| Date | Jun 30 |
| Total This Camino: | 219 miles. |
| Total All Caminos: | 1619 miles |
| Total Lodging: | $ 530 |
| Buses / Trains | $ 20 |
| Total Buses / Trains: | $ 125 |
| Food: | $ 15 |
| Total Food: | $ 425 |
Best Moments
Cervantes house: being able to walk through the house where he wrote the classic novel Don Quixote while in the small, relatively small city of Valladolid where I never would have expected such an experience. A rare treat on the Camino Madrid.
Climbing Sierra Guadarrama and Fuenfria: by the time we started the serious ascent, the temperature was in the low 90s. Fortunately we had shade. But by the time, after over 4 hours of increasingly steeper and tougher climbing, we reached the pass.
We achieved something physically challenging, mentally challenging and possibly spiritually challenging in that we had to keep our spirits up because as the trail dragged on, it got progressively harder to maneuver.
Segovia Jewish quarter: sampling the history, the tradition and the culture of this barrio was an education for me. I learned a lot. I was very fortunate to to experience this area alongside Deb.
Ursula's meal: on the day of the crossing the mountains, when we finally reached our albergue, it was a bit of a shock to find out that the only bar in town, that is the only place that had food was closed. Our keeper at the albergue made us a tortilla, a potato salad and brought us watermelon and bread. That was one of the best meals because of her spirit of charity and enjoyment of life.
Guernica: as always when I look at that painting, that bigger than life work of art by Picasso, I can't help but be moved by how, contrastingly beautiful and ugly, he captures war. I only thank God that I in my career in the military never actually had to call in targeting information for real because otherwise that painting might haunt me forever.
Random Thought of the Day
Retired my hiking poles. End of life cycle. Funny thing is a couple years ago I retired another pair that looked just like this pair lol. That's what happens when you're mix and match.
On the Road / Notable memories
0600: up and at 'em
0630: cab arrives
0655: arrive at Barajas airport
0715: check-in starts
0745: cleared security check point
0810: cleared immigration and the Schengen zone
0820: at gate Madrid Barajas
1050: takeoff from Barajas. 8 hr flight
1240: arrive Newark airport
1300: cleared immigration and customs
1345: cleared tsa security at Newark
1400: at gate Newark
1540: boarding in Newark
1720: landed Rochester
Overall a pretty smooth experience getting from the hostel to the gate at the airport.
Could have been worse with the ongoing NATO conference and traffic jams, or crowds at the airport due to staff shortages in either the airline or security.
Smooth travel experience. I noticed in the news that others were suffering from an airport / travel congestion nightmare.
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