The Beginning and the End
We spent a brief day and a half in Barcelona checking out a few major sites.
I noted that Barcelona is a romantic city and quite a number of couples were observed holding hands as we walked the town from our AirBnB, in the El Born district.
Erica enjoying coffee from our balcony.
Arc de Triomf and the 2 Euro earings we should have bought for gifts.
Park Bubbles
Markets and Beaches
Our time here was just before the big vote on the Catalonia referendum. There were peaceful demonstration and signs everywhere as we walked around.
We had a chance to pick up our Credencial or Pilgram’s Passports. These track your progress on the El Camino as they get stamped at each stop. And they are required for access to the Albergues, Pilgrims’ Hostels.
Even the door of Gaudi’s Church, points to the shell the symbol of The Way…more on that in the next section.
But before starting out on our flight to Bilbao and beginning out Camino, Erica had a chance to pick up a fellow Peregreno….
Bilbao was both the Beginning and the End of our 12 days on Pilgrimage.
Arriving late at night in Bilbao we found our very basic AirBnB for the night and departed early in the morning. Not doing much except walking to the Metro and taking the train out of town to miss the long walk through this part of the city. BTW….we still walked 18 miles this first day.
Metro to Portugalete
On our return we had a bit of time to catch some of the charm of Bilbao: The Guggenheim was closed that day, but we had a good walk around the outside. Encountered a group of Basque singers entertaining in the streets and some of the tastes of the Region.
Just Walking Together 