Tired, so sleeping with tyres

After breakfast, Ramón joined for a bit, which was nice. After he pointed out the bicycle way, he turned back again, and I am glad he pointed that way out, because it was a nice ride!
After 18 kilometres, I took a rest on a table in a resting place and slept for half an hour. Also today the sadness made itself reminded, and I hoped it would go away. This really make the whole experience bad, and takes away the motivation to continue and not just lay down and quit. I will not give up this easily though, as it may just be a passing phase.
I also took the time eating some food. I had gotten some potato omelet with me, and half of it at a time made a really good snack!
When packing together, two bicycle tourers went by, they where on the way to Camino de Santiago (which I am also, apparently).
I took 16 kilometres more, to a small village called Sant Pere dels Arquells, where a collector have three airplanes standing. I could not get onto the grounds, but at least I got some photos! You can also see them on Google Maps!

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I also ate lunch here (the rest of the omelet) and slept another hour, waiting for some of the warm hours to pass by.

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Going on biking, I went by a city that looked pretty cool, as it was on a high point, and the road I was taking went beneath it through a tunnel. I really liked it!

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I continued up and down, and tried to take as many kilometres as possible, as Ramón had told me about some nasty up hills close to Lleida. I passed by another village, Tarrega:

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After passing 65 kilometres, I was starting to think about finding a place to pitch my tent at. First, I filled up my water bag at one industry I passed by. Getting bored (even though it was going mainly downhill) I asked at an industry (Named Rodi, in Mollerussa). They let me pitch my tent on the backside, and the boss was really nice! He built a fort out of tires as a wind shield, and also let me borrow the shower and toilet. Really nice!

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I didn’t feel fully well, but I watched some series, ate some candy and went to sleep.

Bad biking start

I went and retrieved my bike, and said good bye to Orion. Back at Sandra’s place, I ate some nice oat meal with apples and stuff that she had prepared. I started packing the last things, and said good bye to Sandra as she went to work.

When I left Paris, I had a sad feeling, because I left the people I had been hanging out with for two weeks. This time it was that, the bad election and also I was probably longing for friends and family at home. As I had planned to go home for an event, that may have made a difference.
I have had some problems with depression before this trip, but during this trip I have had no real down-days. Now it felt as it came back, though, and I had a really tough morning, inclusive crying and feeling bad. It let go after some time though, at least a bit, and I thought it would be no problem.

It was really warm, with over thirty degrees, probably 33-34 as maximum today. I soaked my arm-warmers and my buff with water to keep myself cool. At one, I decided to give my tarp a quick test, and to start learning to use it in new ways!
I picked a rather bad spot, as the ground were too hard, but I managed to improvise, and got about half an hour of sleep.

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Apparently, the last part of the road I was going on, was rebuilt into a bigger road (I think) and bicycles were not allowed. There were an old road parallel to it, though, and even if it was without asphalt for a part of it, I got to see this random piece if mountain at least!

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Before arriving at my host’s place, I bought some food I could need.
The only one speaking English in the family was the daughter, but through my Spanish and Google Translate, we managed. I got tips about the road I should take tomorrow, and he also wanted to join for some kilometres.
We also went to a pharmacy and bought insect repellent, as I learnt from my time under the tarp that the flies are really annoying!
I got some good pasta salad and potato omelet for dinner, and I also got some really nice homemade muffin!
After the dinner, I was really tired, and went to sleep.

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Testing the tarp

I continued packing, so that I would be as prepared as possible. I got a no from my first Warmshovers request, but as I (for once) did this in time, I had time to send out another one, which I got a yes from!
I played a bit with the tarp on one of the terraces, and I really look forward to learn to use it with different conditions (for example without trees). One of the things I have always liked about tarps is the possibilities – it is not like a tent, which you can only pitch in one way, but instead you can make a kind of tent, just a roof, a wind shelter with floor and so on, and as they do not have built-in zippers, mosquito nets and so in, they tend to be really light (this one is about 460 grams for 3×2.9 metres – that’s awesome)!

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I also ate the snickers today. They did actually not taste that good. Could be my frying, or it is not that special. Have to go to England and test sometime!

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I went to get my bike from the bike club, as it would be too early to go get it at eight in the morning, and put it at Orions place instead (bigger elevator). Then, we went and had lunch/dinner at Pollo Rico, as the other place were closed.
I went home and tried to prepare the last things for tomorrow. I also tested the outdoor shower, as I had not done it so far. It was an awesome view!

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Nice view!

In the evening, it was the Swedish election. Personally, I am not happy with the Swedish Democrats getting 13 %, but not much to do about it now.

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Soon, it is time to leave Barcelona!

It is finally here!

I ate a late breakfast (and even got a photo of it, apparently)!

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At one, I went to Orion, and we went to the post office to retrieve it the tarp. As it really was close now, I started looking at possible Warmshowers and preferable biking ways on my way to Portugal. I sent away a message, and started packing all my stuff, which was all over my room (and a little bit over the apartment).
In the evening, I decided to deep-fry Snickers to see how it tasted, as I read about it on the internet. I bought eggs and snickers, and made a batter to roll the snickers in. Then, I put them in the hot oil, and let them fry for a couple of minutes!

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I did not taste them yet, though, that will be tomorrow!

Repair time!

Still waiting for the tarp!
In the meantime, this would be a repair day. I started with helping Sandra with her computer, as it had some adware (and possibly malware) on it. I got everything away though, inclusive weird toolbars and advertising!
Second, she had a JBL Spyro where the subwoofer were broken. It made really strange sounds when playing any track containing bass in it. I opened it, and there were cracks in the soft part of the cone. Sandra managed to find a shop which could repair it, though.
In the meanwhile, Orion got a note from the post office with something sent from UK. Sadly, we had not time to go and check today!
Sandra and I biked to the shop, but sadly, they could not repair it. They gave us the address to another shop, though, and that guy could! We left the speaker there, and I also asked if he had small screws, as there were three missing from my camera. He had a small bottle with random screws, and I managed to find three that would fit. Awesome!
On the way home we first went by a small bakery to buy some sweet stuff. Then we went by Decathlon where I bought the cheapest walking stick possible, to later use with my tarp.
After shopping everything needed one the way, we went home. Sandra were going have dinner with some friends, so I went to Lidl and bought a pizza and some wine (59 cent for a litre – something I wanted to test, because for that price it should not be good).
After talking with a friend over the phone 2,5 hours, me and Aiofe had a dinner/drinking party over Facebook. I was pretty tired though, and started sleeping 2230. I gotta say that the wine was pretty good (or my standards are low, and I also still like the cheap pre-made pizza (even though I am better at cooking it at my Trangia)!

300: This is Catalonia

After eating more pancakes, I had another lazy reading/watching movies-day, until three o’clock. I went out in a yellow shirt, took the Metro and met up with Sandra as there was 300 years ago Catalonia lost the war, but kind off continued fighting on. It was really crowded with people, everyone in yellow and red, as we in the end were going to stand in lines, in the colours of the Catalan flag!

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There were only happy people out there, some even playing music, and some joined up dancing!

Sandra bought a new flag, and they are now hanging there, both of them. I still like the old one, it really looks like it has been through a “fight for the cause”!

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As I felt like my body contained too much sugar, I made a dinner made of a little bit of pasta, with lots of cheese and bacon on it. Yummy!

Pick pocketer

I had been invited to be the model in the pictures Orion were going to do in a water park. Of course I said yes, and 0915 we were rolling in the tour bus!
On the way there I saw a big sign of a company I had been working at in Sweden a few years ago.

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When we arrived at the water park, it was almost empty! The first pictures did not look that good, as it is only me in them. Pretty cool, though!

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For lunch, I ate a burger that were pretty bad, with fries that were pretty good.

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This burger…

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It is SO bad!

After lunch, we slept in the shadow for about an hour, which was a really nice feeling! We went in some more water slides, and also took more photos.

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(More photos in the end of the post!)
When back in Barcelona, we went by Orion’s place to uploaded the photos and eat some noodle soup.
On my way home, just a hundred metres from the entrance, someone tried to pick pocket me. He asked about a cigarette, and then gripped my right arm while talking with me. I put my other hand over the pocket with my mobile phone, as that was the most important/most expensive item I had with me. He started talking football, and then do some sort of football close-encounter move. I twisted away from his grip, and continued walking away. A man outside of the park started talking with me, and told me the boy had followed me for a little while, and also that my backpack was a little open. No problem for me, as all important stuff are “hidden” or locked, but maybe I could have lost my underwear or towel. I lost nothing though, so no problem in the end!

More photos!

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Ice bucket challenge!

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Of course some smexy showering!

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Just waiting

I am still waiting for my delivery, which after some hassle, should be here in not too many days. This was another day of movies, reading and eating, before going to the bicycle club again. Getting some bad feelings of just waiting, like I am wasting time – good that time is one of the few things I really have!

Shots

Today it was time for vaccination. On my way there I saw a Swedish rental car! Guess it is someone moving.

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The service at the hospital was great, and after discussing what vaccines I would take, we came to the conclusion of Hepatit B, TBE, Japanese encephalitis and Typhos. To spare you, I will not post needle pictures. 😉

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The total cost was only 40 euros, so really cheap also!
I went home afterwards, with some muscles aching, and washed some clothes. I watched a movie and read a little bit, not doing anything special.
In the evening, I offered to make pancakes, so we went shopping for ingredients, and then the fabulous dinner could be made!

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Of course not without problems:

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What should I begin with?

After some awesome pancakes, I watched another movie. Some people may think doing this trip is hard work, but I see it more as vacation!

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A big paella (and I can sleep anywhere)

I went out to buy some bread for breakfast in the morning. I had some problems to find a bakery (found a closed one), but in the end I found someone speaking English and Spanish that could point me in the right direction (and also help me with my Spanish)!
After noon, me and Sandra got picked up by a friend if Sandra, and we went to a neighbourhood “up the hills” where another friend was making a big paella (2 meter in diameter). It was nice to try a paella that was cooked from scratch!
I was pretty tired though, and after the paella I did not really participate in the discussions, but started sleeping instead, sitting in my chair. After some time I decided to go home instead, and walked to the metro.
After being home for a while, I went to a bicycle club I had heard about on the Critical Mass. It was a nice place, and I took the chance to fine-tune some of the parts on my bicycle!

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I also took a shot of my new LED I also bought at Critical Mass. Here it is in action (long shutter speed):

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I also ate dinner at the club, Ronny is a really good chef!
When I was going home, I even got to borrow a small bicycle. Thanks to that, I can leave my bike, which I had to take the wheels off in order to get it into the elevator.

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