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We throughly enjoyed our visit and this morning it was time to move on. 

   
 
We made a two hour stop at Stuttgart early in the morning on our way to Munich. 

   
   
Our first stop in Munchen was of course Marienplatz. 

   
 
From there we headed to the farmers market and then to Hofbräuhaus for pretzel and dinner. 

   
    
    
    
 
On the way back we saw a demonstration by the fascist party at Marienplatz. Interestingly there was a large group who were believers of diversity and inclusiveness surrounding them and booing them.

   
    
  

 
The dancers wearing white, performing at the same time in the plaza, were a great way to bring the focus to cultural diversity and away from narrow mindedness!

  
Saturday morning at 9 am we went with Mike and Franziska to the friends of the nature club of Iggelheim.  This group had organized a weekend bike ride to Kendel (about 54 km away). There were all together 14 of us who took part in this ride. 

   
    
 
We rode our bike through country streets, forest roads, bike paths. We took our break along the way to river Rheine where we stopped for a picnic lunch. 

   
    
    
    
    
 
After lunch we rode alongside river Rheine.  After awhile we went through the original Rheine river that meanders through the forest rather than the new Rheine that is straight and wide allowing a barge or river cruise. 

   
    
    
 
Afternoon was much harder then the morning and we took our breaks more frequently. 

   
    
    
  

We arrived at our destination around 3:30. The friends of the nature houses were built a long time ago by local workers to allow nice accommodations for people to spend time in nature. First order of business of course was  beer and wine in the Bier Garten for most everyone. 

   
    
    
   
Since we were out in nature there was no wifi and hence no blog!

After hot showers we had a nice dinner. 

Breakfast was at 8:30 and we left for our return trip of another 54 km but coming back a different way. 

   
    
 
For lunch we stopped at a pub where pat and I tried a flammenkuchen  (German pizza). 

   
   
We are back in Mike and Franziska beautiful home as we rest our aching  muscles and butts after a 108km 2-day bike adventure. 

   
    
 
Forgot to mention that about 8 km from home it just poured. We were lucky to find a shelter, someone’s car port, from the rain, which lasted for about 15 minutes. 

  
This morning we walked around the town of Mannheim and saw the beautiful water tower and a castle (the largest in Europe), now converted into a university. 

   
 
In the afternoon we drove about 15 km to the town of Heidelberg to see the mountain castle. 

   
    
 
Down below you could see the popular tourist town of Heidelberg. The river Nicker flows toward Mannheim and joins the river Rhein. 

   
    
   
   
    
   

For the evening adventure we rode bikes to an Italian restaurant (bikes in the background). We also visited a couple of donkeys on the way back from dinner.

   
   

We landed in Frankfurt at 11 AM in the morning. We took a train to Mannheim where we met Mike.  We then took another local train to the town of Iggleheim to Mike and Franziska’s house. It feels like a small village. They have a beautiful home with a nice garden and chickens and a green house. We enjoyed a nice outdoor snack and dinner made with homegrown salad ingredients of different varieties.

   
 
After dinner we went to a nearby town of Speyer. This small town seems to have everything from a museum, a large catedral and the River Rhine flowing next to it. And of course best part of Europe,  gelato stands.  It even has a statue of someone walking the Camino, as there is a Camino trail that leads from here to Metz. 

   
    
   

  

   
   
We capped the evening with a stroll along the river Rhine. 

   
    
   

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Since I could not post the pictures yesterday, here are the snippet of our day.

Entering Santiago.

Finally at the cathedral!

Finally at 9 pm last night my two brothers Barkat and Sikander met up with us at our Albergue. They traveled all day by train to go from Madrid to Santiago. From Santiago they took a taxi for 50 km to meet us in Melide. Welcome to two new members to our team Camino.

It was such a joy and pleasure to have my brothers, whom I admire and look up to, among us. Barkat bhai has been my inspiration for the Camino. He is my oldest brother and my role model for walking. He is healthy and fit and loves walking. I caught my walking bug observing him. In fact, I originally chose the date of 2014 so that we could celebrate his 80th birthday by doing the Camino together. It is a dream come true for me that he is able to be here to complete the Camino with me

Sikander bhai is probably the most generous and good hearted man I know in the world He has always been there for me and a source of inspiration for my life. The joy and pleasure I feel with my two brothers cannot be described in words.

We were able to reserve a private room for them at our Albergue. It also happens that we had a private room for 8, this way we were able to spend time together without disturbing others.

We had brought back pizza for them and we were all able to eat, chat, and reminisce before calling it a night.

Today we had planned a 15 km walk, so we did not need to rush in the morning. We were out of the Albergue by 7:30 and met across the street for coffee and croissant.

Our original plan was for Sikander to take a taxi to our next night’s aubergue and meet us at the end of the day when we finished our walk. He changed his mind and decided to join us for the walk to next town about 5.5 km away.

It was yet another beautiful day for walking and we enjoyed the simple sights and sound of birds and roosters, reminding us as to how lucky we were to be enjoying the nice morning walk in the Spanish country side.

During one of our morning breaks we met up with our friends from Germany whom we had not seen in a week.

We stopped for lunch with beautiful views and good food.

We had a nice afternoon and
dinner in Arzua. All are settled in their beds for the night because we have an early morning walk to Pedrouza, our last night before Santiago.

Our goal for today was to travel 25 km to Palas De Rei. We woke up to find out that the water system was contaminated due to the torrential rain the night before (brown water coming from all faucets)

We left the town in darkness at 7:30. The way out was a long and arduous climb in the cool and overcast sky. Soon the light was visible and we had beautiful views around us.

After 8 km we hit our first town and street side cafe. It was packed with pilgrims. There were hundreds of pilgrims around us The majority had started in Sarai to do the last 100 km. Our quite paths felt crowded for once. A feeling so unfamiliar.

The path was a constant up and down. The weather got cooler and then warm and then cold again.

As we were entering town after 25 grueling km and 170 floors of climbing, I got word that my two brothers Barkat and Sikander have reached Madrid.

We hope to meet up with them tomorrow afternoon in Melide ( 15 km from Palas De Rei and only 50 km from Santiago).

Barkat will join us for our walk to Santiago, while Sikander will wait for us in Santiago. We are excited about the reunion!