Do you remember how I was excited to have my ankle healing up? That same afternoon, I looked down at my foot only to see that bright red blood had soaked clear through my bandage, pants and sandals. We're talking a LOT of blood, here. It may have even happened while I was writing that blog entry. Needless to say, I was a bit disturbed by the excessive bleeding which had occured, but it hasn't happened again since. I think it might be something like when my splinter wound from Tanzania exploded with a blood clot 10 months after it had healed. Either way, my ankle is great now. I've been wearing running shoes again and cycling like mad. There's still a bit of a hole, but it's gradually disappearing.
As for the small heart attack, I was all packed and ready to go this morning when I realized I had not packed my Mexican travel wallet, including much cash, travellers cheques, rail pass, ferry tickets and passport. Whew, I freaked out. I was running all over the place searching and asking people. Can you believe what happened? I can, but I'm so stupid... there are two computers free for internet at the hostel (I'm on one of them now) and I had put my itinerary and wallet on the shelf beside it as I was trying to book a ferry from Barcelona to Rome. Then I got tired of the mouse pad (not good for optical mouse) and placed it on top of the wallet, where it stayed for the next 12 hours. Whew! So very, very lucky.
Now where am I going? I'm taking a ferry to Mallorca this afternoon and staying in a hostel on the beach in s'Arenal, just southeast of Palma de Mallorca. My plan is to read on the beach and go cycling every day. I'll stay there four nights, then take a ferry down to Valencia. I'm not sure if the America's Cup will still be going on, but hopefully I can at least see some of the boats, as well as the sights in the city, and rent a bicycle as well. Thereafter, I might have a chance to go to Madrid for a couple of days and then to Barcelona, or I might just come back to Barcelona, and then to Rome from there.
The cycling in Barcelona is increible! (sounds better with the Spanish word) I got a city bike two days ago and used it to climb up a hill to see a castle, olympic stadium, gardens, and otherwise. Of course I spun around the gothic area and the beach as well. Then yesterday I rented a mountain bike, which just happened to be BRAND NEW (little rubber hairs still on the tires and everything!) and I took it for a crazy ride up Tibidabo Mountain, all over an excellent network of trails and dirt roads through the park on the opposite side of the mountain, and finally got completely lost way off the other side of the mountain. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't even see Tibidabo anymore. Well, I finally asked for directions to find out how far I was away, and left with only 1:40 to return the bike, was forced to sprint over the mountain and across nearly the entire city of Barcelona. I was three minutes late, but the guy didn't mind. Just to see, I timed the climb going over the mountain at 26 minutes and 7.5 kilometers straight up. The most relief I got was a couple of false flats around the mountain curves. I haven't seen so many switchbacks since climbing Kilimanjaro. The view of the Mediterranean and Barcelona and the fresh breeze coming off the sea, and the wild descent down to the city made it all more than worth the effort. Barcelona is actually the best place I've ever been for cycling. There's paved roads through mountains, there are roads prefect for cross-bikes, there is single-track, and through all of it you're rewarded with finding gothic churches in now uninhabited valleys, Catalan lunches in mountainside villages, and fantasic views of Barcelona and the sea. Not only that, but most of the main roads have bike lanes or bus/taxi lanes that are pretty good for bikes and drivers are more considerate of cyclists here than any place I've ridden before. As I said, the cycling in Barcelona is incredible! I think I'll leave myself an extra day here on the return trip so I can attack that mountain again.
Word on the street is that the cycling on Mallorca is even better, and I've already check to make sure there are several outlets renting everything from city bikes to mountain bikes and racing bikes. I can't wait!
