Maybe There Will Be Cupcakes

Ginny Bartolone's Blog of Many Years

Tag: travel

  • 5. Dear Pilgrim: On Navarra Through Burgos

    5. Dear Pilgrim: On Navarra Through Burgos

    You’ve made it past the Pyrenees; past the anticipation of the first steps. Ahead of you sit the Basque hills of Navarra and the fertile vineyards of La Rioja.

  • 4. Dear Pilgrim: On Finding Your Way Back

    4. Dear Pilgrim: On Finding Your Way Back

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) Dear Pilgrim, Logistics can be a comfortable hiding spot: how to get to the airport, how to pack, and how much money to budget. Off the Camino, it’s easy to lose yourself in the safety of planning. Disney lovers, cruise-takers, and big-city tourists…

  • 3. Dear Pilgrim: On the Pyrenees

    3. Dear Pilgrim: On the Pyrenees

    There is an invisible threshold between a challenge and a terrible idea. Before crossing the Pyrenees, be honest with yourself about the whereabouts of that line.

  • 2. Dear Pilgrim: On Wild Boars & Other Dangers

    2. Dear Pilgrim: On Wild Boars & Other Dangers

    I’m fascinated by the brand of terror that engulfs people when I tell them about the Camino de Santiago.

  • 1. Dear Pilgrim: On Identity

    1. Dear Pilgrim: On Identity

    There is a footpath that slips its way through the Pyrenees, tiptoeing over the line where we stop calling it France and start calling it Spain.

  • The First Connection

    The First Connection

    Two Septembers ago, my husband and I sat at a long wooden table built for 12 in a hostel in the middle of Spain. There were only four of us at dinner that night–Ben and I, the owner of the hostel, and a man from Denmark who was volunteering there for the year. The pandemic…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 13

    The Fourth Camino: Part 13

    There are two battling forces in my mind on the final day of a Camino. The first one wants the day to move slowly–to savor all the greatest hits of hiking. A long second breakfast, another cup of coffee, photos of every field, pretty tree, and flock of sheep. The second one dreams of the…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 12

    The Fourth Camino: Part 12

    We packed up before sunrise. It was my 90th day walking the Camino. The tiled hallway reverberated every swish of our backpack straps and squeak of our hiking boots, so we moved slowly. The last thing I wanted to do was wake anyone up after making the wrong impression the day before. Without the sun,…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 11

    The Fourth Camino: Part 11

    There were three hiking days left in the trip. Years of planning and we were just an hour’s drive and a three day’s hike to Santiago. No matter the length of each Camino I’ve walked, the questions, “What comes next?” and “What was the point of all this?” start to creep in and distract you…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 10

    It’s been a minute since I’ve written here. Ben and I had an incredible trip to Iceland last week so I’ve been slowly coming out of vacation mode. But after starting this blogging project more than three months ago now (!!), it’s time to get us to the end. And so…here’s the fourth-to-last Camino day.…