A couple days and a lost week.

I'm missing a few days here, as my computer decided that it would turn off and not save my most recent entries, but thats ok. The pictures below are from The Fundació Miró, or the Joan Miró museum, which is on top of Mountjuïc, the Hospital de Santa Creu i San Pau, Also, I got the long-awaited picture of my host family, Fernando and Teresa.


Church on top of Tibidabo.
The third busiest port in the Mediterranean.
One of the old guns in the castle of Mountjuïc. They were originally pointed at the city to keep the trouble-causing Cataláns under control. Under Franco, not only was the Catalán language suppressed and the people forbidden to trade with the rest of the country, but the city was also attacked a few times by their own countrymen. Its no wonder they want independence now.

Here is the view of the city from the top of Montjuïc. You can also see Tibidabo off in the distance. (clicking on the picture will make it bigger.)
Yes, its a hospital, in the Modernist style. Actually about 24 different buildings, each with its own specialization. And all the care done here is entirely free for the patient.
The main building, built like a funnel in the direction from which comes the wind as to help circulate fresh air through the hospital and avoid the spread of disease.
Joan Miró: a famous abstract Catalán artist from the early 20th century. Contemporary of Picasso and Dalí.
He is abstract, but his symbols are always used in the same way, so once you understand one picture, you can use the same for all others. he is famous for his use of bright, primary, colors, making his paintings easily identifiable.


Day 85 – November 21st – Friday
Today I woke up refreshed after a nice long sleep. Today I had in mind to climb both of the mountains in Barcelona on my bike and thats basically what I did. There were a few other places that I had wanted to take some pictures of first. One was a Joan Miró sculpture called “Dona i Orgell” (Woman and Bird). It is flanked by some walls of legal graffiti that is supposed to be some of the best in Barcelona, so I took some pictures of that too. Afterwards, I went to see the palace which is now a museum at the bottom of the first mountain, Montjuïc. I snapped a picture and thens started the climb. It was a difficult one, but I didn't have to stop. It wasn't necessarily that steep, but I felt like I would never get up to the top. I did and even got to the castle. I had been there before, but unfortunately had forgotten my camera. Its a great view out over the city on one side and the port and sea on the other. Also, it being Friday and the last time I was there a Sunday, there was a lot of action going on which was fun to watch. There were probably about five or six cruise ships waiting there and fifteen or so freighters scattered throughout the sea waiting for their turn in port. Next was Tibidabo, which is the highest point in Barcelona. It is topped by an old convent, a large church, and an amusement park. Right away, I could tell this was going to be a much harder task. First of all, it was a lot harder to go down Montjuïc than up. Having no brakes and only one speed made me have to swerve my way down, trying to control my speed. Then I had to deal with the midday traffic through the city. By the time I started to actually climb, I could tell I was much further than I had expected. In addition, the grade was much steeper and my legs already has the fatigue of one mountain in them. One point, I was on a particularly steep section, going slow but as fast as I could. A man standing on the sidewalk saw my trouble and shouted a few words of encouragement. I waited until I was out of his sight before I stopped and took a breather. It didn't help that I didn't really know what street to take, only to keep going up and toward the mountain. I made it up to the highest road before I realized that there wasn't really any way to get there. I still felt accomplished, so I didn't feel too bad about turning around. There were a few other bikes making the climb, but they were all on nice, full suspension, mountain bikes. I'll admit, I was a little jealous of their gears and brakes. I was glad to have lunch waiting for me at home. everyone was pretty impressed when I told them what I had done. It was definitely the highest and longest hills I've ever climbed in my life. After lunch, I took a nice long nap. That night, I went out with Filip and one of his friends who was visiting. She was from California, but she had originally met Filip in Serbia and was now studying in Rome. We started at Gato Negro and then went to the Rambla to show here the real night life of Barcelona. I didn't get home until pretty late, but with nothing to do tomorrow, no problem.

Day 86 – November 22nd – Saturday
I literally did almost nothing today. I woke up at 2:00, just in time for lunch and then went back to sleep for about five hours after that. I woke up again it was dark outside, so I figured I'd go do something. I went to school for a little while and used the internet and then went back home to watch The Sevilla-Valencia soccer game. I only saw the first half, but I guess it ended up 0-0, so I didn't miss much. I met with Filip and his friend again and another friend after dinner, but went home much earlier. As much as I slept during the day, I was still pretty tired.

Day 87 – November 23rd – Sunday – 26 days left
Today, I got up fairly early and met Nick to go to a flea market. It was basically just books, movies, and posters, but we did find a few hidden treasures. They also had a lot of soccer cards, which was kinda cool. Across the street, there was a big group of people that piqued our interest so we walked over. It turned out to be the soccer card trading central. There were little kids and old me alike and I have a feeling that the kids were hustling the men. Afterwards, we went to one of the only authentic Irish pubs in Barcelona. That is, there were actually Irish people working there. I had some delicious fish and chips and then we walked back home through the Rambla, which is a much different place during the day. There were a good number of street performers out, including an Edward Scissorhands impersonator. He was exceptionally good and very popular. It is amazing how still some of these people will stand until someone drops change in their cup. Then they move around, or bow, or something like that. I've read in the papers that some of them make quite a good living. During the summer months, they rake in up to 1000€ a day. And they're not there from 9-5pm either. Normally its only a few hours. I took another little nap, which is probably one of my favorite things to do here. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, rather I think it helps me take advantage of the time I am awake and enjoy it more. There was a Barcelona game on tonight, but Messi is having a little trouble with his quad, so he wasn't to play. It shouldn't have been a very tough game anyway, but it did end up causing a little stress as the team was not playing together very well at all. They did manage to scrape out the tie, so they will keep moving up above the rest of the field. Matt and I took a little walk to kill some time after dinner and then I headed to bed. Another week of school awaits.