Biking and Abroad: My journey through 2010

Le Natale a Firenze!

Florence is looking very nice with all of the streets lit up and the Christmas tree at the Duomo. Very nice.

Europeans aren't the cleanest...

I hate saying this, but I am so fed up with cleanliness here. Look at this tiny stick of deodorant I just bought at the Pharmacy.

That's right. 10.50 EURO! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!? That's 13.9360 United States dollars at 7:37am EST December 13th, 2010. Who pays that much for a tiny thing of deodorant. Oh and there were other cheaper options, but they were all sprays. How old am I 12? I can't even remember the last time I used a spray on deodorant. Sorry for the rant, but I just got ripped off. If I was staying longer than I week I would ask someone to send me some good ole American toiletries.

More of Barcelona

One other thing about the city: the market. The place had everything and when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING. Also, since pickpocketing and petty theft is such a big deal in the city even the illegal bag selling people are extra cautious. They have ropes tied to each side of their tarp for a quick getaway. Just see below.

By the way, this was a bad example of the food in Barcelona. The seafood paella was one of the best dishes I have ever had. Everyone should try it at least once.

Barcelona!

For my last trip during my time over here in Europe I went with the Bentley crew to visit my buddies Joe and Stach. Barcelona had by far the fewest sites of all the places I went, but it made up for it in the categories of food and people. The Spanish, who have a long history of riding the world of Native American empires, were actually very pleasant. They weren't assuming and they were patient with a group of Americans who didn't speak Spanish. (Parisians could learn from this example). The big places to see were the incomplete Sagrada Família which is this massive chapel that looks like stylized mud. It still isn't complete because the artist believed that God's work takes time and that construction shouldn't be rushed. Describing it as "Stylized mud" might be a bit of a disservice, but let's face it, the Spanish don't have much on St. Peter's Basilica.

Park Güell was another place that was designed by the same artist and it too had a bunch of wacky designs that looked like they came straight from the Disney classic "The Little Mermaid". However, despite the sometimes goofy looking architecture it was overall a very neat place to visit.

Now, on to the exciting stuff. All of the discoteques went right out onto the beaches which makes me want to come back during the summer on vacation. The Mediterranean was just as beautiful as I remembered it and I want to go swimming when the weather isn't in the 50's. Just type in Barcelona beaches into Google images and you will see what I mean.

Here you go: