Tag: hostel
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The Way of St. Francis: Italy at its best
As I sipped coffee at a bar in Poggio Bustone Wednesday afternoon, Sue wandered down the road a few doors and returned with a dinner invitation. The fellow in the white t-shirt runs the La Laconda Francescana Ristorante and hostel, where he later served us a delicious two-course meal with more wine than we could drink…
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23 beds in 35 days
After sleeping in 23 beds in 35 days, we are ready to go home. There is just one problem: We sold our home and the bed with it. We will have to make do, for now, with a rented condo in Ashland, Oregon. It will be home for the next three months and we are…
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Ah, what a journey is the West Highland Way!
Scotland, 2014: Thirteen days afoot, more than 150 miles. It is time to write the journalist's “30” on this journey. We are jumping on a bus tomorrow and heading to Inverness for a couple days before driving to Fife to see our dear friends there. A week in a Crail seaside cottage sounds amazing just…
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A wild store chase on the Great Glen Way
Our walking in Scotland has taken us through some quite remote areas. We have had to plan carefully to make sure we have food to fuel our weary bodies. The Great Glen Way has had even fewer shops or eating places than the West Highland Way. It is not unusual to walk 12 miles…
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Coast-to-coast on the Great Glen Way
After our second day on the 73-mile Great Glen Way, we are staying in a great hostel in South Laggan. We scored a private en suite room. It helps to be one of the first to arrive! We have trekked about 130 miles from Glasgow and we are sore and tired. When we planned the…
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The magical West Highlands tour takes us away
Camaraderie has progressed as we get deeper into the Highlands on the West Highland Way. There is a sense of impending accomplishment as those of us in Kinlochleven tonight anticipate our 16-mile walk to Fort William and the end of the trail. We are bunking in a hostel tonight after staying in extraordinary 300-year-old…
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One more thing…
…about yesterday. Hiking the last half of the banks of Loch Lomond was, without a doubt, the most physically exhausting thing I have done in decades! Decades! I don't think Reg made that clear enough to you all. We sat down for lunch, done in, and still had six miles to go! However, my wonderful…
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At the end of the day, memories are made
After a long day walking along Loch Lomond, we arrived in Inversnaid, a tiny village on the banks of the lake. I looked up our booking and saw that the Inversnaid Bunkhouse was our destination. “Call for pickup,” said my notes. Minutes later, Nick arrived and drove us up the mountain to a remote building,…
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Up, up and up goes Camino de Santiago
I made instant Starbucks coffee for the three of us in our freezing Castrillo albergue before we headed out at 7 a.m. Wednesday, top photo. Our 13-mile walk to Foncebadon was marked by a pause for coffee at a Brazilian cowboy outpost. We climbed about 1,700 feet and are near 5,000 feet tonight in a…