Enjoying Barecelona

I have been in Barcelona for 5 days now and figured that it was time to make a post. I am doing well. It took me a few days to adjust to the time change from the west coast, although staying at the disco until the early hours of the morning certainly makes the time change seem less severe. I have been very busy in the past few days touring and seeing the sites Barcelona has to offer. Sunday was an event filled day with a trip to see the Casteller Show. The Castellers are clubs of people who like to make human towers. I'm sure there is some cultural or historical background into why the people of Catalonia enjoy hoisting their precious children several stories above the square below with only a few people to support them. Thank goodness the government legislated the use of helmets a few years ago. You can find a picture of this here.

Later in the afternoon Liz and I went to a bull fight. Liz had met an old man, Emilo, when she bought our tickets who offered to show us around the ring before the fight and introduce us to the matadors. Low and behold we show up an hour early and Emilo gives us a tour of the ring, in Spanish. I'm glad Liz could help me translate. Then he takes us down the tunnel into the "dugout" if you will, where the matadors wait for their turn. After a short wait with a few other people and the Spanish Press, the matadors arrive and make their rounds of interviews and photos.


The bull fight itself was great. It was a little difficult to watch at first, but Emilo began pointing out the finer points of the technique and the rest of the pomp and circumstance. There was most certainly an art to the foot work of the matadors.

On Monday, I went up to the monastery at Montserrat and did some hiking. I hiked up to the top of the mountains that looked like something you would see in Zion National Park. Low and behold, at the top of the mountain, I found a helipad. If only Fr. Bruno knew...

Yesterday, I took few hours and relaxed in Park Guell. Gaudi's architecture is amazing, it was great to have some time to explore all of the little tunnels and trails throughout the park. After Liz finished class we met up and went to the beach. It was fairly crowded since it was around 80 degrees. Today I'm planning on going to the Segrada Familia, just a few blocks down from Liz's apartment and exploring some of the streets around Las Ramblas. If you are interested, I have posted more of pictures on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7885323@N08/sets/72157600122271522/

Today is the day!

The day has finally come.... I leave for Europe today. The last several days have been hectic tying up loose ends, packing, and finishing work. My last day of work was great and it was sad to leave. As I was leaving work I was pulled over by one of Redmond, WA's finest. Apparently in Washington you have to renew the tabs on your car every year and not every other year, like in Oregon. He let me off with a warning since I was leaving for Bosnia within the week. I had a great visit with the parents over the weekend. We went to the Olympic Sculpture Park and got rained on. We wandered over to Discovery park where we went on a nice hike down to the lighthouse on the beach. And of course, dinner at Ray's was excellent. Other than that, I have been running lots of errands. Last night, I went to an awesome dinner with Clay and Riley and then was treated to the greatest concert ever!!! Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are amazing. Today, I have to send a box to myself in Bosnia and then off I go to the airport. I will post again once I get to Barcelona.

17 Days...

... and only 9 more at work. Things are beginning to get a little crazy. I have started packing up my belongings for their trip back to Oregon and tried to tie up loose ends. I really don't like moving. It isn't the change that bothers me, it is the packing up that I really don't like. I'm just hoping I can keep the focus at work during these next two weeks.