I Ride Bike Good.

I think I last rode a bike in 2003, although I am probably forgetting something in New York. Remembering how to ride a bike was much easier this time than that time, when I almost fell off while trying to get on. And to think, I used to be good at it.

We went on a 3ish-hour bike tour around Barcelona today. Our guide was an enthusiastic woman who never told us her name but did give us some pretty neat historical information, including a lot that essentially proved wrong all the wild theories we had come up with during our self-guided tour yesterday. We covered a lot of the same ground, but this time it did not involve walking through 18 miles of Metro connector tunnels. We also saw a bunch of new stuff, including the Arc de Triomph and the Parc de la Ciutadella, which had an amazing fountain. We found out that a lot of the shorefront hadn't existed before the Barcelona Olympics, which means that there were not a lot of unfortunately naked people on the beaches before the Barcelona Olympics. And we saw a ton more Gaudi, because his stuff is everywhere. And insane. And awesome. Although I would have nightmares if I lived in any of his houses.

Perhaps most miraculously, none of us got hit by (or ran into) a car, bike, pedestrian, dog, scooter, or building, despite the fact that the traffic lights were absolutely impossible to figure out, although Cameron did manage to lose the group immediately after the ride. And on the way from the Park to the Sagrada Familia, I almost found myself left behind, as I was engrossed in a very deep metaphysical conversation with a guy from Sweden and a girl from Seattle. We were discussing the NBA playoffs; he had played for a Swedish basketball league, and she had played college basketball, and I played in grammar school and read a lot of espn.com. These are the things that bring people together (or apart, if we're talking about the rest of the bikers).

Tomorrow, Dublin! I may be forced to drink whiskey (Cameron has already stated that that is one thing he wants for his birthday. Another thing he wants is his Marissa Miller magazine, which Christy has not yet returned. Another thing he wants is a pony.) Oher people on this trip seem to want me to be more entertaining. I think that by "entertaining" they mean they want to see me do something photo/blog-worthy, like run head-first into a pole or hitchike or order Jameson and ginger ale for the entire bar or say something grammatically or common-sensically incorrect, like, "I don't want no euros." I do not know how they get these ideas into their heads.

Gaudi this and Gaudi that.

I am awake and feeling like I can make it the whole day without sleeping on the floor, or dropping whenever I feel tired. I was able to see a lot of the city today. We took a three hour bike tour and learned why some of the Sagrada Familia is clean; it is because it is new. They are not finished building it.

Amazing buildings are tucked everywhere in the city. The tour was full of information and quite a thrill. We rode on the streets with the cars and all of the scooters. In fact any serious scooter enthusist should come to live here. We saw a lot of Guadi's' works and everyone loves him here.

It is an experience. Barcelona has been a lot of fun, but sadly my spanish, while handy, isn't what I thought it would be. They have different words for everything. I don't know why I try learning anything.

I think Matt is enjoying the trip as well, but he is suffering from continued night terrors. I am pretty sure that he wakes up every hour or so sreaming for someone to save him from his nightmares. I usually just turn up my headphones. Tomorrow we leave for Ireland.