Counting Down
| Date | Jan 1, 2024 (Monday) |
| Total This Camino: | 0 miles. |
| Total 2024 Caminos: | 0 miles |
| Total All Caminos: | 2000 miles |
| Planes: | $ 1300 |
| Total Planes / Travel Insurance: | $ 1470 |
Meaningful Moment
Wednesday, Dec 27th
The time with family continues as the days lessen towards my imminent departure.
Yesterday I watched my grandson, Jayden, play two games of basketball while sitting with my son, Carlos, and d-in-law, Jaime.
I felt like I was back at the Barclays Center, watching the Boston Celtics play the Brooklyn Nets. Lots of excitement. ;#)
Days are also filled with the routine. I walk my partner's Chocolate Lab and my Brittney three times a day. It is good to get up and move the body. Too many people are too tied to their chairs, and sometimes that happens to me also.
I was doing my evening stretching routine last night. I was on the floor on my back when the ChocLab got up from his bed, and came over for a kiss. 85 lbs of affection drooling in my face, but it was worth the feeling of scratching him behind the ears while attempting - attempting - Shivasana.
The Via Imperii
Berlin - Leipzig Section
GPX track loaded into Google maps
Thursday, Dec 28th
Started the day with a CAT scan with good results. These are the little life's trivias that one must take care of before disappearing for a couple of weeks to go hiking :-).
Visiting my mother in rehab. These are the things that weigh on one's mind that one thinks about before disappearing for a couple of weeks to go hiking. 😞
It's 5 days and counting down till my flight to Berlin. There is a pilgrim's refuge that just opened in Berlin by the main train station, also known as the Hauptbahnhof, and I have been able to reach their answering machine. Well, not significant that I only got an answering machine, it is significant that I completed a phone call from my new pixel to Germany. This is a feature I will be using on a daily basis as I call ahead to schedule a place to sleep.
Something else I noticed late last night and this morning while listening to videos for learning German. My skill level has definitely improved, and I pick up a more natural style of speaking German more easily, rather than the more stilted I- am- speaking- german- slowly- and clearly.
To be clear that if a German speaks absolutely regularly, I seriously doubt I'll understand what they're saying, but they will slow down for me once they figure out. Out I am in over my head lol. It's nice to know that I will be able to, even if crudely, handle my daily needs in German like eating, lodging, transit systems and directions - especially directions.
My Good Luck Camino Charm
Saturday, Dec 30th
Today my Via Imperii info kit arrived from Guide and Map.
This will be very useful. It is in German, so there are two benefits. 1) It has more detailed info about the Berlin - Leipzig stretch than I could find on-line. 2) It is in German so it will be excellent practice in the days ahead.
Spent yesterday morning at St Joseph's House of Hospitality. I prepared lunch bags and helped with lunch preps and made the supply run. It was a relaxing way to drop the stress of daily life in combination with the upcoming two weeks hiking in the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic).
Today's training hike was five miles along the Genesee River from Seneca Park to Maplewood and the Middle Falls. I'm building up those hip flexors and glutes.
Practicing for the coming hike
No, not eating chocolate - reading German
Also had a fun afternoon playing pickleball with Carlos (son), Adriana (granddaughter), Jayden (grandson) and Deb (partner). It was nice to some downtime with the family where I could think about other things than my upcoming hike.
Jan 1st, 2024
Finished my last training hike this morning. I took it as a rest day. The hike leader set a 20-minute mile pace over 4.5 miles. So even tho' I was not wearing my backpack (rest day), it was still a good workout.
By the way, the temperature was 30F LOL
Spent part of the 31st on a training hike, visiting my sister with my partner, visiting my mom in Rehab and having coffee with my granddaughter, Adriana.
Backpack is about packed. Soap/shampoo/toothpast/etc items packed.
Med kit for the feet packed.
Lunch made for the waiting time in the airports tomorrow.
Attempting to check-in to my United flight on-line, but there is a problem. My passport has a space between my first and middle names, but the flight identity dropped the space so my flight identity does not match my passport, thus generating an error.
That wasn't the error. My suffix, "Jr" was missing. In fixing that, the agent transposed the "A" and "E" in my middle name, so that introduced a second error.
The system is not recognizing my correct name. Perhaps, the system just needs an hour or so to flush out some memory buffers.
Hiking along the Erie Canal in Pittsford
with the Genesee Valley Hiking Club.
Final practice hike before leaving for Germany.
Random Thought of the Day
Let me list a couple of video sites that I use(d) for my German studies.
Here are a couple of German pilgrims whose vlogs I followed:
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