Last day- home tomorrow

Thanks everyone for following our blog- this has been a great adventure for us- we are ready to head for home but sad to leave Spain behind. We have made great new friends and had many memorable experiences. We spent our last day in Barcelona with Michael and Lynne- to the  top of Mt Montjuic by teleferic gondola to the tapas bars we had a great time- home in the morning- see you all soon- love, Brad and Lynda

Top of Montjuic Castle

Olympic stadium 1992

Grounds of castle( built in 1600's)

Nuns walking by while eating

Barcelona continued

A fabulous day today in Barcelona! We were joined by our friends from the Camino- Michael and Lynne from Australia. After coffee we visited La Sagrada Familia- Gaudi's masterpiece church that is still under construction almost 100 years after his death. We were all blown away by this magnificent building- we spent hours there- it was more than we could have imagined. Spain is currently under a bit of political unrest and there have been protests this weekend- all peaceful. One more day tomorrow then home Tuesday.

La Sagrada Familia

Inside the church

Down 500 steps in the tower

Friends Michael and Lynne

Wow- Barcelona is amazing!

We have spent the past three days running all over Barcelona. It is an amazing place that seems to never sleep.  Unbelievable amount of motorbikes and pedestrians at all hours. It is sunny and warm, the beaches are beautiful and so many things to see! We visited the Guell Park today- tomorrow Sagrada Familia. We have spent countless hours just wandering the streets and enjoying the atmosphere. Last night we went for another walk around 10:30 and ran into hundreds of bicyclists in a protest march. Today we walked out of a restaurant and a large group of naked bicyclists rode by- not sure what they were protesting! Yesterday we stumbled across the nude beach- seems to be a theme! Anyway, back to the streets tomorrow- home in a few days-miss you all.

Riding our private tour bus

Cathedral in Barcelona

Beautiful, crowded beaches

Park Guell (Gaudi)

Park Guell

Naked bicyclists!

Barcelona

We are in Barcelona now- arrived at 2 am this morning so we spent the day getting oriented to the city and strolling down Las Ramblas to the sea. Crazy busy and crowded- this city doesn't sleep- motorcycles everywhere. Tomorrow we get out to see the sights so more pics then.

Church of St Frances in Santiago- the 800 anniversary this year so we got a special compostella from them also,

St Francis

Inside the cathedral in Santiago

Our friends from Australia made it to Santiago yesterday!

Barcelona- Las Ramblas- sunny and warm here

Santiago

We awoke a little later today after a late night with the other pilgrims. We spent two hours in line getting our Compostela yesterday and today we went to the pilgrim mass and toured the cathedral. We were lucky today to view the botafumerio during the mass- the largest of its kind- truly an amazing sight- we are waiting for our Australian friends, Michael and Lynne to arrive tomorrow and then off to Barcelona tomorrow night. 

Getting ready to light the botafumerio 

Lighting

Botafumerio swinging by

Botafumerio in upper left- it swings very close to the pilgrims and almost touches the ceiling on each swing- controlled by the six guys in maroon. Historically this incense was done to mask the smell of the pilgrims. :-)

Day 33 Santiago de Compostela

Well we made it today, after 33 days of walking over 800k, to Santiago. Good weather has followed us into the city and we will spend the next two days resting our feet, seeing the sights and getting together with our pilgrim friends to share stories. Oh and Brad wants to go shoe shopping!

In the albergue for breakfast with Angela from Germany

The trail this morning

Entering Santiago

In front of the cathedral

The cathedral - currently under renovation 

Waiting in line for our Compostela 

Day 32 O'Pedrouza

We had another great walk in sunshine today and are now only 18k from Santiago. We are staying in a new albergue that opened last week- very nice with only a few pilgrims so the snoring shouldn't be too bad. We spent the afternoon socializing with friends Angela (Germany ) and Fred and Bernie (Argentina) and walking around town- the excitement is building for tomorrow! Everyone has funny stories to tell about "their Camino". Thank you everyone for leaving us comments on the blog- we enjoy hearing from you.

The Camino path today 

My coffee today- a pilgrim!

Forests of eucalyptus trees

Lots of babies on the trail

Local church

Pig head for sale in the butcher shop