Train from Barcelona to Pamplona

We left Barcelona this morning and we're taking the train to Pamplona. Even Hank is ready to go!

We had our first pilgrim spotting, seeing two men with backpacks. And yoga mats that are still in the Target shrink wrap. Definitely movie pilgrims. (People who got the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago from watching the film The Way, with Martin Sheen and Emilio Esteves.)

 My three amigos are all sitting together in car 6 and I'm in car 5. Hypothetically that's what happens when you work so much that you don't prioritize making your Camino travel reservations when your amigos do. 

I've built up a lot of good travel karma switching seats with people on airplanes so they could sit with their amigos. So I figured that we could convince the 4th person in their row to take my seat in car 5. It was a man traveling alone, but the four of us couldn't speak enough Spanish to get him to budge. He kept looking at my ticket and saying that seis aqui non cinco. Perhaps I should have thought to call American Express Global Assist to translate for me.

I gave up and took my seat in car cinco, and met my first American pilgrims. God had specially reserved this seat for me, across the aisle from Alan and Marla, caminowalkers.wordpress.com. 

Alan and Marla live about 15 minutes from my home in California, and they've been training for the Camino by hiking Whiting Ranch for the last year. The couple that you've seen hiking with backpacks weighing 10% of their body weight is them. Of course I asked them if they go to Saddleback Church, and they do, and they've been to Mariners Church a few times. As we say at Mariners, God is good, all the time! It's time to play some Tim Timmons tunes.

Lunch on the train is a jamon Camembert baguette (aka ham and cheese sandwich) and a bottle of Solan de Cabras agua. I send my girls photos of water from all my travels since they are hydration innovation experts. Here's your photo, girls:

I've joked that the only Spanish I know is "agua por favor" and that still seems the most important phrase for a cyclist to know in Spain.

The scenery looks a lot like California. Think Banning, on the way to Palm Springs, except the occasional sign is in Spanish... And the are no windmills... Wait, there are windmills!

The World is Flat.