Barcelona-Girona.

Trip dist: 115 km, including 10 km "scenic detour" onto the autopista where I had to be escorted off by a cop. Ooops!
Trip time: 7hrs, 5 min. Tot dist: 2353 kms.

Hmmm....well, the approach to Girona was kind of surreal, because this city is tucked away between some mountains, hidden and silent, and as I could not see it as I approached in spite of all the road signs, I even wondered if it was really there. Most cities, you see, I can see by the time I'm about 10 kms away, but to spot Girona...I had to actually be in the outskirts of the city, less than 2 kms away from city center!

Anyway, remember what I said about approaching civilization? Girona is full of bike lanes, and not only that, they're done the proper way: not simply painted on the street but shielded from traffic by a strip of sidewalk, and shielded from pedestrians by being at street level, and with its very own set of traffic lights. Neat, huh?

The Youth Hostel, too, is wonderful. It is cheap, there are not too many people, the laundry is only 2 Euros, and free internet nobody uses! Also, as the Youth Hostel is popular for cyclists, they have a full room in the first floor dedicated to bike storage, complete with a 5 cm-wide mini-ramp alongside the staircase for pushing your bike up without having to carry it. Is this heaven, or what? They even replaced my Youth Hostel card, which I had lost with my wallet, for only 5 Euros (The U.S. charged me $27 dollars for it!), and the interior patio with its blue and white tiles looks a little bit like a tasteful "Casa Batllò".

Hmm...I may just have to come up with a clever excuse to prolong my stay here beyond just one day somehow....