The message from Spain is, "Don't Worry, Be Happy." I just went for a jog and this woman started talking to me. I gave my standard, "No Habla Espanol", and then she said "Don't Worry, Be Happy!" OK. I had to pass her again, and sure enough, I got the same message. You see some funny things while travelling. I thought she must have said it for a reason, so I thought I'd pass the message along.

Spain has been rather mellow, but I am enjoying having more time. I get to go jogging every now and then and I am spending more time on the internet looking into future jobs. I also just read War and Peace. The best thing about War and Peace is that every book I ever read will now seem like a short story. I just started The Sun Also Rises, which I think is good for Spain.

Since my last post, I have done quite a bit. After Zermatt, I met an old friend, Betsy Zieber, now Betsy Grandjean, and her family, Alice who is 5, Emelee who is 4, Arthur who is 1, and her husband Patrick. They live near Lausanne in an apartment which overlooks Lake Geneve, very nice. Patrick's parents also have a chalet in the mountains and we spent some very relaxing time there catching grasshoppers, hiking, and swimming. Alice and Emelee are great grasshopper catchers and great swimmers.

Then it was off to Barcelona. Talk about a culture shock! I stayed at a few pensions right off of La Ramblas. This is the heart of Barcelona, where all the tourists walk all day and all night. I really got to know the street and the more I saw, the more I realized it is completely over the top. I do not have time to tell you about all the crazy stuff I saw. Many people dress up as some type of statue and just stand there waiting for you to give them money. This is common throughout Europe, but they have taken it to new extremes here. One guy actually sits on the toilette reading the newspaper, and then makes faces if you pay him.

Barcelona is Gaudi's hometown and his architecture is all over. I spent one day checking it out and it was amazing. I have never seen architecture which is so creative. It looks like nothing else. No straight lines, very modern, and very elaborate. It really is something. I went to the Sagrada Familia, Battlo House, Parc Guell, and the apartment building. Sagrada Familia is a Cathedral on the grandest scale, and it still being built. I'm sure it will not be completed for many generations, however you can see the promise. I would sure love to see the finished product.

The Olympic Diving well is also something to see. I remember it from the '92 Olympics with the great shots of the city in the background. Now it is a public pool and I went for a swim, after trying to find it for an hour. No one knew where it was. You get that travelling every now and then. No one knows where some prominent building or site is. It is very weird sometimes.

I also spent some time at the beach and at the Tapas bars. I also met a great group and we spent about 4 nights seeing the nightlife. I met a Dutch guy, Peter, who kept spilling his drink on girls. I know he did it to meet them, but he denied it. Luckily two of his victims, Wiebke and Viola from Hamburg, were really cool and we all hit it off. We went out every night and had a great time. I learned a lot more German. One night I only spoke German, it was great. Wiebke was a patient teacher. Mein Deutsch is nicht so schlecht jezt! I was wiped out though. In Spain, they eat from 10 pm until 12 pm and then go out until 7 am.

I headed up to San Sebastian for some rest and relaxation. San Sebastian is in Basque country and sits on a beautiful enclosed harbor. It reminds me of Carmel in a way, but more of a real city. It also has a surfing culture. The locals were very friendly there. On my way up to San Sebastian I also tried to visit the wine country, La Riolla. I struck out because all of the cellers were closed, but I did see the vinyards and countryside and some very cool small towns, Lograno and San Sebastian de la Casabz. They have those elaborate churches you see in Mexico and great squares where everyone hangs out drinking and eating. The countryside was dry with green grape vines or green trees by the rivers, and every now and then you would see a little town sitting atop a hill. I also saw trekkers with their seashells hiking the St. James Trail. It is a famous pilgrimage. That's what they tell me anyway.

Next was Madrid. Madrid is much cleaner than Barcelona and a little bigger I think. I stayed at a great hostel near the Opera square and chilled, eating some good dinners and drinking coffee. I could only handle going out one night! The best thing about Madrid was that I went to see Real Madrid play. The talent on that team is amazing. They have David Beckham from England, Figo from Portugal, Raul from Spain, Zidane from France, and Ronaldo from Brazil. They killed their opponent 7 to 2 and all the stars had a hand in the scoring. Zidane is an out of this world ball handler and Beckham's passing was unreal. Very cool.

Now I am in Seville and it has a different feel. Spain is very diverse. You notice a lot of the African architure here and it seems to have a certain energy. It is about 9 pm here and everyone, I mean everyone, is out walking the streets shopping. I have yet to do my sightseeing, that is tomorrow, but I got a great tour from a cab driver last night. He proceeded to show my all the sights and tell me about them in Spanish. It was a great conversation since I do not speak any Spanish. He would talk with great enthusiasm and I would say, "Ci". I learned that Christopher Columbus is from Seville. I don't know, I'll have to check the facts on that. He also pointed to a Mosque and said Al Queida!

I went out to meet some locals last night, but was not so lucky. This is how it goes on the road sometimes. I went to this strip of cafes near my hotel. Most of the locals were outside drinking 40 ounce beers and riding their scooters. I went to this one cafe which looked crowded. I noticed that the guys greeted one another there with a kiss on the lips. Whooah, is this some Seville custom I did not know about. I figured this was not my kind of place so I traversed the city. I was offered Hash, but still did not really meet anyone. However, a Swedish girl saw me looking at the map and offered me some help. Then an ex pat, Dina saw us and offered her help. I like Seville. She walked me to a strip on bars on the river which was really pretty. All the old buildings are lit up and the river reflects the lights. Thought I'd give you a little detail on life on the road sometimes. I did not really meet anyone, but still had some interesting experiences. I typically would not include this detail, but I realized this stuff which does not get on my radar now, will seem unique when I am back home in a a different routine.

Hope you are all well in the U.S. I am keeping up on current events. Tough times for the us right now. Well, Don't Worry, Be Happy!