Random Travel Thoughts

What the hell am I doing? Sitting backwards on the train to toronto watching the world pass me by, and I'm feeling apprehension for this trip... Have I abandoned my family and my responsibilities at home and work for a cause even I don't necessarily believe I can complete? Have I put in enough training to give myself a reasonable chance of completing the camino? I guess we'll find out soon enough... This train takes forever...

Union Station- Toronto

CN Tower- Toronto

Boy, if I thought the train was long, the flight to Barcelona was torture... Small seats, thankfully squeezed between two smaller women, that recline just enough to give you hope of sleeping, but not, in fact, allowing the process to happen.... Whatever happened to those little nozzles you could reach up and turn to give some direct personal airflow on the airplane? This newer Air Transat plane offered only slightly moist, warm, stagnant air, perfectly suitable for most 80 year olds... Not to mention the symphony of children, who all took their fair turns to cry and scream throughout the flight...

Barcelona is hot and humid... about 85 degrees, with palm trees everywhere... I hadn't really thought about this as a tropical trip...

Uuhhhh, is this really something you want to see from inside your airplane 10 seconds beforeit takes off?

Spotted my first camino way marker.

...and my first set of mountains to climb...

Found my hotel room, and can't wait to try the bidet!

Interestingly, there are as many, if not more, signs in Basque than there are in Spanish... guessing that'll be theway all through Basque Country- they're the Quebecers of Spain!...

Dinner tonight is a busy patio a block off the mainstreet at a restaurant called Virginia. I started with fried calamari served with a house mayo... the calamari is perfectly cooked, not chewy, and the breading is a tight one, not that panko type crap that most places serve...

Next is a duck confit with mushrooms and fries... the duck isn't bad but I would have liked a little crisp on the skin... the mushrooms are meh, but the fries are surprisingly tasty, so overall not bad...

I finish with a creme caramel (flan), served with coffee ice cream and whipped cream....

A short stroll through the center of town later, and I am back at the hotel, where I quickly wash my clothes by hand (not in the bidet!), and slide into bed exhausted... See you sll tomorrow!