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      My comfortable friends, I greet you today from a pizzeria in Barcelona. It has been too long since I've last written, so there are many things which I have to share. Barcelona has many things in common with the rest of Europe; they serve pizza and espressos, and play much English-language music. But, Barcelona is a city that never stops partying. During the day along La Rambla, the main street which runs down to the beach, there are human statues of all kinds, magicians, and even a 4-person circus. I can't figure out why, since this is mainly a tourist area, but there are also a many bird and rabbit sellers. I must admit, I was tempted to buy a fighting cock, but I didn't think my hotel would allow me to keep him in the tub.

      From the top of the Columbus Column, you can see much of Barcelona. I also ran into a couple girls from Hong Kong going into law school, and so made a couple friends that have been better than a pair of wheeled tripods for my photo-journaling. For example, see this documentary photo of comparative European play-equipment. Also, it's wonderful if you don't like making plans to encounter other people who do, since you can mooch off their planning skills.
      On Wednesday, we went to a hedge-maze. I didn't think it could be confusing at all, but I was pleasantly surprised. However, anyone with a stack that runs 3 elements deep can navigate the maze. Or you could just touch your right hand to the wall, close your eyes, and follow the wall for a long while.
      Here I am trapped in a glass box.
      Here I am trying to get away after escaping the glass box.
      Here I am giving up.
      After a short tram ride from the maze, we saw the Gaudi park. Gaudi exemplifies Spanish style, with his chaotic placement of tile mosaic and organic forms. Everything fits together precisely because none of the elements match. We also encountered in the Gaudi park a fantastic one-man band.
      This is the world's largest pineapple.
      Don't drink from the public fountains.
      Beware the (fe)male prostitutes. It says so in the pizzeria.
      Mullets are the latest fad in Spain.
      This is actually an ice-cream advertisement. Get your head out of the gutter.
      On Thursday, after touring the Barrio Gothico, which is a wonderful neighborhood with plenty of shopping, we went to the Dali museum. If you are ever near Spain you must visit. Noone but Dali would adorn a building with eggs and bread. Throughout the museum, there are several art pieces with coin slots. For a small fee, you can bring his kinetic sculptures to life. I didn't know what this Cadillac would do, but I had one of the Hong Kong girls take a photo with her camera inside the car while I snuck a coin into the machine. Quite to our surprise, the inside of the car started raining. Wonderful. What I realized later while walking through the museum was that the umbrella hung at the top of the sail boat 30 feet above the Cadillac had changed from closed to open. He's a tricky guy, that Dali.
      Friday brought us to the contemporary arts museum. This was very contemporary; mostly a series of video installations. So we watched some, and made hand-puppets of others. I don't recommend going to any other museums after you've been to the Dali museum; we were well adored by the security guard who followed us through our visit. Security guards just don't understand interactive art.
      Here I am with a tourist.
      Has anyone seen the gun-show?