3 weeks of fun

Alright folks after a long break i am back. Hopefully i have kept some readers. As for the Catalon finals what an event it was. I had my little brother as my guest of honor. It was an early Saturday morning start when we took to the field for some warmups and it fealt like high school again when you see the opposition filing off the bus with 60 players to our paultry 19. My brother was in the stands looking forward to seeing his brother lay some hat. People in barbara del valles started rolling in around 10 for the eleven o´clock start. After the usual pregame checking of identification( i guess there might be some ringers out there in spain), we all lined up in the tunnel. We came out of the southern endzone to spanish dance music and fireworks, it was my first official intro with my name broadcast over the PA. Granted only 300 people or so were in attendance it was still kind of fun. We had to delay the start of the game for some pathetic dance group that ended up matching our level of play during the game. We started strong running the ball up the field for a score, and then our quarterback after a 3 week layoff must have forgotten whitch team he was on because he just started handing the ball to the other team. We lost decisively, but it did not take away from the event because just like soccer everyone received a medal at the end of the game for participating. Sunday was my brothers turn to take on spanish football in the flag football tournament. Everyone failed to tell us that it was the daylight saving stime switch over heres so we only arrived for the final half. He made on ineterception and caught an extra point in 10 minutes of play not bad at all.
During the week we took to the streets as determined tourists i am going to highlight some of our best excursions for anyone planning to cross the pond in the future. The first stop for city sight seeing has to be a walk up ramblas looking at all the crazies just like you would telegraph in b-town. The most educational experiance that is a necessity is going to the gaudi museum in the sagrada familia, it shows all of his designs for his architecture and his inspirations. This small museum really opens your eyes to gaudis creative genius and his ablility to harmonize nature into his architecture. The new methods that he created are astounding. From here you can take a walk up to parc guell were you can see his architecture in a beautiful park setting iverlooking the city. The columns and walkways are all detailed you can take hours cruising around. Outside of the city are two favorite destinations were Girona and Montsserrat. Girona contains the largest midevial temple in the world and is only 3 meters less wide then the vatican. It is a towering cathedral with amazing stained glass windows. The landscaped gardens around are a sight to behold as well as cruising around the 50 foot wall with turrets. The wall is huge and we had a great time fending off french invaders from the north, although my brother is a fan of the french i was thinking of sacrificing him at the altar. The city itself is much like the old town of barcelona with its narrow streets but is set on a wide river that runs right through the middle. The buildings actually run right up to the water and you can take some time to check it out. Montsserrat is a great day trip out of the city, you can take a bus tour like we did or venture the city trains. You take a tram up the first part of the mountainb which does makes it seem like you are just climbing some deserted mountian in a wasteland. Once you creep into the valley the little town appears with a menacing cathedral that is the center of spanish christian pilgrimages. We were able to see the famous spanish boys choir sing although my brother pointed out that it is a little wierd that boys only to the age of 13 are alone on a mountain with monks. Anyways we did not take the second tram up the mountain but conquered it on foot and the views are incredible. For the best sights in the city tibidaldo is your best bet but, you are at the top and if you want you can go on roller coasters overlooking the city. After finding an amazing grill in the back of the ramblas market, that was reminiscent of pikes market, we munched on fresh seafood and i sent my brother home with some blaring orange Nikes to go back to school.
Now since we lost the catalon final the game that we had this past weekend determined whether we got into the spainsih playoffs. We drove 4 hours to valencia with 13 players. Yours truly played 5 positions but we ended up winning the game 52-0. After the game i experianced one helluva spanish time, our team bus took us to the beach and dropped us off. We spent the day crusing in and out of the surf as family and friends brought sandwiches and more alcohol then could be consumed by a battalion. My little slovakian model friend who i take with me everywere seemed to have a good inmpression on the team and they now believe that she is the good luck charm. I would say that half of the team played better in her prescence, and it makes me look very good. I have a new nickname on the team and that is dios figure it out. We spent the rest of the night at the local discos conquering the town only to catch the return bus at 5 in the morning. Now i am back to my usuall schedule of going to the gym 3 days a week and trmaping around town looking for something to do. You can find me posted up on my favorite american treadmill (all the buttons are in english) looking over the 10 o´clock pilattes class. I then move to work out with my crazy trainer who has me jumping on balls and twirling like a ballerina but i can still peak glances at the dance class. For any of you that are looking for motivation to get to the gym pick times when there are classes of only women working out it really makes you stay longer. Until next time hasta lluego.