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

Day 31 Aruza

We are getting so close now- anxious to get to the end and enjoy a few days socializing with everyone we have met over the past few weeks. We had a good day with better weather (some sunshine) and have only 2 days left (about 40k). The trails are more crowded with a lot of short distance walkers and many more albergues and hostels so everyone is more spread out. Our shoes and socks have holes in them so it is good we are getting to the end. 

We found out these are for storing fruits and vegetables

Sculpture pointing "the way"

On the trail

Through the forest

Well

This was made into a mailbox on the left (caritas) and bread delivery (pan) on the right. :-)

Day 30 Palas. De Rei

Oh happy day- no rain today and even some sunshine. A little warmer too with an improved forecast. We had a great walk but my blisters returned today. They have a great product called compeed for blisters here which helps a lot. We have walked so many miles that our shoes are starting to fall apart- Brad has two holes in his left shoe and the soles are wearing out too. Hopefully they will last 3 more days! We continue to meet so many great people every day and we run into old friends at every turn-this has been amazing.

How about my cafe con leche today- he should work at Starbucks!

Along the trail today

We haven't figured out what these are yet  but I have been asking- they are unique to Galicia.

Coffee break on the trail

Statue outside of the church in Palas de Rei- we visited the church and listened to music

Day 29 Portomarin

Unfortunately the rain continued all day today with lots of mud and slippery trails. I managed to slip and fall onto my left knee on the pavement twice today! Just a scrape and bruise and a bit embarrassed- hadn't fallen before...

Anyway the weather is supposed to improve over the next few days. My Spanish is improving and Brad has been practicing too. Galicia is beautiful and green- many say it looks like Ireland- it does have Celtic roots and the dialect is different. Seafood- especially pulpo (octopus) is on every menu. There are even octopus delivery trucks. We have tried it- it can be a bit chewy.

Follow the yellow arrow up the stairs

These little elevated buildings are on every farm but we don't know why- some have crosses on top

Trail on one side- stream on the other

We made it to the 100k marker

Brad on another trail/ stream option

The cows came down the trail- they leave a trail of their own!

This guy was quite a surprise today

Crossing the lake to Portomarin

Romanesque church of San Nicolas in Portomarin