Travels to the Edge

Today I traveled by train from Barcelona to Leon and .., bought a guitar. Angel, the coordinator of the Villadangos del paramo albergue where I am volunteering told me there were no musical instruments there. So I decided to bring one . After closing the door on the Barcelona Central Garden building, I walked towards the station passing people waiting for their building to open. Imagine working in this Gaudi designed building. The station was busy with people heading in all directions. I joined the queue, The journey took over 8 hours, tedious at times but mostly fine. I enjoyed the changing scenery, including places that I had walked through - such as the Meseta, a high plain between Burgos and Leon. Eventually the train pulled into Leon. The city symbols greeted me. I made my way through the streets .  Towards my albergue for the evening- with its functional yet distinctively non Gaudian features. I checked in. There were only top bunks left in the 4 bed dorm. Oh well!  I as...

Having breakfast at a street cafe with taxis passing is not unusual in any city; yet beneath this common facade lies Barcelona - a soulful place filled with passion and spirituality, and a Catalan culture steeped in creativity and doing things differently as individuals and as a community.  Take Antoni Gaudi for example and Sagrada Família - Barcelona’s Holy Family cathedral nearing completion.  Almost 140 years ago, Gaudi took the architectural and engineering design gig of working on an exemplary ‘neo-gothic’ cathedral. Shortly after he started, he had this revolutionary idea of an ‘inside-out’ design - where all the bible stories are etched into the exterior walls, and inspirational coloured light floods the interior spaces to support communal prayer and personal contemplation. Talk about a radical individual - and a passionately persistent local community - after all this time, the cranes are still there! But not for too much longer… The central Christ tower and the four E...

I have returned to Spain - starting from Mollymook last weekend and arriving in Barcelona yesterday - half a world away.  This Camino experience will be different.  Instead of following one particular path, I will be walking sections of  different routes and taking detours in various places - more free wheeling, as well as volunteering as a hospitalero for a couple of weeks. A hospitalero/a is someone who looks after Camino pilgrims in an albergue - a type of hostel manager (more on that in coming days) Another difference was that this Camino started with a pilgrimage to watch Collingwood play Geelong in Melbourne (Collingwood lost 😞) and the opportunity to visit family and leave from my sister’s front door.  I walked to the tram and took a bus from the city to  the airport, then checked in my pack and prepared for the flight to Barcelona via Dubai. The war in the Middle East had been a concern. After 14 hours, I reached Dubai and had a short stop over. Dubai s...