Day 9: The Bike Ride

I actually do go to class. This is not reflected much in my blog. Mostly because I don't think anyone wants to hear about the boringness of the European Union's Economy. I take that back. No one wants to look at pictures of supply and demand and KK and EE and Se and Ks and De and every other letter combination you can think of. The graphs are also explained by a lady, who although is really nice, you can only understand roughly every third word (on a good day). I do realize that this is study abroad. And "study" techincally comes before "abroad". I also think that words such as "tarrif, productivity, efficency, trade barriers, consumer welfare, convergence, and distribution and not fun words to read in a blog. So there you go Mom and Dad, I really AM in school.


I think we were inspired by our time in Italy. We hadn't really be "tourists" in Barcelona yet. Sure we went to see some Gaudi and walked around La Rambla, but nothing touristy (I do realize that touristy is not a real word). We (the fantastic four, tyler, kyle kyle 2.0, josh) went on a Fat Tire Bike Tour. It was honestly completely worth it. The bike tour took us all over Barcelona to places that we haven't been yet. Our guide also explained alot of building and monuments that we have walked by everyday and never noticed that they were significant. Or even really stopped to notice. When we walk to the beach we walk right by the Christopher Columbus statue; When we go to dinner we often walk right but the main city council building where there are protests every day. We learned the history behind Catalonia and the people. The tour also showed us which buildings we wanted to visit in the future. Not to mention we got to ride a bike, something none of us had done in awhile. (It comes back to you like riding a bike. ha)

After the bike tour we went by El Mercato (the market) which was closing for the day. We didn't get to fully experience the glory of the market. (but don't worry, more to come later!) We did however get fresh squeezed juice two for a Euro. I am not sure how to explain the wonder of this fabulous fruit juice. It was clearly made that day and the options were not those of "orange, apple, and grape." They were instead kiwi, coconut, pomegranate, blackberry banana, raspberry coconut, papaya mango, orange mango, and catus flower. (just to name a few). Walking out of the market was another moment that I realized I could live in Barcelona for a long time and be perfectly fine. Oh, don't worry.. there is more market talk to come.

The night ended by stopping by the grocery store, losing kyle in the grocery store, taking the metro back home, doing our homework (see, I AM doing homework!), and then going to bed.