St. Pere de Rodes

Last night we ate dinner in a yummy Venezuelan restaurant near Emmanuel's trumpet teacher's house. The neighborhood, Graca, is much more residential than the more trendy Eixample where they live, and it was so nice to sit outside in a square with the boys playing soccer and the cafes filled with people of all ages. Ah, life in Spain. How lucky am I?  

By 7:30 this morning I was on my way to the train station, about a half hour walk from Richard and Carlos' house. It was so good to catch up with them, and I was very lucky to be able to see them since their sabbaticals end soon, and on Sunday it's back to the U.S. for them. 

The monastery of St. Pere de Rodes is about 8 km from my starting point of Llanca. Since I arrived on the train at 10:30 and it's hot, I decided to walk up to the monastery this afternoon for a visit and then return to Llanca for the evening. Then tomorrow I can leave bright and early, passing by St. Pere and continuing on the Camino. It was pretty hot today, and for a few seconds I considered taking a cab tomorrow morning back to the monastery so I could avoid the hike up again. But I decided after my shower that I can just walk it again 

The monastery is stunning, really, even  If you don't particularly care for Romanesque architecture. The site is amazing and the restoration well done. All in all, definitely worth a visit. 

Tomorrow it's 30 km to Figueres. Since another hot day is in the forecast I'll try to leave around 6. The sun rises very early here. Figueres has the Dali museum but it's also about 20 km from the Greek and Roman ruins at Empiries. I'd much rather see th latter, but it will depend on whether I can get out there and back. I'll let you know tomorrow!