April 24, 2008. The weather has improved hugely here and although I feel a bit under it, Anne and I “discovered” that the park in front of our noses has a wonderful cafe where we ate lunch. All the other Americans in this neighborhood similtaneously discovered same, and we ended up socializing a bit. It was a wonderful day, perfect weather, and what I suppose our image of Barcelona was before and for a few days after we arrived here. We’re pleased to see that it does exist.
It’s sort of a strange time since most of the other Americans and many others, like us, are moving from Barcelona. Some are returned to home base, others to new places, another is planning a year-long trip around the world.
April 25, 2008. David had a soccer game, they weren’t beaten too badly. Otherwise, according go Joshua nothing happened.
April 26. 2008. I went out and found some more biking roads that are pretty good — if you like pedaling up cliffs. I guess I got a taste of the Dolomites, and that’s enough. I was toying with the idea of going there and doing a ride with Peter who lead the ride I did in the Pyrenees but he told me that my gearing was too small for Italy and between that and the idea of spending close to nine days with strangers killing myself and 90 mile rides through questionable weather — forget it.
The weather here, by the way, has suddenly become nice.
April 27, 2008. We decided to check out Mont Juic, where the 1992 Barcelona Olympics were held so off we went (by car — much easier) to the Olympic Museum, which was a super deal at only four Euros for the family (with a coupon we had) and was much nicer than we expected. Lots of video footage, some interactive displays, and lots of signed sports memorabilia.
After that, we went to the Olympic pools, next door, where the games were held. After I retrieved the car, hoping that we had everything, we went in and there were two large pools. The indoor (where we went) was 50 by 25 meters with 20 lanes open going 25 meters. Anne and I swam around 1,000 meters plus. We each had to share a lane which wasn’t a problem. I managed to lap a guy four times, which made me feel fast. The outdoor pool was not heated (we checked it first) and thus had no swimmers but lots of sun bathers, many women who didn’t pack as carefully as we did obviously forgot the tops of the bathing suits.
April 28, 2008. Another dreary day, here in “sunny Barcelona”. We had lunch with Dan and Amy and tried to decide if there were any redeeming qualities that can be associated with the Islamic religion and decided that the answer is probably no.
April 29, 2008. I went for a longish 1:15 run today and saw a bit of Barcelona on a cloudy day. Otherwise, we’re sort of getting ready to return to Aspen and noticed an article about Mike Maple and a Woody Creek buy who had a bike/car run-in. I am reminded of how intolerant car drivers are in Aspen and really throughout the US when it comes to bikes or pedestrians. Anyhow, I think the driver of the offending vehicle is an accident waiting to happen.