life. We found the will to live when we arrived in Zubiri.

Our day started off decently. I woke up at 5:30am to our bunk partner from Italy bumping and hustling to gather his belongings and start walking.  I try not to be grumpy at people when I wake up, but this Italian man kept me awake for two hours with his incessant, snorting warthog snore. Two hours of beautiful sleep that I missed out on because of one man... But let's continue...

The first thing I felt after putting on my backpack was the ache in my shoulders, then we started uphill and I felt an ache in my calves.  The continuous change of uphill-downhill hiking soon brought to my awareness the terrible ache in my knees, hips, and shins.  But this was the new normal so I let it slide.

Each little rest break was about 3k-5k apart, but the last stretch was a hefty 7k.  We were used to getting that little break and I remember clearly hearing March tell us, "At the next town we [March and Sahra] will stop and wait for you to catch up." 

They didn't stop, and we walked alone for that last stretch.

Now after looking in the small town, thinking we would see our advisors, sitting with their water, as they always did, not finding them brought a series of emotions for me.

It started with the thought of 'Whatever, they're just ahead of me,' to, "Well, I haven't seen them in a while, maybe they took a wrong turn.' this continued to the thought of, 'What if I took the wrong turn?' 

I still continued, slowly but steadily, creating a gap between me and Emily with Lanie.  Soon my thoughts becomes stresses and I began to think, 'I am lost, wait... I see a pilgrim! Oh crap, I really am lost, but I see the Camino Shell, but where are the pilgrims?'

Eventually there was an hour gap before I encountered anything close to human.  My thoughts then were, 'I am gonna die.  I have crackers! That should last me for the night.  No, I am going to starve.' 

Now singing to keep the worry down, 'Just keep walking. Just keep walking. What do we do? We walk.'

Oh and more thoughts? 'Well this is the end. I am not going to die from physical activity. I am going to die in Spain because I got lost. This is it. I love you guys! All of you! Tell Mom and Dad, I love them!'

But guess what!?!

I didn't die.

No, in fact. March and Sahra were only two minutes in front of me the whole time.  Eventually we headed uphill with a difficult climb to a dreadful downhill, but at the bottom of the downhill was our hostel, waiting for us.

The hike, walk, wasnt as bad as I thought, or felt. Our aches, pains, and mentality may have added to the difficulty level, but looking back, it was bearable; and we survived. 

Now once at the hostal I have some great stories to tell. 

We started by unpacking and searching for food.  We came to the one and only supermarket in town half the size of an average Seven-Eleven/ Dari-Mart.  Unable to speak Spanish to the butcher owner because he kept interrupting, we left flustered, hoping to come back later after Ciesta (the mid-day nap Spaniards take from 2-5ish in the evening.  We headed back with March and Sahra near 17:00 (5:00pm) because we knew Sahra could speak some spanksh and could help us buy our food.  

17:30 hit and no store doors opened... 18:00 rolled around and March decided to ask the Café workers if the store would open.  They replied, 'No, because it is Saturday.  He closes early Saturday.' We wound up sitting in front of that shop for an hour. A whole entire hour waiting, and hoping for it to open. 

So we went to the Café across the road.  We got kid-sized pizza and chicken fingers (compared to our appetite) for dinner. Then it down-poured. In the middle of dinner. How encouraging!

Oh we did shower, wash our clothes, journaled and stuff. But that was the minor details on this second day of walking.  Do not doubt me when I say today was a good day. I just hope that tomorrow, with luck, should be much better.  

Buen Camino and Goodnight,

Mimi 

Special thanks for the day: 

Ron Harmon, Cliff and Jo Schutte, and John Overton

Mile sponsors: 

Grace Kyser, Jan Cornelius, Doug Harmon, Joseph and Toni Connole, Kevin and Rhonda Durfee, Eileen Sanders, and Linda Knotts

Camino 2014: Day 1, St. Jean to Roncevalles (Emily)

Miles today: 15.6

Miles Total: 15.6

Positives of today; We didn't die.

We woke up around 6:00 to be ready for breakfast at 6:30. I had woken up twice in the middle of the night wide awake, excited, thinking it was time to start walking. We had some bread with jam on it and were ready to start walking. It didn't take long before the road started going up...steeply. March assured us "It won't be like this all day." He lied.

The walk started with steep hills, then kind of flattened out, then went downhill for a little. Steep, flat, down, repeat. Eventually the flat and down started coming less frequently. Soon it was steep, steeper, steep, repeat. After a while March informed us we had just done 3 Mt.Pisgahs. We weren't even a third of the way done.

Around 11:00 we stopped at an outcropping of rocks overlooking the valley.  It was so pretty! We all took off our shoes to give our feet a break, and ate lunch there. After everyone was done we started walking again. A little past 2:00 we got to a point where we could see the town we would stop at in the distance. But after going up all day, you know what has to happen eventually. Going down. Us girls of course were excited to see a road that didn't go up, but March knowing better wasn't as thrilled. The sign estimated 1hr and 15min till we got there. It only took 10 for us to realize uphill wasn't so bad. The whole way down consisted of us talking out alternatives to getting to the bottom such as; rolling down, sliding on our backpacks, etc. Lanie decided they should just make monkey bars that cover the 3 kilometers.

To reward ourselves we all decided to have dinner off the pilgrims menu that night. At 7:00 we headed down, excited to be able to relax and have our food brought to us. The first part was pasta, Lanie of course had seconds. Next came the fish, still looking like a fish. We all had a good laugh at Mimi's reaction to it. And lastly, dessert!! They took everything off the table, except for our spoons, so of course we're all thinking ice cream. Finally the time comes. All the workers walk out and start handing out... Yogurt. Flavor? Natural. You could say that's not exactly what we had in mind.

Overall it was a good day. We saw some amazing things that included a majority of beautiful landscapes, being surrounded on the path by herds of sheep, horses rolling around in the grass up in the mountains, and we even got to see two sheep dogs at work. 

And for those of you always wondering whether the saying goes "It's all up hill from here." Or "It's all downhill from here." Let me tell you, they're both bad. I'm sure it goes "It's all flat ground from here." It probably just got lost in translation along the way.

All I know for sure is, we're going to sleep well tonight!

Emily

Special thanks for the day go to:

James and Sahra

Our mile sponsors:

Sahra Nielsen, Eileen Sanders, Joseph and Toni Connole, Kevin and Rhonda Durfee, Auna Godinez, Mark Laakso, Hannah Stebnicki, Luis Nieto-Varo, and Grace Kyser 

Camino 2014: Day 0.8 Paris to St. Jean Pied de Port (Lanie)

We were up and moving at 6:30am. We went to bed at around 1am so I felt like I only slept for about 10 minutes. Haha. I got a bad sunburn yesterday when we were sightseeing and the hot shower made it burn so bad that I almost screamed. Hopefully it won't hurt with my backpack on tomorrow. Mimi's almond lotion is making it a lot better though. It'll turn into a lovely golden tan. 

We left at 7am to the trolley-like bus and rode it to the metro that would take us to the airport. We only waited about half an hour and then boarded. The flight was 1hr 25min and it went by so quickly! (probably because we didn't leave the country :P) Us three girls sat together in one row and just journaled and ate some snacks. I had two cheap sandwiches from the market and an Arizona green tea. Wasn't too bad! 

We landed after what seemed like barely an hour. We took bathroom breaks and waited outside for our ride. We each paid 16€ to be driven to St. Jean where our first hostel is. It was a pretty long ride but we all slept on each other the whole way up. We slept like dominoes. Emily slept on me, I slept on Mimi, and Mimi slept against the window.

We arrived in St. Jean and paid the nice lady. The Camino office wasn't open yet so we walked around, explored, and took pictures of the view. At this point, I was insanely excited. We start walking tomorrow! I am also nervous about how hard and hot it was going to be. When the office opened, we made our way inside and took a seat in front of the people who worked there. We paid 2€ for our pilgrim passports and 8€ for the hostel. We also got our very own shells to put on our bags which was my favorite part! Mine has some yellow on it and all the weird edges and spots make it unique and not like any other. :) We stayed in a room downstairs with 3 bunkbeds and a bathroom in the hall. It also had an incredible view. We had a roommate from Australia named Alex and she slept below Mimi. She was super chill. 

After we got settled in, Mimi, Em, and I struggled to find a market because nobody spoke English. We stopped and asked two girls who looked our age and they had no idea what we were saying! So we started playing charades to see if they could understand. After Emily acted out pushing a shopping cart, they sort of understood and pointed us a direction. We didnt get very far with just that little bit because we didn't know where to stop. So we stopped in an information building and a lady who spoke some english gave us a map and more specific directions. We finally came to the market the lady had told us about called Carrefour Market and we all bought some snacks to last us throughout our first walking day. I bought a box of Belvita crackers, four apples, Haribo gummy crocodiles, and Toblerone chocolate. Yum!!! I'm all ready and stocked up for tomorrow. Its going to be hard, but we can do it! Now I shall go organize my bag, nap, explore, and go to bed. 

¡Buenas noches! 

Lanie 

Camino 2014: Day 0.7 Paris, France (Mimi)

Well, today was a long day. It was good!! It was just super long!  We started off by getting up at 8:30 in the morning which shouldn't be early, however, getting up a 10am the proceeding days, 8:30am was quite 

early. By the time we headed out on our adventure it was nearly 11:00am. We started off towards the jewel of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, but our priority was food. We were starving!

Now, story time! I decided to get a panini with meat and cheese and tomato.  This panini cost 4,80€ but the bakery woman serving us knew no English, so a very sweet young lady translated. What she said was that my panini cost 4,80€ and I could make it a meal by adding a pastry (cookie or mini croissant) and a drink (soda or juice) if I wanted to. I only had to pay a -,30€. Yeah! She paid me to get a meal. If you want to know, I paid 4,50€ for a panini, juice, and a chocolate chip cookie! How great is that!?! 

I guess I can say we went to the Eiffel Tower after that. Now, lined, stand after stand, were vendors… crepes, bags, postcards, shoes, miniature Eiffel Towers and any other thing you could possibly imagine lined the sidewalk.  This forced us to look at the things they were selling. Then we had to pass by the people who walk around selling miniature Eiffel Towers, who would follow you. Along with them we had the posse of people asking you to sign a form so they could steal your money, phone or other expensive personal item.  After surviving the attack of people everywhere, we found a peaceful bench where we could eat our food. We took a few pictures and left for the next place, the Arc de Triumph.  

Now that place building was better than pictures.  There are so many details, I loved it! Now all I know is it is the finishing place of the Tour de France, however, I can assume there is some important historical thing that goes with it.  

Okay moving on… the next place was magnificent, extravagantly marvelous! The Louvre.  The pyramids on the outside, five floors of timeless art, and thousands of people from everywhere.

We had an hour and forty-five minutes to look at as much as we could.  30 of the minutes were spent looking for bathrooms, 45 minutes getting to The Mona Lisa, and the last time we had was spent wandering around looking at paintings and statues.  Honestly, I never was into art, but seeing these masterpieces, I was thinking of becoming an artist. If not anything, I have learned to appreciate it more.

Now I want tell you how much strength and determination it took us to get that 'selfie' (a picture taken of oneself, with only oneself and the objects in the shot). It was like a worm trying to eat through an onion, one layer at a time.  We would get past one group, then another and another, eventually winding up at the fenced off edge.  We got our 'selfies' and then a group photo.  *Shout out to the Seattle girls who took our photos!*

Last, but not least, the Chapel of Notre Dame.  I fell in love with it, stain-glass windows, beautiful organ, amazing architectural design.  Oh man, the way it was built using pulley system and all. I live only to see that building, and get married, but I don't think the second will happen, so I fulfilled half of my life's dream (I am just kidding). Notre Dame was magnificent also. I couldn't get over how beautiful it was and how ancient it looked. 850 years old and still getting older!

Paris was a great experience! We saw The Eiffel Tower, walked over the Love Locked Bridge (the bridge with locks), and the Louvre.  So much happened such short time, I am exhausted.  But despite the lack of sleep, I know Paris is a good city, but the experience could have been even better.  I would absolutely, positively, not hesitate to go back, but maybe next time, with my Lover?

Now that was just the four places we went.  After all that, we went and bought breakfast and snacks for our upcoming day.  March and Sahra bought stuff for spaghetti and banana Nutella crepes, dinner/dessert.   We chowed down and headed out again for the 23.00 (11 pm) Eiffel Tower light show. It was gorgeous! Obtained a few more photos and headed back to the apartment.

And guess what happened after that?? 

We went to bed.

Au Revoir,

Mimi 

Camino 2014: Day 0.6 Copenhagen, Denmark to Paris, France

Bags were packed, apartment cleaned, postcards sent, and very quickly, too quickly, we were all saying goodbye to Copenhagen, Denmark.  It will always be these kids first international travel experience and I believe the bar was set very high.  I think their experience in Copenhagen is best exemplified by the Danish words they very quickly picked up.  "Tak" is the word for "thank you," and the girls began to use it whenever was appropriate, which it turns out, was quite often.  Expanded sentences soon followed, but the kicker is that they always revolved around the word "Tak.". "Tak for mad" they would say, which means thanks for the meal.  Or "Tak for cycletur" or Tak for dag" for a bike ride and thanks for a nice day.  Everything was about saying thanks.  

So, in other words, the reason these kids had such an amazing time in Copenhagen was due to all the people involved along the way.  From Sahra and her immediate family providing food, lodging, and entertainment, to her friends taking us in for dinner and providing rides, you have all made a huge impression on my students in unimaginably positive ways.  We even had Lanie's family's exchange student from ten years ago greet us at the airport. 

Denmark has had a special place in my heart for the last three years, and I'm sure it just won three more enthusiastic fans.

However, we must continue our journey, which has us now flying to Paris despite air traffic controller strikes delaying and canceling some flights.  We will hope for the best and tonight we will sleep with the anticipation of wandering around such places as, the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, and The Louvre all day tomorrow.  

Take care!

James

Camino 2014: Day 0.5 Copenhagen, Denmark

Today involved perhaps our best opportunity for the combination of training/sightseeing.  I think all in all, we walked about 8 miles just getting around town.  It started with another wonderful breakfast spread of homemade bread, jam, granola, juice, fruit, and a carton of yogurt.  Yes, a carton of yogurt, like a milk carton.  This was endlessly fascinating to us Americans. 

Rested, showered, and fed, we took off by foot through the now crowded Monday Copenhagen streets.  We were lucky enough to get our bearings on the weekend with fewer people to worry about bumping into, fewer bikes weaving among us, and fewer cars awkwardly driving around in a city where moving about is very much human powered.  We set our course back through the famous shopping streets where we picked up postcards and stamps, and explored some touristy shops for shirt and souvenir ideas for when we return.  We then explored further into the city, stopping briefly at a beautiful church and listening to an organ from the 16th century.  However, our goal for the morning walk was a place called Christania, a semi-autonomous, portion of the city.  It is a really interesting place.  Turns out in 1971, perhaps because of the lack of affordable housing, or the general disillusionment of society, several people broke into what were abandoned military barracks and occupied them.  Eventually declaring themselves a free society, they made a flag, created their own form of government, made new laws, and succeeded in surviving several raids and pressure from the outside. Funny thing is that this "freetown" that broke away from society is that very same society's fourth largest tourist attraction.  We probably didn't see many of the Christania's 1000 permanent residents, but we sure did see a lot of tourists.

On the way back to the apartment, the afternoon thunder showers that made some of the Tivoli rides the day before so interesting, returned.  We took refuge inside a sandwich shop and had lunch.  Intermittent rain followed us all the way back, but we were excited for the second half of the day where we were scheduled to join Sahra's friends for another traditional Danish dinner.  We have been so lucky on this trip to Denmark so far.  Every meal has had some sort of historical or cultural connection.

In order to get to Johanne's house, Sahra walked us over to another friend, Line's apartment, who was kind enough to drive all of us. A short drive later and we were greeted at the door by Johanne, her husband Bjorn, and their two kids, Snorre and Kalle.  Not two seconds after walking in did Lanie have Snorre, the 11 month old in her arms.  I never knew it, but Lanie is great with kids!  A wonderful dinner and dessert followed.  Emily, Lanie, and Mimi have all shed their initial shyness with new culture over the last two days and were in full question mode, which was great.  We learned about Danish culture, history, a few new words, and even learned about underwater rugby.  Seriously!  Look it up!  Johanne is on the Danish National team:)

Line drove us all back, smiling the whole way listening to our attempts at the Danish language.  I couldn't for the life of me get the kids to say one Danish word prior to this trip and now they won't stop.  I suppose that is the difference between learning something just because and learning something that is relevant.  It has now become relevant for them to learn Danish and they are having fun doing it.  

Our night was capped off with another stroll back through the streets to watch the summer bonfire. We arrived a bit late and didn't stay very long, but it was good people watching.  

All in all, another "fantastisk" day in Denmark.  Tomorrow, we pack, clean, and head out to the airport for our flight to Paris, France.

Farvel,

James

Camino 2014: Day 0.4 Copenhagen (Emily)

Today we got to finally meet Sahra's parents, Hanne and Niels-Christean, and they were really nice! After eating breakfast we all walked through the beautiful Kings Garden to Nyhavn (Pronounced as Newhound) After walking around for a little they took us to a hotdog stand for a famous Danish hotdog. The hotdogs came with onions, pickles, spicy mustard, remoulade, ketchup, and fried onions. Mimi and I like our hotdogs plain so we got what they call a "French Hotdog" and everyone is still continuing to give us a hard time for it. 

After Nyhavn we walked down through their famous shopping area on our way to Tivoli, an amusement park near by. Sahra's parents bought us tickets so we could go on any ride we wanted. We started with the oldest wooden roller coaster, the one ride March is comfortable doing. Once we finished that one we headed to the bigger rides, planning on doing every single one. The biggest ones were Dæmon (which we did twice) Vertigo (Twice again. This one pretty much against our will, we only went because Mimi wanted to so bad) The Golden Tower (This one three times because Lanie found a lot of humor in me screaming my head off) and lastly the Aquila which we did once. My personal favorite was the Dæmon.

Once we were done with our long day at the amusement park Sahra's dad picked us up and took us back to the apartment where her family had prepared a delicious dinner. We had stegt flæsk with potatoes and persille sovs (fried pork chops and potatoes and gravy) There we were able to meet her brother Nicolaj, his wife Signe, and their daughter Carolina who is 9 months old. The whole family was so nice, and very welcoming. 

After everyone was done eating, we visited for a while before it was time to say our goodbyes. March thinking we were done for the day went to lay down, only to find out we had some energy left in us and wanted to go down to the park. Sahra showed us the way to a park near by where me and Mimi could kick around a soccer ball, and Lanie and March could pass a volleyball back and forth. While Sahra took back a bike she borrowed, March had the idea to do two on two with the soccer ball. It was me and Mimi against him and Lanie. I'd like to think Mimi and I won :) At a soccer field right next to us a game was going on. It ended in a tie so we were able to watch an exciting shoot out before heading back. We ended our night with some yummy ice cream Sahra bought us and a World Cup soccer game on T.V.

Copenhagen is even better than I imagined! 

Emily

Camino 2014: Day 0.3 Copenhagen, Denmark (Lanie)

Our plane landed in Denmark at around 1pm. I was extremely happy that I made it through that long flight. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was absolutely freezing the whole way because they ran out of the blankets they were passing out. It worked out okay because as I flipped through the channels on the tiny tv screen, I came across the movie; The Great Gatsby, which I've never seen before. To anyone who hasn't seen it, IT HAS A TERRIBLE ENDING! Anyway, we got off and had our passports stamped for the very first time. We also got to say our first Danish word to the man who was stamping, Tak! (Thanks) 

We walked through this tunnel looking archway to a crowd of people waiting for their friends and family. We were greeted by Sahra, Kathrine (my family's former exchange student), and her friend. It was so cool to see her again after 10 years! They were waving little Danish flags with our names on them which was super cool also. Then we all hopped on a little train that took us to a downtown station. We were in the city of Copenhagen!!! It was crazy beautiful with all the tall old looking buildings. Sahra took us to her brothers apartment we would be staying in and made us a typical Danish lunch for the seven of us. I got to try a couple new things such as a spread they put on bread that was sort of a pâté which I didn't particularly like and hyldeblomst (elder flower) which is a drink that they water down with sparkling water because it's too strong. To me, it tasted like pickles, but it was still pretty good. Haha. 

After lunch, Kathrine asked me if she could take me around town and go on a boat tour. I of course couldn't pass that up. We walked all around while her and her friend talked about the history of almost every building. I took a bunch of pictures in the process. We got on the ferry after we walked around all of the buildings. I was very glad that the tour lady recited her little history lesson in English along with Danish and Russian throughout the ride. About fifteen minutes into the ride, the skies went gray and it started to pour down rain! I got soaked! Kathrine said "Denmark does this and then after ten minutes, the sun is out again." That reminded me of Oregon. Overall, I enjoyed the boat ride with them. We started walking back to apartment after and stopped at a very pretty tall tower called Doctrinamet Dirige. We walked all the way to the top to look at the amazing view. It was cool! 

They dropped me off at the apartment at 7pm and Emily and Mimi were passed out. I was also dead tired and wanted to take a nap, but March told me that it would be easier for me to adjust if I just stayed awake and waited for bedtime and be able to sleep all night. After a little while, we woke them up for dinner. Sahra made lasagna and it was awesome! After that, we went bike riding around town on some bikes that Sahra managed to get for us before we arrived. (Thank you Sahra!) It was very fun experience. We rode to the Little Mermaid statue by the water and took some group photos. We also saw some other statues and the Queen's house along with the other royal family houses. They were gorgeous. Fun fact: When the danish flag is up on top of the house, it means that one of the royal families is home. When the flag is not up, they are away. We were all curious to find out what they were doing inside. Haha! 

I was totally beat when we arrived back home. I got my teeth brushed and March had put in Napoleon Dynamite. I didn't even get to watch ten minutes of it before I slowly drifted off to sleep... 

Goodnight! 

Lanie 

Camino 2014: Day 0.2 New York (Mimi)

I learned quickly that airplanes do not suit me well.  Still recovering from yesterday's night flight and a nice nap after that, I still did not feel fully rested.  

Day two in New York City consisted of sleeping in until 10:30-ish and we took our showers before the long day began.  Breakfast was simply the stash of bagels and croissants Emily had bought in Portland airport.  With a hearty morning mid-day walk we headed to the pier to meet our destiny; the ferry boat tour of Manhattan.  

This boat ride was like no other. One, it was in New York, but also due to us being in NYC,  if you wanted to take a picture, expect twenty other people to be in it with you!  We had many many people in the tour who did not speak English which allowed us to enjoy the different dialogues that surrounded our booth.  

Traffic, immense traffic, surrounded us and I continuously was on my toes ready to dodge a speeding taxi.  We went to get Villa (Pizza) so Em could cross off her bucket list, 'eating pizza in New York' and spotted people walking with Coldstone IceCream, so guess where went next. 

Retreating with our ice cream, another tour bus came so we headed now to the southern part if Manhattan.  We have our bags the whole time so trying to learn how to walk with the bags for the entire day was interesting.  As we headed down to the southern region, our main goal was to see the Twin Towers Memorial.

This historic spot, the Twin Towers Historical Site, held great meaning to March, but I was only five when the Towers were hit.  As he walked ahead to take in the historic values of the site, we held back, giving him space, staring down into the 30 ft fountain.  Real quick fact, the new World Trade Center is 1,776 ft tall.

As I saw all these people there was a quiet sense of sadness and mourning, but barely 20 yards from the North Tower stood the new World Trade Center.  The somber aura was quickly covered by hope and I realized something.  Despite, me barely knowing the history of the Twin Towers, as I was only five years old at the time, this was one of the events that was supposed to divide our country, but it didn't. "E Pluribus Unum"  

So we had barely an hour before we needed to get to the airport to head to Copenhagen, so we were going to take a bus, funny thing is, we couldn't find one that we to Central Park in our allotted hour.  We unfortunately returned to the tour bus and made it to Central Park to get a picture! 

And let us end the day with a grand recognition of the next six to seven hour plane ride. I will tell of how terribly fun we had walking again through security this time hoping our bags were light enough and stressing about our passport legitimacy. So lights out was at midnight- thirty after we boarded our plane 45 minutes late and had a wonderful take-off that accelerated us up to 41,000 ft (12,476 km) over the Atlantic Ocean.

Off to Denmark!

Mimi