Camino 2014: Day 1.11 New York to Portland, Oregon (James)

Camino 2014: Day 1.11 New York to Portland, Oregon (James)

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

Martin Buber

We are home!  For real this time!  

Our flight from New York was uneventful except for the the barely contained giddiness and excitement of the girls as the wheels touched the ground.  “Our parents are actually in there?” they said, half asking and half commenting.  After 52 days of traveling, family and friends were sorely missed.  I had to remind them not to run when we got into the terminal and that it would be nice if they all walked through together.  Sure enough, as we rounded the corner in PDX where people can wait for arrivals, each girl spotted someone to run to and they couldn’t contain themselves.  All I could make out were flashes of smiles and hugs from the crowd that had gathered for their return.  Thanks to everyone for making our return one last special moment on this trip.  

And just like that, it was over.  We quickly split up and we all made our individual way home.  Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to fully comprehend what we just went through so I will wait a couple of weeks to ask the girls to write a follow-up to finish out the blog for this trip.  As for me, thanks once again for everyone who supported this trip in any way shape or form.  Whether it was financially backing the kids or simply providing a kind word of encouragement, you all participated in making a huge impact on our lives.  I told the girls once that traveling, and specifically the Camino, will continue to give you gifts long after you step off the trail.  I hope over the coming days, weeks, and months they will continue to be recipients of lessons learned along the way.  On the plane, I wrote out a few of the ones we were fortunate to experience.

Simplicity:

We just spent the vast majority of our summer with all of our possessions in a little backpack.  We were perfectly happy.  

Vanity:

Make-up and brand name clothes don’t make us who we are.  A couple of us walked all day in garbage bags.  We were perfectly happy.

Gratitude:  A happy person is someone who can still recognize luxury in the simplest of things, a warm shower, nice bed, cold water, and good food.

Adversity:  People will ask how we walked 500+ miles through mountains, river valleys, flat plains, dark mornings and hellish afternoon sun, rain showers and biting cold.  Remember that it was most definitely not done in one day over a single step.  We achieved this through simple steps, one after the other, through injury, pain, boredom, misery.

Acceptance:  We accept that injury, pain, boredom, and misery are part of the experience of life.  Without them, we wouldn’t have had the laughter, the companionship, the loving kindness, and gratitude we also experienced.

Kindness:  Remember the sound of the door cracking open the morning of our first thundershower and the woman motioning us inside from the rain.  Remember the words of encouragement from your fellow pilgrims.  Especially remember that every pilgrim, just like everyone at home, is carrying a burden that may not be entirely visible.  Be gentle, be kind, and be accepting of everyone you meet.  

Thanks again for following our journey.  

Buen Camino,

James

Camino 2014: Day 1.10 Copenhagen, Denmark to New York (James)

Camino 2014: Day 1.10 Copenhagen, Denmark to New York (James)

We are home!  Well, kind of.  We arrived at JFK airport in New York late in the evening.  Customs, passport control, and airport shuttle pick up and drop off added to the time it took to finally get a chance to lay down.  It was nearly 1am by the time things settled down.  Our bodies are still on European time, 6 hours ahead, so needless to say, we are very tired.

The day started out great, though.  A nice little breakfast at Sahra's cousin's house had me really missing home.  After weeks spent in albergues, hostels, and hotels, we are all pining for a semblance of home and we certainly felt it here.  However, we couldn't linger too long because we needed to get back into the Copenhagen city center for a bit of souvenir shopping before heading out to the airport.  We also needed to say bye to Sahra.

Whenever we met other teachers or people on vacation this summer, they would give me a what would become a familiar tilt of the head and crinkled face in the expression of confusion when learning that we were traveling with students.  I'm still trying to sort out what exactly has motivated me to spend that last few summers trekking and biking with teenaged students in tow.  It certainly isn't easy and there are times when I really wonder what I'm doing.  I told Sahra once that I feel like a fool 99% of the time for doing things like this, but I also feel like a genius for that 1% for when everything comes together.  Those are precious moments and they always seem to make all the trials and tribulations worth all the time and effort for me.  I have had several moments like that on this trip with each one of the kids saying or doing something that made me immensely proud.  However, that is just for me.  I am the beneficiary of such events.  Sahra was here without the benefits of such motivations.  She came simply because I asked her to be here.  I can't thank her enough for helping me out throughout the whole process.  For the months leading up to the journey, I would ask her questions about metro systems, airports, schedules, hiking strategies, and lodging.  This was literally every evening.  As we began the journey, I continued to ask her questions about the same things.  Navigating the cities was made so much easier knowing she was there to figure out subway ticket systems, or what kinds of attractions we could do for the day.  She also orchestrated everyone's first taste of Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark and she continued that today by making sure we got to the airport safely by escorting us there.  

So what can I say to someone who donated 50 some odd days to help make sure our summer adventure in Europe was as amazing as it was?  

Thank you, Tak, Merci, Gracias, Danke, Grazie?  Take your pick.  She deserves all of them.  

So farewell, (briefly as I will pick her up at the airport in Portland on the 18th) to Sahra and the rest of Wonderful Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark.  We traveled and visited many places in Europe this summer, but we only felt at home in Denmark.  

We have no plans for New York tomorrow other than sleeping in and heading over to the airport for our date with Oregon.  See all of you very soon!

James

Camino 2014: Day 1.9 Munich, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark

Camino 2014: Day 1.9 Munich, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark (Mimi)

Today was a late start.  We got up around nine and realized we should get down to breakfast before it closed at ten.  Munich's hostel has a wonderful breakfast selection.  It varies from cereal with cold milk to toast with jams and honey.  We had apple juice, orange juice, coffee and hot chocolate.  They offered us bread rolls and even hard boiled eggs. It was exciting!

From breakfast we packed up our bags and brought them down to the hostels holding room.  This was convenient because soon after we headed to the shopping area of the city.  We first went to the FC Bayern (Bayern Futbol Club) Fan Shop and took a gander at what they had.  There was anything from a coffee mug to a team jersey to keychains. It was really cool!  

After that the three of us girls went window shopping to pass three hours of our time.  There were plenty of H&M's, a store called Karstadt, a shop called Pimky, and plenty of others.  All of them had clothes that I enjoyed browsing at.  I was surprised at my enjoyment of looking because I dislike clothes shopping a lot. I think the endurance of wearing athletic clothes and sports bras took a toll on me.  I really did enjoy looking!

Following the shopping was our next flight.  We spent most of the day traveling to the airport, riding the plane, and landing in Copenhagen, but once in Copenhagen we quickly found our way to Sahra's cousin's house.  They were super nice and they had a very quaint black house.  There were three rooms and a loft for the television.  It was a beautiful house and suited the family nicely.  

They fed us a breaded tuna dinner with salad and snap peas as the sides.  Desert was the traditional milk-like yogurt and macaroon biscuits.  It was a very good end to our day.  We also showered and went straight to bed.  We were knocked out by 10:30.  

Back in Copenhagen! Tomorrow we head back to the states!  I am super excited! I can easily speak the same for Emily and Lanie! 

I would like to thank Halle and Tobias again for letting us stay in their beautiful house.  The whole stay was wonderful. 

50 Days Done: 2 More To Go!

Mims

Camino 2014: Day 1.8 Munich, Germany (Emily)

Camino 2014: Day 1.8 Munich, Germany (Emily)

Today we started off by going to Dachau, a concentration camp here in Munich. It made everything I have learned in school all the past years more real. We did a guided through the whole camp and I learned a lot. The lady told us about all the things one could get punished for (like something as simple as losing a button on their shirt) They could even kill them for no reason at all and just say "They tried to escape." The camp we were at was meant to hold 

Next we went to the BMW museum. So many cool cars!! One lady was driving a car around and you couldn't even hear it. Quietest car ever. It was really impressive. Then we went outside and looked at some motorcycles. 

Lastly we headed over to Olympiapark where they held the 1972 Summer Olympics. It was the prettiest park I'd ever been to. We climbed up to the view point so we could see the whole thing. There was a carnival going on so there were rides, and games going on everywhere. In the middle was a little lake where they had paddle boats and other things to ride. Everyone was riding bikes, jogging, or just walking around looking at everything going on. The best part of the park was the waterballs. So much fun!! You get in this plastic ball, they pump air in it, and you get to run around on the water. Well kind of. You attempt to run but it's a lot harder then it looks so you just end up falling and rolling all over the place. We couldn't stop laughing. 

We ended the day with some souvenir shopping and dinner at Henry's Deli (For the second night in a row.) Off to Copenhagen tomorrow!

Camino 2014: Day 1.7 Munich, Germany (Lanie)

Camino 2014: Day 1.7 Munich, Germany (Lanie)

After the longest train ride of my life, we made it to Munich! Thank goodness! The ride was nine hours and there was barely any sleeping involved. I probably tried over 20 different sleeping positions on that chair and only a few of them actually allowed me to sleep for a half hour or so. From here on out, we fly.

We swung by a cafe in the train station to eat breakfast and then we left to  find the hostel/hotel we'd be staying at these next two nights. For the first time in awhile, I was actually shivering and not sweating... Haha, it was crazy. I've been sweating this whole trip with all the heat and now it's cold enough here for me to shiver. It was a nice change actually. 

Check-in time wasn't until 3 so we put our bags in the luggage room and wandered outside. Yesterday, March told us there would be some sort of surprise for us in Germany. But we had no clue. He then announced we'd be spending the rest of the day until check-in at the zoo!!!! We were shocked! And extremely excited!! :) We'd all been talking about the zoo this whole trip so this was an awesome surprise. Thank you March and Sahra! 

We took the subway which was only about 8 minutes, and then a 5 minute walk to the main zoo entrance. It was called Hellabrunn Der Münchner Tierpark. We split up with our maps and us three made sure to cover the entire zoo so we didn't miss anything. It was split up into different worlds which was pretty cool. There was Polar world where we saw a mama polar bear and her two cubs, seals, and penguins. There was Jungle world where we saw leopards, lions, and tigers. There was also Monkey world where we saw chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, and several other kinds of monkeys! We also saw elephants, giraffes, ostriches (Emily's favorite), zebras, and my favorite, lemurs! And there was a small aquarium too!  We pretty much saw everything and it was a blast. We ended our wonderful zoo visit with a few feeding shows, buying a postcard, and sharing a piece of plum cobbler. Perfect. 

Before returning to the hostel, we stopped by a cafeteria place and all bought a german hot dog. It was so good!!! We came back just in time and got our bunks. It feels weird to be back in a hostel with a bunch of people and share a room with them too. We all showered and then napped from 4-9pm. It didn't feel as long as it was, haha. At around 9:15, we all went out together and found a place to eat some dinner. I had some amazing potato soup with bread and sparkling water. The restaurant played really good music so Emily and I sang our hearts out (quietly) before having to leave. 

It's about 11:30 right now and it's crazy to think we only have 4 more days of this trip. It went by so fast, but you know what they say... Time flies when you're having fun. :) 

Lanie 

Camino 2014: Day 1.6 Venice, Italy (Mimi)

Camino 2014: Day 1.6 Venice, Italy (Mimi)

This morning started off encouraging! I woke up at 8:00am and realized no one had budged, wait, Sahra was reading but March was still sleeping.   I made the assumption that I could sleep more so... I went back to sleep.  Near 9:15am I woke up and was wide awake so... I got up. Funny how that works.

At this time, Emily and Lanie were still sleeping in the loft above, and I was cold because we had turned on the air conditioning the night before.  It continued to freeze our room all night long and I was fortunate to sleep right under it.  As they were waking up, I got my banana's cut into small slices so I could have it as a nice topping for our Rice Krispies cereal.  The other two got up shortly after and we ate breakfast and packed up because today we are heading to our next destination, Deutschland (Germany)!

Pietro, our host guy, came to check up on the house and thought we'd already be out and about, however, because we weren't, he offered for us to join him in getting espresso. he bought our drinks. That made me like him even more. Cool Italian accent, bomb huge muscles, and a gentleman! This was a cool dude!

We went out and experienced an Italian market, fruit stands, fresh fish, and butcher shops with fresh meats.  It was cool.  As we made our way to a park, we stopped and browsed a little more before we relaxed under the shade.  I made myself at rest under a tree, managing to find a comfortable position on it's roots.  

Around 14:00 (2:00pm) we decided to stop by Nico's to allow March and Sahra to experience their ice cream also (they got semi-lost and missed out on the ice cream yesterday).

Afterwards we spent some time getting back to the apartment to get our bags, find food and wait for the train.  Not much special occurred in that time.  I will most certainly miss Rome, but I will definitely miss Venice.  I know we must go home, but Venice is absolutely beautiful.  The canals, cute couples, adorable dresses and altogether Italian culture will come home with me.  The Murano Glass is something to look into when you travel, save a little cash, because it is not something to miss out on (not that you can, the colorful glass is everywhere)!!

Germany is next.  I do not have any expectations really except that it will be comfortable to sleep in.  Right now I am sitting in a train car that has no air conditioning at 22:00 (10:00pm). Italy is hot, this train car is hot, perhaps Germany will not be hot, nor cold.  That is my one expectation. But about Germany, I know it plays a huge part in the World Wars... so I do expect to see some historical places, or things.  Oh, I have two expectations. I think besides that, I will wander there with an open heart, and an open mind.  Let us see what Germany holds.

To Italy, Ciao!

To Germany, Hello!

Mimi

Camino 2014: Day 1.5 Venice, Italy (James)

Camino 2014: Day 1.5 Venice, Italy (James)

It started with a couple drops here and there, enough to give us all the time to think about how we were in the middle of the canal with no protection from the coming downpour.  Perhaps it was punishment for choosing the most overpiced, touristy thing to do in Venice, the gondola ride, where for thirty minutes we were slowly guided through the narrow, aqua green canals.  Pointed out to us by our oarsman was the Mozart house, Marco Polo house, and of course, the Realto Bridge over the Grand Canal.  The only problem was, of course, that it started to rain, and heavily at that.  We heard a heavy Italian accent reassuring us from behind, "No problem!" as he threw various umbrellas our way.  We opened them in a futile attempt to stay dry and for a solid ten minutes saw nothing but the inside of an umbrella.  The rain eventually abated, but long after we were soaked through.  Still, smiles were shared and we all agreed that we really couldn't have gone two days in Venice and not have done a gondola ride.  It's just something you do.  I guess we could have picked a better time than the afternoon when thunder showers were predicted, but that's for next time.

Our morning was spent exploring by foot, the only other mode of transportation around here.  We joined the throngs of tourists and meandered our way through pedestrian walkways and alleys that somehow or another eventually led somewhere.  I'm amazed, but we never found ourselves terribly lost or disoriented.  I suppose we just went wherever we saw people and that tended to keep us on track.  We stopped at the Realto Bridge where we looked into the various shops selling the famous Venice glass and the masks.  A little further had us emerging into the enormous St Mark's Square.  It was there, after a few pictures, where we split up.  I really like to give the kids a chance to explore on their own and Venice, with it's water on all sides, gives a nice natural boundary.  Sahra and I explored as well and after a few hours we all met up again having seen some of the same sights.  

One would think that all that walking in Spain would give us super powers around a town like Venice where your feet are paramount, but it was quite the contrary.  We all felt tired and slow. It seems we are still recovering from the 500+ miles.  On top of the that, while in Spain we got in the rhythm of ending our day with a nap around 3pm.  Our bodies were craving that nap as we exited that gondola ride soaking wet.  After a brief pit stop at the grocery store to pick up dinner supplies, we were all back at the apartment lounging about.  

Because me and Sahra wanted to try a pizza place right next to the apartment, we got to watch the girls prepare a seafood pasta similar to the one we made last night.  For all you parents reading, please know that despite any pleas of incompetence, they all know how to make a dish.  I came out of the shower to the lovely aromas of fresh garlic in olive oil, seafood, and the sounds of pasta boiling.  Hopefully they will offer to make something upon returning before it is requested or downright demanded.

Tomorrow should be a somewhat relaxing day.  We have to check out of the apartment, but Pietro, our host, arranged for us to leave our bags until the late afternoon, sparing us the trouble of having to lug our backpacks around all day.  In the evening, we have to make our way back to the Santa Lucia train station where we will board the city nightline train to Munich.  Like all train travel, it will probably be slow and somewhat uncomfortable, but these are small prices to pay to get to see and do some of things for which we have had the opportunity.  Plus, it is one stop closer to home.  As much fun as it is to be out here, it has been a long journey and we are anxious to see our friends and family.  Just a few more days and we will do just that!

Ciao,

James