After weeks of preparing, we finally made it to Barcelona! With a total of 16 hours of travel time, we arrived in Barcelona early on the morning of May 31st. Exhausted and beyond sleep deprived, we spent 3 hours putting the bikes together in the baggage claim section of Barcelona International. This was awesome as it was quiet and there were very few people around to question are bike building “situation.”
After endless tweaking of the bikes, we attempted to bike out of the airport on what was supposed to be a quick, 2.5 mile journey to our camping location ( on the beach) just south of the airport. After a failed attempt to ride a main highway ( signs stating NO BIKES were displayed everywhere) we turned around, rode AGAINST traffic back towards the airport, and attempted another small service road. This ended in a dead end rode blocked by a fence. Instead of biking back towards the airport, Jeff and I decided to take ALL of the bike bags off of the bike and to throw ( not literally) the bikes over the fence. Bikes, bike bags, and two humans scaling a fence near an international airport must have been quite a site for anyone passing by to see. Thankfully, we were not spotted by any security forces and made it through this situation without being thrown in a Spanish prison! 2 hours later after more wrong turns we made it to our camping location! Yes, it took us 2 hours to travel 2.5 miles!!! This has officially gone down as the longest amount of time it has ever taken us to ride 2.5 miles! Our yurt/fabric “cabin” is in the typical crowded EU campground was just what we needed to get re-established on the European continent. The campground is located on the edge of the Mediterranean so we took a quick dip in the ocean before heading off for some much needed sleep! A spitting headache and no sleep for 27 hours would cause any human to “retire” at 4 pm! By the way.. the Mediterranean ocean and the beaches look exactly like those from Southern CA. The water temp is in the high 70’s and has the same, dark water look to it. Plus the sand is the same dark brown color. Did I mention that the planes from Barcelona airport take off OVER the campground and did so all morning beginning at 4 am! Can you say LOUD! Oh the fun of bike traveling in Europe!
A quick encounter with our campground hosts ( two younger gals in their 20’s/30’s) gave us our first inclination on how the Spanish view America at the moment: “We think your president is a clown,” they said. “We expect this of the Spanish government but not of America. We are afraid for Spain and afraid for the world. America is no longer the country we look up to.” And so there you have it. More EU interviews to come!
Enjoy the quick pics of the beginning of our tour. Exploring the city of Barcelona tomorrow and then taking off across the country on June 2!
She Pedals the world 
Go go, C & J!! We are wishing you safe roads and tailwinds! -tridave (& C)
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