At Journey's End

While we were fortunate to pick up several souvenirs throughout our 8 month adventure, our most valuable treasures are the memories and friends we picked up along the way. Whenever possible, we tried to capture those moments and as a result, we wound up with approximately 20 000 photos. Here are 156 of our favorite.

Caught Up in Catalonia

We spent the remainder of our time on the road in the beautiful country of Spain, more specifically in the region of Catalonia, in the town of Moja. Friends who had previously lived at the home of Jono’s parents had invited us to stay with them for the duration of our time in Spain. We were picked up at the airport by Jordi, Carlos and Jessica, and were soon at the home of the Federico-Arnabats. We spent the first few days of our time in Spainish Catalonia at the house, just resting and enjoying the experience of “not living out of our backpacks”. We enjoyed delicious Spanish food as well as an extremely comfortable bed! A few days into our time in Spain, we took the train and made our way to the beautiful city of Barcelona. We, along with our friend Jordi, enjoyed a great day in the city. We saw some great sites, including the Ramblas, and we attended an interesting exhibit called “Bodies”. Here we were able to see real dead bodies, plasticisized, and cut open to view different parts of the human anatomy. Very interesting! Our next big outing in Spain was with Jordi’s parents, Nati and Carlos, who took us out of Moja to see the popular mountain range of Mount Serrat. Here we walked around a beautiful monastery and saw the famous virgin of Catalonia, La Moreneta. We were also lucky enough to see the former Presidents of Catalonia (Sr. Jordi Pujol). He was a President that the people love and he served in office for over 20 years! We made it up to the top of Mount Serrat, although we wimped out a bit and took the funicular up to the top (and back down again!). Our next trip was with Nati, and she took us to see Tarragona, an ancient city of Catalonia that is home to many things Romanesque, including the still intact Roman Aqueduct. We ended our tour of Tarragona early due to heavy rain, but we got to take a close look at the Mediterranean Sea and we really enjoyed the things we were able to see and do. The next day we were back in Barcelona, and with Nati once again. She was a wonderful tour guide, and even though she didn’t speak English and Amanda didn’t speak Spanish (or Catalan for that matter) they seemed to get on just fine together! We spent this day enjoying more of the sites of Barcelona, which included Barcelona’s most famous building, the Catholic Church called “La Sagrada Familia” (The Sacred Family). The Sagrada Familia is a church, designed by Antoni Gaudi, and has been in the works since 1882. It’s still not complete and might not be even before we die. It is extremely huge, and funded primarily by donations. Don’t miss it when in Barcelona! This day could have been called the “Gaudi Day”, as we spent the rest of the day touring around the city and seeing different buildings and creations that were all made by Gaudi. Some of the most impressive were the homes that he transformed, they are truly masterpieces!! We spent the rest of our days in Spain enjoying time with our friends. We spent one night in the beach city of Sitges, which would have been a paradise if it wasn’t December! (it still was pretty awesome though!). We spent more time in Moja, and some time touring the small city of Villa Franca. However, we didn’t have long to spend in Spain, and we soon found that our time had run out. On December 21, at 9 am, we boarded the first of three planes that would safely bring us back to Canadian soil. It had been an amazing trip, 8 months in total, but now it had come to an end. We were filled with mixed emotions as we boarded the plane and began to think about our adventure and what we would find ourselves into next!

Partying in Paris

After spending only a few short days on Spanish soil, we were once again in the air and heading towards the most romantic city in the world, Paris France. We arrived in Paris by noon, and were soon in the heart of the city at the quaint flat of our friends Celine and Guillaume. After a delicious helping of Ratatouille (excellently prepared from scratch by our friend Guillaume), we were out and about, exploring the City of Love. Our first stop was at the iconic Arc de Triomphe, a symbol of power and strength. From there we strolled down the street and caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, all lit up and glittering every now and then. We then made our way to the Louvre, one of the world's best and most elaborate museum. While inside we were able to see such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa (she wouldn't stop starring at us) and the ancient Greek statute, Venus de Milo. We spent a good few hours walking through the museum and still we weren't able to see it all. The neat thing about the Louvre was that the museum itself was almost as interesting as the pieces in it. It would take at least a week if you wanted to see all the exhibits! We left the museum and headed back to our friend's flat, and from there we headed for the evening. We spent the night celebrating Christmas, drinking French wine, eating French baguettes and pastries and just chatting with those around us. It was truly and authentic Parisian experience. The next day we were up early and out the door, heading toward the Eiffel Tower. We made it just in time to stand in line with all the other people, who thought that this clear sunny day would be the perfect day to go to the top. The line didn't last long, only about half an hour, and before we knew it, we were up at the very top of the Eiffel Tower (and freezing our mitts off!). The view from the very top was magnificent, as we could see all of Paris laid out before us. And because it was so clear, everything was so visible. We could see the Seine River, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, as well as the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a breathtaking sight, and we were glad that we did it. After taking many, many photos with the tower, we met up with our friends at Montmatre. We saw the Basilique du Sacre Coeur which is a famous church built on a hill overlooking Paris. We toured the church, and then headed out for a fabulous lunch together. On our way back from lunch we walked through the "shady" part of Paris, and we were able to see the Moulin Rouge (although we never saw Nicole Kidman or Ewan McGregor there). At this point we said goodbye to our friends and thanked them for a wonderful Parisian experience. We made our way to our last stop on our itinerary, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and were once again blown away by the beauty that was Notre Dame. From there we quickly hopped on the subway, a bus, and then on our plane back to Spain. Our weekend in Paris was a whirlwind, but we made the most of the time that we had, saw what we came to see, and made some new friendships along the way. Paris will always hold a special place in our hearts and we can't wait to return there once again someday!