So I just had a fabulous day. I mean, the morning was rough because it involved getting up earlir than I wanted, but a couple friends and I went on this amazing bike tour. The company is called Fat Tire Bike Tours and it was a four hour bike ride to places like Sagrada Familia, the Ciutadella and through Born and the Gothic Quarters and the waterfront. The guys leading it were a bunch of Australians who had been living in Spain for a few years and were all pretty laidback. There were about 5 of them altogether, but there were three main guys who actually did the guiding. It was a beautiful day, the high was about 58 and it was sunny, which was a fantastic change from the past several days.

The Ciutadella was gorgeous and we got to see the Arch d'Triumph, a complete replica of the one they have in.....London? (Sorry if I'm wrong!) Anyway, we also got to see the Palau de Musica Catalana, a seriously epic music hall that I actually wrote a 15 page paper on for my art history class this past semester. It was constructed by Domenech i Montecher and though people give Gaudi lots of praise, this man was ridiculously talented.
We then got to go bike through Born, a really quaint and old-style area pretty similar to the Gothic quarters. Sagrada Familia wasn't as amazing as I remembered it....it might be because the first time I saw it I was really impressed and maybe the novelty has worn off. Either way, we took lots of pictures (I'll just have to put them up later). It was nice to bike around too for a change since walking everywhere takes a lot longer and this way it was nice to still be outside and actually even getting a bit of exercise.

So the highlight of this trip was the waterfront. No joke, this place was BEAUTIFUL. I hadn't been yet since I've just been hanging out in Placa Catalunya, Las Ramblas or by Avenida Diagonal, but it was gorgeous. Its actually the place where the majority of the clubs are, but there are some really nice architectural structures there.
Anyways, we stopped there for our lunch break and they had some beers while they told us of the cool places to go to and whatnot. As we were talking, a male nudist sauntered back and forth in front of our group. This would not have been bad if it wasn't for the fact that this guy was literally naked in the middle of winter. And by this time of the day, it was a bit warmer than it had been in days but seriously, it was still like 45 degrees and everyone around was wearing winter coats. I think this guy just wanted a bunch of college-age girls to freak out and ogle, I swear. And there was this other character on the beach who was just sleeping with this motorcycle helmet on in the fetal position. It was really weird.
The most intense part was that we saw a pickpocket situation in action. So the guys who were leading the tour pointed this one guy out who was bicycling into the area and stopped his bike in the center of the plaza. Apparently the guy is a fraud and pretends to lead bike tours but steals people's money and pickpockets on the side. The Australian guys were telling us about this ridiculous rule where if a pickpocket happens to steal less than $400 then he just receives a slap on the wrist and is sent on his way. It is only if he steals more than $400 when he is actually put in jail and his name is taken into the records.
Anyway, we literally saw this guy go up to these two girls sitting with their purses beside them and he just picked up one of the purses and started sauntering back to his bike. This other guy in this blue sweatshirt sees this guy do this and literally hurtles towards the pickpocket's retreating figure and wrestles with him, getting the purse away from him. At this point, the Australian tour guides run over to help out. The pickpocket drops the purse and started yelling obscenities at the blue-sweatshirt guy, but continued walking away. The guy in the blue sweatshirt then chases after the pickpocket and they start smacking each other. During the shuffle, one of the Australian tour guides grabbed the pickpocket's bike and rode away on it, to teach the guy a lesson. The guy never even noticed until it was long gone. I've never seen karma in live action before, but if I ever declare myself to any belief, it is in karma.
Anyway, tonight is the big night: FC Barcelona vs. Sevilla!! I'll put up pictures from it FOR SURE. I'm so pumped! More later.