Castellbisbal, Spain

We set our alarms for 7:00 am so we could leave the hotel at 8. I set my phone alarm and Norm set two more since he gets insecure about waking up. It was quite a jangle at 7 though our neighbors probably deserved it since they’ve been noisy when we were sleeping. Our plan included breakfast at the bus terminal before boarding at 9. We left right on time. The taxi stand was only a few yards from our hotel, and the fare would be about 10 euros. Getting to the terminal was a breeze, and it wasn’t so hard to wrangle the packs. We found our bus number and departure time posted, then I sat to look for the tickets. I dug into my document bag, but didn’t find them. They had apparently vanished. We looked in all the pockets and compartments we could think of even though we both clearly remembered I had put them in my document bag next to my passport. It was like falling down a rabbit hole into senility. We didn’t want to miss our bus, so Norm trucked upstairs to stand in the ticket kiosk line while I sat with the packs. I felt horrible and couldn’t believe I lost our tickets. I thought I’d look one more time, this time taking out everything. Then there they were, two wrinkled wisps of paper crumpled in under the smart phone. I grabbed all our bags racing upstairs to catch Norm before he bought new tickets. We were both so happy, but only had time for a quick cup of coffee and shared croissant. After all, Norm reasoned, who needs coffee after we had to that adrenaline burst over missing the bus. We boarded on time and enjoyed a leisurely 9 hours of countryside views all the way to Burgos. The bus stopped often but never for more than 15 minutes. We came rolling into beautiful Burgos around 6 pm. Our hotel was an easy walk in the old part of town near the cathedral.

Castellbisbal, Spain

On our second day, I was able to wake up refreshed after a deep sleep. We went out to the Arc de Triomf by metro and found Terminal Norte where we could buy our bus tickets to Burgos. Mission accomplished, we stumbled upon a large park surrounding the Arch so decided to explore it before breakfast. The park, Parc de la Ciutadella, was once a world fair, so it was home to a zoo and a few museums. We followed the signs to a waterfall which was really a dramatically designed fountain which featured a waterfall with multiple statues. Next to the site we noticed a pleasant coffee bar with outdoor tables so we breakfasted there on fruit and coffee. We returned to our hotel by metro, and Norm bought our tickets online for the Sagrada Familia so that was our second event of the day. At the cathedral, we took our time and noticed details and spaces that we had missed the first time through last year. We had the time and energy for one more adventure, a visit to the Hospital de San Pau which is next to our hotel. We bought two ten euro tickets to walk the grounds and explore the two Art Deco buildings of what had once been a hospital, but now houses offices for several health organizations. In the gift shop here I found a lovely Art Deco shirt but I won’t buy it until we return here. After a rest, we went to dinner at Barcelona Crepes which is now our favorite restaurant in this city. We had a salad to share, with savory crepes – salmon for Norm, ham and Brie for me. At the end of our meal, our server brought us complementary shots with lemon, vodka, and some delightful licour. It was 11 by the time we settled in for the night. Tomorrow we would be heading off to Burgos.

Barcelona, Spain

On our first day, we took it slow. We had breakfast at Crepes Barcelona and walked around the Sagrada Familia neighborhood. Norm changed money so all is well, but I remain sheepish about my missing cards. We are walking everywhere so I can break in my trail runners and my Iniji toe socks with compression sleeves. This is my best plan to manage my foot troubles Before leaving home, I had bought tickets to see La Perdrera by Gaudi. That’s a giant stone apartment building built around 1912 by a wealthy couple. La Perdrera was the nickname given by the community because the building site was such a noisy mess during its construction. The stonework was all done on site. It housed 16 families in its heyday, but now there are only four tenants left. Since they have lifetime leases, they will live there until they die. We had reservations to see this building twice, once in the afternoon with audio sets exploring on our own, and a second time for the night tour with a guide, light show and champagne in the foyer. We had a nap between visits and dined at a local bar. The night tour was wonderful, especially the light show finale on the roof which was projected on the chimneys. Also spectacular was the view of the city lights. We sipped our champagne in the company of some other tourists from the British Isles. We walked home around 11, feeling sparkly from the effects of the champagne and the romance of travel.

Barcelona, Spain

We arrived later than we thought because we missed our connection in Paris. We got a late start out of San Francisco for some undisclosed technical problem that had us sitting on the runway for nearly an hour. In Paris we had sandwiches and had to chill for six extra hours. The later plane got us into Barcelona around 9 at night but it’s still light out because of the higher latitude. We found a taxi, and we careened off to our hotel, the BCN City Htop, just next door to the Hospital de San Pau. They had our reservation, and that’s when I went digging into my passport bag and discovered I had no credit card and no debit cards. That’s right, I had flown in to Spain for 6 weeks with nary a card! I didn’t let on to the desk clerk just cool as a cucumber, we signed in. She didn’t ask for the card anyway because it had all been entered online. Up in our room, I was in a panic at first tearing through all of my bags and mentally retracing my steps. We had just arrived, and I had pulled out my smart phone and passport many times, but hadn’t needed to look for the cards. That’s when I remembered the last time I had used the ATM was in Sonoma. So logically, the cards were in Sonoma. So I sent a text to Alaina outlining my problem. She was just leaving work for a lunch break so had time to get right on it. She found my cards in my Suburu wedged in between the seat and console. Apparently the little grey wallet just slid out of my pocket. I told her where to lock them up, then came up with a plan to live without them. Flexibility is one of my strengths. Norm and I have a joint account, so he could access the account with his card for both of us. And I can move money online from one account to another. The credit card will be missed, but Norm can cover that too, and I had plenty of cash. We had this very serious glitch solved within an hour with gratitude to Alaina. Mostly I felt a bit blue out of embarrassment. I’m not the spring chicken I used to be, so I don’t remember things as well, such as rechecking the documents. Not to mention I’m not so fit, I walk a bit slower and fumble around more. But we are here, and managing ourselves in the twilight of our lives.

Sonoma, CA

We are at last on the plane, a giant AirFrance Airbus, getting ready for take-off. Everyone is shuffling around, settling in, arranging hand luggage and just setting up for a long trip to Paris. We checked our bags, securing our straps on the packs since I’m carrying poles and a pocket knife. Alaina and Kaily both called while we were clearing security, and I sent Alaina our hotel links for the first week by text message. I decided she can be my home contact in case of emergency because she’s in Sonoma. I sent Liam a text. I woke very early to make our final arrangements, mostly that involved making sure all the bills were programmed in to pay at the correct dates, and transferring money to cover the bases at home and abroad. Norm took the Pookster to Liz and Bruce’s house, and I put gas in the car, and packed up the bit of food left in the fridge to give to Alaina and Zakk. Zakk drove us to the airport, and it was smooth sailing from there. It took us about an hour to clear security. We had the full body scan, and as usual, we both triggered some extra attention. For me, it was the zippers on my pants, Norm usually has something in his pockets. We were relaxed because we were early. Now the Camino will become real, and the vision path I’ve held onto these last months will be replaced with substance.