Don't take your shirt off!

    When I stepped off the plane in Girona, Spain, I couldn't stop grinning because of the sunshine that greeted me. 70 degrees felt pretty nice compared to the German freezer I had just come out of. I think the warm temperatures in Barcelona account for the lax--hmm.... decency? standards that Spaniards have, for on our walking tour the next day, our vibrant guide Sophia told us about its nudity laws.     

   Nudity in Barcelona is completely legal, she said, and is quite common, especially on the beaches. But what's really strange is that half nudity is illegal. 

"So men," she said, "if you take off your shirt on the streets because it's getting hot, and a policeman starts coming toward you, just slip your trousers off too and you won't get arrested!" 

   I kept that in mind as I went running around in Barcelona, but the cloud cover didn't make stripping that tempting. The mornings in Barcelona were dreary, but right on cue the sun came out at 11, just like our homeless friend predicted!

 

I wasn't expecting palm trees, but there were plenty. And there is Christopher Columbus on the top of that tower, pointing towards the New World. Barcelona was the city he returned after his trip-- we saw the steps where Ferdinand stood when he greeted Columbus on his return. We also saw the cathedral where the Spaniards baptized the Native Americans who came back with Columbus. Love him or hate him, Barcelona was definitely Christopher's place!

This was one of the ports of Barcelona that had a nice path to run along. Barcelona is a very vibrant city, with plenty of bikers and runners. Unlike the German runners who are STICKS, the Spaniards actually have some muscle on their legs.

 I liked these statues- the elongated green effect... kinda endearing :) Also, Barcelona might just be my favorite city, because EVERYONE rollerblades! It was so fun to see people rollerblading along the coast. Of course I asked someone about renting rollerblades, but she looked at me funny and said no. She was a skateboarder-can't trust them.

You can see the World Trade Center in this picture. It was great running along the coast; we were five minutes from our hostel. There were restaurants, a movie theater, mall, and plenty of crepe stands to make the tourists happy.

This was a view from the bridge back to the city. It moved to let sailboats come through to dock.

Los Ramblas! The most famous street in Barcelona. Mimes lined the street (my favorite was John Wayne) as well as souvenir and flower stands. During the day, it was packed with tourists. Don't try and eat at a restaurant here, though; they charge 10 euros for a coke! That's what the waiter told my friend anyway-maybe his English was confused? We left the restaurant obviously. 

This was the entrance to the street where our hostel was. To the left is an excellent Doner stand. Doners are the best food I've had in Europe so far--we had them three nights in a row in Barcelona. Our Ambex group is obsessed with these gyro/sandwich hybrids; whether it's the slices of lamb meat, yogurt sauce or  their cheapness, they're definitely worth the complete messiness of eating one. 

   Other highlights of Barcelona included:

• Seeing the Sagrada Familia and the genius of Gaudi. The cathedral was unique because of Gaudi's emphasis on nature and integrating it into every part of his architecture. The whole cathedral was supposed to represent a tree and it was an incredible combination of modern, natural, and religious elements.
• Hiking up to Montjuic, the old fortress near the city. There was a beautiful cactus garden and the view of Barcelona from the top was worth sweating a little to get up there, although everyone knows it doesn't take much to make me sweat :)
• Going to a traditional Spanish restaurant and eating snails, calamari, and little silver fish, with their heads still on. Still can't believe I decapitated a fish.
• Going on tours of the city through our hostel and meeting people from all over the world.
• Touring the excavations of the Roman city, Barcino.
• Wading through the Mediterranean Sea

Barcelona was a great combination of sites, weather, people, and things to do! I didn't get close to seeing everything, but it just gives me an excuse to go back someday. With rollerblades of course.

Missing Lincoln

   When I was in Washington, D.C. a few years ago, a nice couple asked me if I would take a picture of them in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I snapped the photo and was pleased to see that it turned out great--no blurry edges, both people had their eyes open, and their smiles looked normal. I was about to hand the camera back to them when my friend Mikayla glanced at it and quickly took another picture of the couple.

"Mikayla, why'd you do that?" I asked surprised.

"Kate, you totally missed getting Lincoln in the picture."

"Oh. Guess that was the whole point of the picture, huh?"

   Since then, I have recognized the fact that great photography has never been a part of my skill set. My pictures are always blurry, crooked, or completely missing Lincoln. I have never wanted to make the effort to focus on picture-taking. I'll let other more talented folks do that, and I'll snag theirs off Facebook (I hope that's plagiarism).

   Well, then I decide to go to Europe for a semester, and all of a sudden people are hounding me with demands for pictures of the places I visit. I now have this duty to perform a task I already didn't like.  I was faced with sure embarrassment if I showed up back in the States with some real goofy-looking pictures.

   But then I came up with this plan. You see, Jim Carrey can be very inspiring sometimes. I remember watching his movie Yes Man and thinking the running photography part was quite funny (red bull!). So I thought to myself: why not practice some German efficiency and run and take pictures at the same time?

   I viewed it as a win-win situation. My pictures were gonna be bad anyways, so I might as well add some artful flare to them by adding some motion. Call it "blurred art." Catchy, right? Also, the German diet isn't known for its healthiness, so I thought it would be good to burn some you-know-whats while I'm here and make my momma proud. I decided to go for it.

   Here are the rules I laid down for myself:

      

#1: Secure camera around wrist at all times (I know my history, and sometimes cameras, gravity and I            don't get along very well).

#2: Only pictures taken while moving no slower than 6 mi/hr count. Moving slower than that is lame and detracts from the art and the whole point of the activity.

#3: Smile at every German you meet. Even if the success rate of a returned smile is less than 1%, spreading some American cheer never hurt anybody.

#4: Be on the lookout for cute rollerblading Gypsies; if you see one, marry him.

#5: Run in every city visited. Don't be lazy.

   So far, my plan has worked out nicely. I have been very motivated to run; I think it maybe just might have something to do with this beautiful city of Regensburg. I think I'm addicted. I invite you to take a look at my first attempt at running photography:

See that graffitied map? Yeah, that's a map of Regensburg. Maybe I should think about actually looking at one of those. Or not--getting lost and aimlessly wandering is more fun.

This is a view of the Regen River right after a snowstorm. And yes-I was running in the snow. I'm dedicated.




This is the old Roman bridge. Completed in 1146, it is a testament to medieval architecture and the bridge connected trade routes from Paris and Venice, making Regensburg economically stable.

 

Cobblestones on the old bridge- just running where Richard the Lion-hearted marched with his army during the crusades. No big deal :)

View of St. Peters's Cathedral from the bridge! I never get sick of looking at it. Although tempted to run around inside, I decided that would be disrespectful. Good decision yeah? Besides it is freezing and there are tombs of dead bishops and important church figures. I had to do wall sits on the pews to keep myself warm. Other than that it is beautiful!

The Danube River from the bridge. The first day we got here, the river was flooded. Since then it's calmed down but it is still moving fast. I try hard not to fall in.

This is a historical Bratwurst restaurant right by the bridge, said to be the world's first fast food restaurant. People say you haven't been to Regensburg until you have eaten a Bratwurst here, but since there are 450 you-know-whats in a Bratwurst, I decided to pass. Sausage: not exactly a great mid-workout snack :)

This is the castle where the princess of Bavaria lives. I didn't see her.

I love this old lady! She's on a building right by our hostel. I'm pretty sure that if the artist would have painted all of her, she would be rollerblading :)

Home sweet home! This is the jugendherberge, our youth hostel. We sleep, eat, and study here. Tony, the cook, is a real jovial Italian that makes good food and jokes. Ibo the desk clerk knows where all the fun places in Regensburg are, and the cleaning ladies always give a cheerful "Hallo!" to us Ambexers. 

Some artwork that I took a blurry picture of. It is along a scenic path up to the dam. It's a great trail, and I just recently met a girl named Julia on it. She is a student at the University of Regensburg and we ended up running together for 45 minutes, and we're already planning many more runs together.