After Tasch

We left Tasch with a few bumps and bruises from playing on the mountain but spirits were high and we knew that we were finally going to get out of the cold. We arrive fairly late in Avignon, France and ended up eating at a restaurant chain called 'Buffalo Grill.' Now that's funny. The next day I took it easy. TC on the other hand rented a 'bike' from our hotel and road into the city to track down an event. The Paris to Nice bike race had a leg that started in Avignon that day and TC bought some horribly loud bike clothing to commemorate the event. Later that night we tramped around downtown Avignon which is horribly impressive because of the intact city walls that surround the city. Unfortunately, we both forgot our cameras but it was a good night nonetheless.

From Avignon we 'traveled' to Barcelona. Of course no European trip is complete without your train breaking down in the middle of nowhere. We sat for a few hours and didn't really know what was going on because neither TC or I can understand French. (Especially when it's mumbled incredibly fast over the PA system of a train.) Luckily we befriended a couple of girls from Canadia and they spoke (and understood) French. We missed our connection to Barcelona and had to take a few extra trains but we also met a few other girls who happened to find TC and myself funny. Don't ask, delusional at best. Finally arrived in Barcelona around 10pm, navigated the metro and found our hostel. . . but nobody is home. I was worried that maybe the hostel only checked people in until 9pm or something but two other guys showed up and then we knew something was amiss. We stood around outside ringing the bell until one of the people staying at the hostel let us in but sure enough there was nobody at the front desk. Luckily we found a card with info for some other hostels owned by the same people and after about 45 minutes the desk worker showed up to check us in, she had been out getting food. No note, dead cell phone battery, great. Anyway, befriended the two fellas who were waiting with us and we went out for a late dinner that was very agreeable. Next day was the bike tour in downtown.

TC and I took a bike tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours in downtown Barcelona. It was the best way to see a ton of the city since we only had one full day there. We met a mother/daughter from America and the four of us headed out for tapas and beer when the ride was over. Overall it was very cool but TC and I took off because we thought we were going to a football match that night. Turns out the website we were using had the wrong date listed and we settled for a football match in a bar. We were flying to Bilbao the next day so off to bed we went.

We flew in to Bilbao and did a glorious thing. . . we rented a flippin' car. Doesn't sound like a big deal but after taking public transpo through multiple countries and cities that we didn't know it was heaven. Of course we splurged a bit and got a mid-sized car that was a TDI 6-speed manual transmission. For those of you who have seen the Vibe I used to have it was a car very, very (eerily) similar to that. Fun to drive and we even got a GPS unit with it so we didn't have to use a map once. The GPS got us up to Zeanuri the first day and then back to the Guggenheim the next. We stayed at a villa in Zeanuri that is owned by TC's good friend, Victor.
The Villa.

Here's the view from the villa of the surrounding area.

I'm gonna cut it here cause the British Museum is calling me.

Remember;
"Anywhere is walking distance if you have the time."
-Stephen Wright