It is going to take us a while to get back to Virginia, but we are on the way.
We left Siena on October 30 and went to Florence so we could catch a flight to Barcelona the next day. In Florence, our paths crossed one last time with Jane and Jim, who had been traveling in the Naples area and were on their way back to Siena for more school. We shared a great dinner with them,
with Jane, Jim, and Karl enjoying the famous bistek Florentine.
The flight to Barcelona was bumpy but quick, and we soon found ourselves enjoying the architecture, wide boulevards,
and fresh fish
and tapas
in the city. We even managed to find fresh sardines.
We first discovered them 6 years ago in Santiago, Spain, at the end of our 1,000 mile walk. They are salty and firm but tender, and nothing like what my Pop Hale used to buy in a tin and eat on saltine crackers.
We did not do anything in particular for sightseeing because we had visited most of the sights previously. As you might expect from us, though, we covered 40 kilometers in two days, just hanging out and soaking it all in, from the wide beach
to the Gothic Quarter
and beyond. We lucked out because there were no violent demonstrations unlike a few days before our arrival.
We boarded our ship on Sunday November 3.
Leslie celebrated with real ketchup on a hamburger based ketchup delivery system
as we bid adios to Barcelona and Hola to our 2019 Atlantic crossing adventure.
ITALY, GERMANY, AND MORE! 