ok, ok - so 'killing' was hyperbole

Still, would you have spent your valuable time reading a blog post entitled 'the minor discomforts of the jews'?

Honestly, though, yesterday's bike ride was difficult, considering the distance, rain, disorientation at times, hypoglycemia, and the final, mind-numbing 12 km.

We did have a pleasant evening last night. Can Navata is quite full of guests, mostly Spaniards. There is one English couple, and our hostess thoughtfully sat us together at the end of the long dining room table, where we had a nice chat about our bicycle holidays (they are doing one from a different UK company, so we compared route maps and guides).

As Karen is quite involved in the current US debate on Health Care reform, we also discussed the British NHS, its benefits, problems, and evolution. We all agreed that the US system is absurd. But you already know this.

Why were we the only guests at Can Massa last week, and seeing a full house this week? Tomorrow, October 12, is a Spanish national holiday - Columbus Day (just like home). How odd that that plucky Genoa sailor ended up being so beloved in both Spain and America. It makes sense for both countries, of course, since his successes were the basis for America's exaggerated sense of self-importance, and Spain's glorious 100 years of relatively unchallenged plundering in the New World. Things didn't go so well for Philip II after 1598, as I recall, but that's another story.

Karen is still in bed - I am down in the hostal library, enjoying the wifi on the netbook (much easier than tapping out these blog entries on my phone). She is pretty sore from yesterday's ordeal, and thinks her fingers will be permanently numb. Don't know what today will bring yet.

Tomorrow, we take the train south from Figueres to Tarragona, where the saga continues.

In another hour, it will be time for 'the breakfast of the jews'.