These boots were made for walking

Before I left for Spain, I got lots of advice, commentary, and general travel dither (both solicited and otherwise). From this I gleaned Alexandra's TOP 3 Pre-Departure Word of Thumb: 1. There will be no toiletries that one could possibly find to be useful or in any way comparable to American versions in this otherwise first-world country, 2) There will be lots and lots of walking and feet generally will rebel and 3) It will be EXTREMELY cold and it will eat at you because you will be spending so much time outside (walking). Each of these I wrote off for various reasons (the practical: "there's no room in my suitcase for extraneous toiletries", and the egotistical: "hello, I go to Colgate! This walking will be a breeze.") [The same "I go to Colgate" excuse applies to the cold as well.]

Well, I was right about numbers 1 & 3. Everyone here thinks it's cold, but generally it's about 45 degrees. Number 2 well... I was unprepared for just HOW much extraneous walking I would do in the course of a week. And yes, I even got a blister. (Although I blame that on my new shoes that I had to break in.) But I'd also like to thank my daily training last semester (running up the Persson steps every morning to slide in to class right before my professor) for making the daily commute to school that much more bearable. (The escalators in the metro at 8:30a are ridiculous and sardine-cramped. With my Colgate hill-walking training, I can run up all the hundreds of stairs! -- At least currently, my steady diet of bread, bread, bread might inhibit this eventually).