Farewell Dear Barcelona

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Tommorrow I leave early for the train. I have to admit after being lost in the train station when I got here I am more than a little worried about a repeat. I can't afford to miss my train tomorrow. Remember this is the train to Irun, walk to Hundai and train to Bayonne and then bus to St. Jean Pied de Port. My train leaves at 7:35 am and I arrive in St. Jean at the same timeish in the pm. There will be a lot of prayers in the morning - please feel free to add yours! Once I am on the train to Irun I feel things will be fine from there. That is the only part that worries me.

Today was another day of overload - so many amazing things to see and smell and appreciate! I now understand my daughter's love of Spain. I also have to reflect on the blessings of the day - so many ..... I also have been blessed with a great host. Cesar has been great. I am sorry that I did not get to meet his partner Yuni who is out of town. My housemates were wonderful as well. I learned today the father (sadly I don't remember his name - his son is Eric) has cancer - a rare form of kidney cancer. The cancer prompted him to bring his youngest song to Spain. Tomorrow they are renting a car and going to see a castle in southern France. PLEASE keep him in your prayers! I will add him to my list for the Camino.

I also was blessed with so many great sites today and good food and a chance for prayer in a cathedral that did not charge money at the end of my walk today. It was interesting how thru all my walking today at the end I come across the one place open and preparing for mass. It was a good way to end the days adventures and prepare for tomorrow's! As tomorrow will find me in St. Jean preparing to walk. I also felt very blessed to be walking 6 hours thru Barcelona without a backpack! Tomorrow my pack becomes my constant friend.

After tonight I don't know how often I will find wireless or have time for it. I will blog when I am able and post pictures as I can. This system is very cumbersome for pictures as I have to load them one at a time. I can upload pictures to facebook very quicly though, so if you want more pictures and aren't my friend on facebook, friend me and I will add you - or send me a message here.

I did have a conversation with Cesar about Le Sagrada Familia. It is an amazing place - truly an architectural and artistic masterpiece - and I didn't even see inside. I was told that the inside is finished and was consecrated as a basilica in 2010. Don't know if that is true or not. I wish it were a museum not a church though. It definitiely stands as a great work, but so much money that could have gone to greater church work! However in talking to Cesar he says he thinks typically the Spanish feel pride in the monument - though he feels a lot of people don't really care for the church, siting Franco and the church standing with a dictator against the peope. Yet he feels it is a great thing for Barcelona and says it makes a lot of money. I hope more than the bill for erecting it - the lines were INCREDIBLE though!

I will leave a few pictures now, but no editing of them tonight as I need to head to bed as I have an early morning. My internal clock is definitely a bit askew. After going to bed, after a long day yesterday, about 10:30 I found myself awake at 2am. I finally got back to sleep some time after 3am and then slept all the way to 10:30am here - at home I rarely sleep past 6am!

So good night - or good afternoon to you all. And God's blessings!

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