Day Sixteen - Port Adventura

When finishing a journey of bonding and self discovery, there is no better way than entering a theme park. Port Adventura was wilder than we thought it would be, the pictures did not even come close to what the reality was. 

The beginning of the day was a tad slow as it was an hours bus ride there and people were still a little sleepy, if it weren't for books and the hilarity of the company it would have been a lot worse. When entering the theme park, we all morphed into toddlers as our excitement level increased. For the first part of the day we stayed as a large group and managed to complete two rides as this large group. There were a group of teachers and students that did not want to join us on the fast, high and seemingly terrifying rides, so, in order to overcome our differences we split up into two groups. We were known as the adventurous group and the slow group, (meaning that one group didn't want to reach the speeds of 135km per hour). 

Spending the entire day at a theme park is the best way to say goodbye in my opinion, seeing amazing architecture and ruins is amazing and inspiring but dropping from heights that aeroplanes reach is thrilling and crazy. The adventurous group managed to go on a fair few rides, starting the day out with a ride that looped and spun at crazy speeds, we then walked our way down to a water ride, however some of the other group joined us on this one as we sat in a boat and fell into water twice becoming drenched. We then all stopped for lunch. Some time later we were headed off into separate directions, my group going on all the roller coasters we could find. Being alive feels like an achievement at this point. Later on both groups met and we went through the Wild West together, going on another water ride and ending the day with a round of bumper cars. 

To wrap everything up we had a lovely dinner in an Italian restaurant and then walked the shopping streets for a while before returning to the hotel to have our usual reflection and following day run down.

Tomorrow we leave Barcelona for Perth, a little weary but very happy and very thankful for this incredible experience.     

Day Fifteen - Tour of Barcelona

Today was amazingly awesome. We had a very nice tour guide named Fabio who took us around the old parts of Barcelona and spoke to us about buildings such as the Holy Cross Hospital and the history of each building. He showed us some really old, black and white photos where you could see how the interior of the hospital was laid out. The old side of Barcelona was very beautiful especially being able to see some of its well known architects' work as its the main feature that makes Barcelona so different but unique. Overall I wouldn't mind going there again.

Once we'd seen some of the places in the old town we moved to a nice little area where we had lunch. I can't remember what the place was called where we ate but wow, the braised farm pork ribs were really, really good. The majority of us had the pork ribs except for Adrian, who didn't feel hungry, and Kirsten, who had ox tail, yum! The plates of food weren't so big, so we went to Burger King afterwards for an ice-cream and drink, where Cameron was still hungry and got himself more food! 

Barcelona is very different in comparison to Perth. It is very colourful and bright, not to mention much busier and architecturally unique. Lunch was finished and we walked back to meet Fabio after taking a look around the market place which used to be an old church or cathedral. Its just amazing to see how everybody lives here and what they do to earn money, e.g. We see gypsies, performers of music, artists, still life statues, etc. I'm so glad that we were even given this opportunity or else we wouldn't even have seen any of this. 

We walked to the bus and had a tour driving around the city to get to Sagrada Familia and OH MY WORD, I WAS IN HEAVEN!!! Everything about this building was unique, not even words can explain how this building looks and feels once in the Cathedral. You are speechless and that's all you can really say. From stone to detailed, sculptures to breathtaking stained glass windows, this place is magnificent. The stone walls keep in the coolness and the heat outside, just the way a Cathedral should be. This whole building was designed by one man, Gaudi. Gaudi is a man of many talents but he is mainly known for his architectural work. Sadly he died before he could finish this building but it didn't mean that another person wouldn't finish it for him. Later on in the day we went to see a park where he had incorporated his work. Hard work and patience was needed to do what he created.

Overall in my opinion today was awesome. Just seeing the amazing buildings and actually imagining people creating them is just unbelievable. Out of this whole trip I've got to say that today was the best. I love architecture and I love learning about different cultures which is why today was the perfect day for it. 

Tomorrow Barcelona's biggest theme park called Port Aventura awaits us.

Day Fourteen - Arrival in Barcelona

Today we left Santiago, a happy time for us all, as it was very cold and had been a welcome relief from the heat of the walk. The day started still pitch black and raining, as we left the hotel searching for our coach! We had got slightly lost on the way to find the bus and we were getting wet. After realising that the bus was actually waiting in the other direction, we boarded and headed to Santiago domestic airport for a 2 hour flight to Barcelona. The flight was fine and quite smooth. 

After reaching the hotel, we were amazed at how beautiful it was. Barcelona itself is quite different to Rome and a little bit quirky even. We spent the afternoon shopping, walking and getting generally aquainted with the streets surrounding our hotel. We also managed to get in another Burger King! 

The evening finished with a trip to the 6th floor of our hotel to admire some beautiful views of the city.

Tomorrow, our sightseeing will begin. 

Day Thirteen - Final Day in Santiago

Today is Easter Monday and our last full day in Santiago. After a welcome sleep-in, we went again to the Santiago Cathedral, where we saw St. James' tomb, and we had a closer look at the amazing and intricate carvings and sculptures in the cathedral. The cathedral itself is incredible, with huge sculptures coated in gold leaf and dozens of small chapels separate to the main hall.

After looking around the cathedral, we went on a guided tour to learn more, which included walking up the 106 steps leading to the actual roof. The view from the top was absolutely amazing, and we were able to see all around Santiago. The tour guide gave us an explanation of the varying styles of architecture, ranging from Romanesque to Baroque, with some fancy Gothic styling in a few areas. The roof and the towers around the roof were incredible, brilliant examples of architecture. After this tour, we went out for a coffee, and then back to the cathedral for a mass. We went to this mass to see the botafumeiro (a famous thurible in the Santiago cathedral, this current one has been in use since 1851) that swings north to south within the cathedral. Seeing it swing whilst being just under its path was pretty awesome, as it swings so high and fast, attached to the roof with a pulley system, installed in 1604. After the mass, we went out for some souvenir shopping and lunch (we actually found an English speaking waiter, and lunch was really good), and then we went back to the hotel in order to pack for our early flight the next morning. Tomorrow we fly to Barcelona, our final overseas destination.

Adios

Day Twelve - Easter Sunday in Santiago De Compostela

TFeliz Dia De Pascua. Today we as a group got to experience Easter in a completely different and exciting way; a Spanish Easter. We woke up this morning a little tired but grateful we got to sleep in. We headed down to a delicious breakfast in our hotel when we were treated with a beautiful surprise.

To all of our parents reading this, thank you so much for our Easter cards. We were so excited to receive cards and letters from home, you have no idea how much that meant to us to receive something on this special day. 

After breakfast we had a bit of free time and then headed to the cathedral for the Easter mass, one of many masses the cathedral holds. Let me just tell you something, the cathedral is amazing. While it is being revamped, it is still very beautiful. It's also very big. The mass was just as amazing as the actual church. The most amazing thing about the mass was the swinging of the Botafumeiro. The Botafumeiro is a big incense burner that hangs just above the altar in the cathedral. Occasionally it is swung from side to side and doing so, it releases incense. It was absolutely amazing to see this magnificent event. While the mass was said in Spanish, there was some parts said in English. I couldn't believe that so many people gathered together in this sacred place, to celebrate one of the most special events in the catholic churches calendar.

After mass we had a few hours of free time to explore the historical and mesmerising town and just chill. Then it was time for what we had all been waiting for. The long awaited Easter egg hunt. As you might have read in an earlier post, we are staying in a beautiful monastery that was turned into a hotel which has a spectacular garden in the centre of it, and this is where the hunt occurred. Everyone got involved, teachers and students both, and we all had a fantastic time looking under rocks and around corners for chocolate Easter eggs. After all of the 50 or more eggs being found, Sam was crowned the winner, having found the most eggs. We then headed off for an Easter dinner provided by the hotel. We had a enjoyable time eating a pleasant dinner and chatting about our trip together. Overall our Easter celebration in Spain was one we will never forget as it's not every day you get to celebrate such an important occasion in one of the most beautiful places in the world.   

Day Eleven - Padron to Santiago de Compostella

Today was another early start for us, leaving the hotel at around 8am. This was the day that we had all been waiting for, although we had enjoyed the journey, walking into our final day was a great feeling! We had a 23km walk ahead of us (which turned out to be 27) so there was no messing around. We started our day with the pilgrims prayer, as we do everyday, outside of a church not far from where we stayed. We then continued on our journey until we came across a fruit store where the majority of people stocked up on the fresh produce. Not long after this Mrs Amatulli realised she had left behind a walking stick at the market and the group split into two, one that waited for her, and the other continued on. I myself stayed back to wait for her and in no time at all we were off and walking again. We played a few silly little games like celebrity heads etc which kept us occupied and gave us a bit of a laugh until we came across our first cafe for the day where we got ourselves a stamp and a drink. A few metres on down the road we came across another beautiful church which we entered and admired. This visit gave us yet another stamp in our books, which by this point, we were eager to fill, we then continued walking along the last part of our Camino journey. After taking notes of the signs that showed how many kilometres there were left, the realisation kicked in that we were nearly there, and that we had actually just walked our part of the Camino. 

The Cathedral was now in sight and the spirits were high! After what felt like a million years we were finally there, within the vicinity of the Cathedral! Now we saw the other group lining up for their pilgrims certificate and we joined the end of the queue. We were back together for the last part of the journey! The process of lining up for the certificates is the final part of the ritual and some say it is the most important part. Traditionally, pilgrims now touch the Jesse tree in the main Cathedral, however this year, is it is under construction and covered in scaffolding! So, we walked through the Cathedral and touched the walls signifying the end of our journey and then walked on through to our hotel called San Martins, which is the original Benedictine Monastery which has been extensively renovated into a hotel! It was really cool to think that we, a group with a strong connection to Salvado and his journey, were staying in the place that he trained as a young man. The first thing I noticed about the hotel was the beautiful Benedictine garden in the central part of the hotel. It is stunning and just what we have come to expect from the Benedictines after the stunning places of their making, that we have seen on this trip. Overall today was a huge accomplishment for everyone and I myself am very proud to be a part of this group who have grown closer and formed a tight knit bond whilst sharing some once in a lifetime experiences together. I will miss walking the Camino and taking in the amazing sights but I am eager to see what Easter mass will be like here and I am super excited for the experiences that Barcelona will bring. 

For the last time, Buen Camino.

Day Ten - Caldas de Reis to Padron

Today was Good Friday, and the second last day of our walk. The walk itself was perhaps one of the most enjoyable so far. After four days of walking the group has found it's optimum walking strategy, getting up early and making up as much ground before it get's too hot later in the day. This strategy was supplemented by the delightful fact that the day was extremely misty for the entire walk. This meant conditions remained cool, which was far more conducive to good walking pace than the recent hot and dry weather. It also helped that the day was relatively short, only 17 kilometres. 

The walk passed through large amounts of mature woodland with few towns along the route. While
walking the group played games of I spy and guess who, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all and helped passed the time. When not doing this we appreciated the majestic scenery, which was quite hilly and covered in forest, enhanced by the foggy atmosphere. Most of us agreed that today was almost certainly the most beautiful day of the walk so far. In one of the small towns we passed through was a small church. Here we viewed the church's stations of the cross and read from the bible the story of Jesus' sentencing to death. As is traditional we waited until 3 o'clock, after arrival at the hotel in Padron, to complete the reading with the section where Jesus is crucified. It is symbolically very interesting that the penultimate day of our trek comes on the same day as the penultimate act of Jesus' life.

At around 2 pm we crossed the bridge across the river that separated the town of Pontecesures from our destination of Padron, and several minutes later found the hotel. Padron is small town, renowned for it's authors and hot peppers!  At the end of the day all members of the group were exhausted. However we continue to look forward to tomorrow, the last day of the walk, the completion of our pilgrimage and the achievement of something very few people will ever accomplish.

Bueno Camino

Day Nine - Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

Today was probably one of the hottest days we've had. The heat weighed us down more than we knew and didn't mix too well with walking 21kms but we all made it in the end. The most challenging part of today was getting close to the hotel. It seems that as we become more aware of where the hotel was we started to struggle to keep our legs moving and yet we kept  walking. Somewhere between 5-7kms from the end is where most of us felt as if we were walking through thick sludge in a mangrove. Everybody so far hasn't actually complained much  which is great because it helps others focus on the path ahead. 

When we were in Tuy we were told that we'd find four things on the pilgrimage: ourselves, some sense of community, nature and most importantly God. In general I think God has given us the strength to continue to walk this far.  Today I for one, started to feel as if I was on a real pilgrimage not just because we're starting to form a different perspective on our faith but because each reflection and prayer we say seems to be bringing us closer to God. As we hiked up and down hills we had a chance to think, clear our heads, and reflect. This allowed us to become more aware of who that person is hiding inside us. 

We had a huge, but very beautiful landscape to take in today, not to mention the unique Spanish architecture you see in every building we past along the track. The track wasn't so bad either, it wasn't like yesterday or the day before where we were so tired after climbing up steep hills. In fact from our previous hotel to this one, Hotel Cruceires, the track was pretty much flat compared to others we've walked so far, stony but flat. 

We passed other pilgrims today and it was so amazing to see them with high spirits after walking so much. They were from Spanish parishes and they sang and sang and no one complained. It was great to see other pilgrims and just talk to some who knew English. As we walked we shared stories with each other. The huge group that passed us today was actually interested in where we came from. Its just so amazing how many have traversed the Camino and you don't realise how many do it until you see it for yourself. It's just amazing. Overall today was beautiful and gave us a wider view on ourselves, our faith, and mainly our gratitude. 

Today we take so many things for granted and then you get to see how people half way around the world live, it's very different to how we live in Australia. We have so many things to be thankful for and today's trip gave everyone a different perspective on everything especially our gratitude. From travelling up and down rocky and somewhat wet paths, today was a great experience as we felt more in-tune with ourselves and everyone around us. No matter how sore we are we find our resilient side and carry on. No pain, No gain.

Buen Camino 

Day Eight - Arcade to Pontevedra

Firstly, we would like to say thankyou to those of you who are reading our blog. It's lovely to know we have an audience each day when we write. Today was day 3 of our walk and it took us from Arcade to Pontevedra. It was 12 km according to our guidebook, but more like 15 by the time we made to it the hotel and did a little detour for a more scenic route. Still, a good deal shorter than yesterday. 

If there was ever a time on our journey when we could all experience a connection with nature it would have been today. We trekked our way through numerous old villages which were situated on different levels on a hill we had to navigate. When there were no buildings, our surroundings were outstretched fields of trees, flowers and grass. It is surprising to see the amount of trees brought over from Australia. There were stages of this trek that had the entire group puffing for air, I myself struggled for a while with the steep climb to the top.  On the way up the road twisted and turned, going from smoothed out gravel to loose stone paths, the stone paths being the hardest to walk along. The best part of the walk for me was the large stones set as a hiking path, these stones were like natural stairs that helped us along our journey and made the climb a tad easier. 

Knowing that this was one of the shortest walks we'd be doing, had us automatically assuming that it would be a breeze, and it would have, if not for the aching muscles and fatigue that plagued us due to the walk the day before. In saying that, it was great to reach the hotel and have a longer resting period to prepare for the following days walk. There is also a feeling of great accomplishment in knowing that we have already cleared 55 kilometres of our journey with only a few aches and pains.

The walks are all put into perspective when we have our reflections in the evening, here we discuss our journeys and plan a change for the following walk. We talk about what we most enjoyed, what our greatest challenge was and what it was that we most connected to. These reflections help us see that we get more out of the walk than just exercise or a holiday. We connect with people and nature, sometimes ourself and with God. Not only do we have these reflections, but we have a prayer circle in the mornings, where we talk about how we expect the day to go and then say a prayer of pilgrimage to help guide and protect us through the day. This part of the day is important because it prepares us for the journey ahead and helps us feel as though we are not alone. 

Meeting the other pilgrims along the way has been one of the many highlights for me, and today when we ran into numerous groups that we'd met or seen along the way, I felt like we had made a connection with a wider community that we may never have been able to experience before. It is a really great experience. 

Day Seven - Second day of walking from O Perrino to Arcade - 24km

Today we woke up at quarter to seven to have breakfast down stairs which consisted of cakes, orange juice, coffee, ham and cheese. Breakfast is different here but nice. After a few minutes of eating, Ms Walmsley and some others came walking in with balloons singing happy birthday to James, they tried to sing in Spanish saying Feliz Cumpleanos. It didn't last though, as they were they only words they knew. James was understandably a little embarrassed but it was still good fun. Later at twenty to nine, we laid our bags down stairs and set off for our second day walking the Camino which was a distance of about 23 kilometers. It was incredibly difficult, because there was a lot of steep hills, and it was a very long way to walk. I would describe the scenery as mainly green bush land and small towns with many vineyards. Again we met another great bunch of pilgrims, some of them have been walking for 20 days or more already. 

Today, I most enjoyed seeing the bridge and the water from the top of the hill but at the time I was very tired. I wish I had taken more time to admire the view. 

But, eventually we started taking regular but very short breaks which didn't make must difference to our overall effort because a few people were walking with blisters and most with sore legs. But eventually we finally made it to Arcade before four o'clock which gave us the extra strength to muster to the hotel which brought nothing but relief and relaxation for us all.

We finished the day with a beautiful Spanish Paella and a chocolate cake for James. 

Tomorrow we have a much shorter day at only 12kms. This should be nice for us all.

So far, what I am finding the most enjoyable is sleeping at the end of a long day of hard physical walking.  

Day Six - the first day of our pilgrimage

After a large breakfast we were met by Father Angel once more, who walked with us to the statue of Salvado, where he blessed us and set us out on our journey to O Porrino. We started our journey, heading in the opposite direction of the path towards the lTuy Cathedral to get our Camino passports stamped.

Following the yellow shells and with spirits high, (and heading in the right direction) off we went on our way. The walk started out in the beautiful town of Tuy where we walked the residential streets until we came out onto a path through fields and stunning greenery. Powering on at a fast pace we managed to walk about 3km before blisters and hunger made us take a break. After the stop we continued walking, stopping briefly to enjoy the views and take pictures. 

With over 10 000 steps under our belt we sat down for lunch and a quick recovery, our full bellies and slightly rested feet gave us another burst of energy to continue our path. As our muscles ached and spirits began to slowly falter, we were comforted by the sight of O Perrino in the distance and managed to march on until we reached the edges of the town.

At this point I wouldn't say we were lost but I would go as far as saying that we were fairly disorientated as to where we would be spending the night. The sight of the 'Parque' Hotel was a great relief and we were very happy to finally sit down and rest our feet after 23 000 steps and over 17km. We will sleep well tonight, ready for the 23kms tomorrow. 

Buen Camino!!

Fr Angel's Blessing