Thank you for so many fabulous and truly heartwarming comments on my recent blog post. It really is a wonderful community of friends here. Some of you I have known for many years, many more are recent friends and there are those whom I have never actually met but nevertheless feel like kindred spirits. Thank you.

As I start this camino I have received 995,000 hits on the blog. That’s amazing for something that started as an aid memoir, recording adventures that I never wanted to forget. Maybe whilst I am walking, that number might tick over to 1m. Who knows?

As I left home this morning I was a bit sad that I may be missing the best of my spring garden. Foxgloves and cistus are already blooming, the irises are about to burst forth and the peony buds are getting fat. But hopefully there will be plenty to welcome me home in three weeks.

Little Lily the border terrier went off on her holidays yesterday to be spoiled by the dog sitter and her two teenage daughters and have lots of canine company. I sometimes wonder if she happy or disappointed when I arrive to collect her.

I was determined to make my own way to the airport this morning, despite a hugely kind offer to drive me from a neighbour I have only just met. I was a little anxious that I needed to catch the first bus at 04:50 and had no idea if this would be any more reliable than those later In the day.

The general opinion when I asked on a community fb group about the chances of it turning up was to get an Uber – but that would be my fallback plan. In the event though, the No 4 turned up exactly on time and was obviously a well used service taking locals to their early morning jobs.

After a quick change at the city centre onto the Airport Flyer I was deposited at the airport exactly two hours before my flight. Security was manic – an elderly lady had collapsed in the queue causing a huge backlog of passengers until staff sorted out a way for us to bypass her lying in the middle of the gangway.

My anxiety was also a bit raised as I had packed my hiking poles and wasn’t confident that they would be allowed through security. In the past I have always checked my backpack en route to a camino but I resent the ridiculous cost of doing this, so thought I would take my chances. Luckily they sailed through. Back in 2013 when I was gathering new gear for my first camino I was aghast at the high cost of these Pacer Poles – something like £90, but now that I’m about to use them on my ninth camino and countless hundreds of kms hiking the local mountains when I lived in Spain, they seem like an absolute bargain!

So now that I’m wending my way towards Barcelona I can relax and enjoy the beautiful blue sky above a thick bank of white fluffy cloud. That was all to change though when we neared our destination and the heavens opened and deposited torrential rain upon us.

I took the airport train to Sants station where I met up with Marilyn. But now we were faced with crossing the centre of Barcelona under a torrent of rain. At least I got to try out my modified rain cover which worked a treat. It is much more efficient to take the airport bus direct to Placa Espanya.

After finding Estación Espanya we jumped onto the train to Montserrat and alighted at Aeri de Montserrat and admired the rock formations high above – albeit covered in low cloud. We then climbed aboard the cable car and were whisked aloft. We found the office where we needed to register for the Albergue. It is an excellent establishment with a €10 charge. We are joined by two Italian guys and a Korean woman who have all ended their various caminos and have come here for their last night.

Paul joined us later in the afternoon and we sauntered around under now clear blue sky and caught up with each other’s news before heading off for supper.

Montserrat deserves more time really – it is a stunning location with trails to various shrines and an almost vertical funicular that takes you even higher into the rock formations. But…the camino awaits so mere sightseeing will have to be put on hold for another occasion.

Apologies for no photos. The app I usually use has changed and it’s now too late for me to find an alternative. I’ll find a solution and add them later.