Today when we left the mountains there was a snowstorm blowing in. We got going as soon as possible because driving down the mountain in the snow sounded like as much fun as driving up in the dark. However, the snow quickly turned to rain and vanished all together with the quick drop in altitude. We were able to stop in a small town between Prada and Olette for coffee. It was definitely the center of the town. People in there nursing their morning expresso shots while the lunch crowd was starting on their first pint. Several people simply popped in to ask if so and so had been around. Transport to the bus station was slick and when we got into Barcelona we rented a couple of lockers and headed to La Rambla and St. ... read more

Today's hike was Caranca Gorges. Again, locating the trailhead was a challenge. The gorge was beautiful and the hike challenging. I love these hikes. The scenery combined with the physical challenge to my body, I feel like I am using my body as it is intended...the machine like quality to climb the mountain, the dexterity and coordination not to stubble along the rocky terrain, and the mental fortitude to believe whatever comes up is meant for me. The path took us near the river and then up a steep ascent (70 floors of climbing according to the iPhone tracker). From the peak of the hike, we could see the what we assumed to be the return path (a tunnel blown out of the rock on the opposite side of the river. The trees were probably a ... read more

We were determined to get one true hike in during this portion of our trip. The Stuttgart hikes while nice did not actually hit the points of intention and getting lost prevented a full loop completion. We had until our train left at 13:00 to get this done. We picked out the Bad Urach Falls located 37 minutes outside of Tubingen. Fritz and Lea thought we were NUTS for squeezing in one more thing, but when has that stopped us before... 5:30 AM alarms went off and 6:15 we were on the road (the car return time was by 9:00 AM). We found the place pretty easy...check 1. It was still dark and after looking at 4 different signs and having the parking meter eat our money we were still no more certain on where to ... read more

We went to Tobingen to meet a friend of Shelby's who was a foreign exchange student at Royalton. Fritz and Lea were kind enough to let us stay with them for the weekend. Fritz is in dentistry school and Lea is studying English at university. They showed us around Tobingen (it wasn't bombed during WWII due to what they think was a British liking to the town). The town square is incredibly old and looks like the ski lodges we try to create only real. They exposed us to "real" Kabobs which I jokingly teased Fritz about them only being a gyro. We had good conversations about their school system, immigration, American views on politics and world politics, and our recent trip to museums in Berlin. The one thing driving me nuts was there were no ... read more

Another museum day: the Topography of Terror and the Berlin Wall Memorial Museum. Basically, it made every thing in my body and mind hurt with questions how things happen and why we don't learn from our mistakes. One exhibit within the Topography of Terror examined those who were prosecuted for their war crimes. Less than 6% of those investigated for war crimes were prosecuted. Out of those prosecuted very few were found guilty and almost none served full sentences. Shelby and I spent a good chunk of time discussing whether you would feel better seeing your abuser go through the process and found innocent or released early or not have them prosecuted at all. On the one hand, you were able to face you accuser and the system fails you, but the system fails you twice...the ... read more