What to pack for an 800 km hike?…..reading all the advice is, well – not much, but as I spread all my crap out on the bed, even without the laptop, there is still a lot of stuff – first the weather is going to be all over the place – brutally hot with cold nights, frequent rain – heavy rain and big winds. Here in Madrid it is smoking hot – loving that – over 30 degrees, and then the heavens unload out of a blue sky and it...

The wierdest thing....when I checked my passport stamp after entering France - I found last years stamp.....same date, one year later. Last year I came to Paris on a very long routing....Hong Kong to Bangkok to Amman Jordon to Paris.....on May 26, 2010.This year - Buenos Aires to Paris then on to Amsterdam and then to Madrid......May 26, 2011......weird.....next May 26????

But no Fry stands with mayonaise.....come on Schipol.....

A new 'hours in the air in one trip' record……jeez I didn’t think it was possible but…in my quest for cheap flights I just finished a new one day record for me. Had a little sleep and another really long day today – first day in Madrid but want to make a few notes on yesterday just in case I think about booking this route again. So, started the very long day earlier than necessary. I had decided to take the really slow 50 cen...