8-18 Whew! i made it in one piece with all my baggage. pretty crazy how one minute one can be drinking premium napa valley merlot and eating foie graux in the company of one´s family and within hours start a 29 hour trip half way across the globe to a place where everything, yes everything is foreign. from the pull flush toilet to the language, to the waiters wearing black wife beaters, to the intense and intimidating nature of such a bustling metropolis. After about an hour of R & R upon arriving at the hotel toledano, will and i walked la rambla. the weather felt like a perfect socal night and atmosphere was electric. we window shopped for tapas and settled on a little place off the main pathway. Turned out that it was a pizza place, but a few cold brews and pizza satisfied both of us. we will have plenty of time to enjoy tapas. well we are off to begin our next adventure. we are taking a flight to amsterdam, which will start a 12 day journey eventually culminating in switzerland. Along the way we will go to brugge in belgium (think beer chocolate and waffles), the rhine in germany (think riesling, beer, and castles), and then off to switzerland (think more chocolate, snow capped alps, and peaceful, diplomatic civilians carrying pocketknives). well i need to go, ill send out an email shortly, until then, write me back.