Camino Tour 2015 Update No. 2 Barcelona Bus Tour

We all arrived at breakfast this morning ready to go by 8am sharp.  The group enjoyed a beautiful continental breakfast.  Pastries, cheese, cold meat, cereal and coffee.  It was just what everyone needed after getting a good night’s sleep.

We were energised and ready to go for our big day in Barcelona.

We headed over to the Hop On Hop Off bus station outside Gaudi’s Famous Sagrada Familia Basilica.  That joint is huge but I will share more about it tomorrow after our tour inside it.  Nevertheless you can see a pic of us walking through the park towards it here.

Anyway we jumped on the bus and started to do a lap of this amazing city.  I have not taken a real lot of photos today but below you can see our ragtag group atop the big red beast.

I think it was a ‘photo off’ between Will and Tiff today.

On our rounds we visited the famous Barcelona Cathedral, grand gothic masterpiece begun in the 13^th century and completed about 600 years later.  This was the first time a lot of our group had been inside such a place.  They are of course overwhelming inside, massive columns, ornate statues and chapels, candles burning and so on.  Some of our kids decided to take a moment and sit quietly and pray in that sublime space too which was really nice.  Luckily we had bought some scarves earlier that day while looking around Park Guell, as some of the girls had to use them like sarongs to be allowed in due to the length of their shorts and tops.  A very conservative place indeed it had the fun police at the door barring entrance to any ladies they deemed too scantily clad.

We have managed to pick up a tag-along friend on this tour as well.  He is a cheeky little Spaniard by the name of Jimmy.  You can see him here sitting reckelessly atop the fence at the front of the cathedral, note the fun police at the door.

Jimmy joined us at the gothic quarter of town yesterday and was naked at the time.  He has since procured a Barcelona T-Shirt and a groovy green sombrero.  I suspect you will see a bit more of Jimmy on our travels, if you look closely at the bus tour image above you might see him there too.  I think he may have a crush on Tiff, he seems to hang around her a lot.  He is planning to walk the Camino with us as well which will be nice.  Always good to have a local on tour with you!

Of course being on tour in a foreign clime is always a good opportunity to up your wardrobe repertoire.  Harry has added a very chic pair of classic black sunnies to his today.

Our tour took us past the Barcelona Marina and along the beach front.  I loved the rows of little alleyways leading down towards the beach that we passed.  Each telling a different story, each as quaint as the last.

We spent some time walking along the beautiful beach front as well, both the girls and boys were slightly surprised by the casual attitude many European ladies have to swimwear, or lack of it.  Not everything we saw was particularly appealing but certainly there was some cultural education taking place.  I have no photos to share on that score obviously.

The day finished with an evening meal, our group went to a few different places tonight for dinner.  Harry and I had pizza along with some of the others across the road from the Sagrada Familia, it was pretty cool eating and people watching in such an amazing place.

So, a big day done and dusted in Barcelona, tomorrow our Sagrada Familia Tour and a look into Park Guell, Gaudi’s other famous landmark in this wonderful city.

Buen Camino Pegrinos!

Camino Tour 2015 Update 1. Arrival in Barcelona

So. 

Here we are.  It is currently about 1am in Barcelona, Spain.

I am sitting up in a bed wide awake.  Why?  Jetlag.

I would normally start this sentence with the word ‘today’.   Today we…   Or maybe even yesterday we…

But I can’t because those of you who have travelled on jets internationally will know that you sort of have this weird messed up time zone sort of thing going on.   One day takes about two and a half.  Well two and a half actually take about two but you are awake the whole time so it feels like one.

Anyway.  We got to Spain.

We left Brisbane on Saturday afternoon all fired up and ready to go.  Some first time travellers with us were a bit nervous and some brave mums and dads let their kids go off with us.  There were a few tears and lots of hugs but we got away on time and all okay.

7 or so hours later we got to beautiful Singapore.  Sadly we were not allowed out of Changi Airport but that place is vast so we spent a few ours poking around enjoying the travel experience.  Not much to say about all that but some photos below will show just what an awesome place it is.

Leaving Changi we had a very long flight into Barcelona.  Over 14 hours but we did stop in Milan for an hour on the way.  Sadly on that occasion too they would not even let us out of the plane.  We all stood around talking and chatting for an hour with the plane on the tarmac while the cleaners came through and cleaned it.  No one else got on but well over half the people on the plane got off.  It was quite funny really.  The photo below shows us just ‘hanging’ on the plane.  A Milano Airport pic as well.

               

As we took off we were able to glimpse the amazing Alps out our plane window.

Then we landed safely in Barcelona.  We hustled off to our hotel after a nightmarish hour long queue in customs.

Once we were all settled we shared a tapas lunch and used the Barcelona Metro to head to the Gothic Quarter where we wandered through the narrow old streets, found the church of St James!

                                                                             

By about 6pm local time most of our group were shattered so we all headed off to bed early.

We are safe, we are well, we are catching up on some well needed sleep (well most are) and we are ready to really get into Barcelona tomorrow refreshed and ready to go!

Buen Camino Peregrinos!

Drawn Inexorably Back

In about one week from now I will be in the process of boarding a plane to head off to Spain.  As I sit and pen these words my mind is full of packing lists and passports, euros and sim cards.  I have the great pleasure of living in Hervey Bay Australia.  At my kitchen table right now I am looking north over the ocean on a crisp clear Queensland winter's day.  But there rises within me a sensation that I have not felt for a few years, that I have not felt since I walked the Camino de Santiago.

The view North from our kitchen.  Looking over gum trees to the ocean in the distance and Fraser Island's hills.  We are truly blessed but the road beckons.

Right now summer is approaching its zenith on the other side of the world in Spain, across the north of that beautiful country winds a thin rural path, across plains and up and down hills.  Sitting in sun bleached cafes all along that path rest weary pilgrims, foot-sore and content, living in the moment.  Walking like a multitude before them across a millennia towards the great granite Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

The Way of St James.

And it has drawn me back.

In just a few short days the road will be once again my friend, worries of passports and exchange rates will fade away as The Way embraces me once again, brings me deeply into its mystical space.  That humble path calls out across the years, across continents and invites me again to go deep into the now.

I am so excited.  My young son who walked with me a few years ago is now a young man.  I am so thankful to once again tread that path with him by my side.

This time though there are others, we will be part of a larger group of 22 kids and staff, families and friends from our school, St James Lutheran College Hervey Bay, Queensland Australia.

Join us again as we go.

Buen Camino