Day 322 - 335, Miami (Florida) to Girona (Spain)

Day 322, 20 km

My friend Sanford suggested that we should take his kayak and take a tour through the mangroves of the Biscaya bay.

 There we had a wonderful time fishing in the sun.

 When I told San that I never had caught a fish in my life he helped me to catch one under a bridge.

 It was a great feeling to pull up my first fish!

That night I slept in Homestead at a wonderful place of a relative to a waldorf parent I had met in Washington DC.

Day 323, 50 km

Next day I cycled from Homestead to the Port of Miami. There I found the Norwegian Epic.

 The ship was too big to fit on one picture. 10 stores high and more than 300m long.

 This is on deck 16, when we left Miami.

 There were several swimming pools and at least 6 Jacuzzis. I also liked the three long water slides.

Day 324 - 330, 0 km

I enjoyed the transfer to Madeira. Compared  to a cargo ship there were several things even nicer: The restaurants were open 24 hours, there was good entertainment and I could choose vegetarian food from the buffets. It was also good to meet people and make friends. Everything was very lurxurios and there was a lot of service minded stuff everywhere.

Day 331, 30 km

 That day we stopped seven hours on Madeira.

 Funchai was a nice little town but all streets were very steep.

 I was allowed to take my bike ashore and biked up the hills to the botanic garden.

 Here you see how big our ship was compared to normal cruise ships.

 Many streets around Funchai are so steep that they are a combination of stairs and driveway.

 The entrance to the botanic garden was 5 Euro but I think it was worth it.

 I liked it very much.

 Then I explored some more of the Island. without luggage I could ride on very small roads, which occasionally were completely blocked by slides and fallen trees.

 I also found an interesting modern church

 Back in Funchai I had one more hour to spend,

 then I rode back to my waiting hotel.

Day 332-333, 0 km

 One night at midnight we passed the sound of Gibraltar.

This is my picture of Africa.

Day 334, 80 km

This day, which was May 1st, we arrived in Barcelona. The whole town was sleeping because it was so early. Except of some youngsters who had been celebrating all night long. It was an national holiday so many shops did not open at all.
I visited the old big cathedral

 It was huge inside!

 Soon I found some houses designed by the famous architect Gaudi.

 I liked the design very much and decided to see as many as I could that day.

 But I also visited other famous sights.

 Several hours i spent in the Parc Güell,

 which I liked very much!

 This is a shopping center designed by Gaudi.

 At Gaudi's giant Cathedral...

 ... I made friend with an old man in a wheelchair, who watched my bike for one hour or two

so I could take a closer look inside.

 It was breathtaking to see it's volume and all the beautiful coloured windows.

 The height is 45-60 meters!

 and the design is inspired mostly by trees. Gaudi thought was that buildings have the same purpose as trees, they protect us from sun and weather, so buildings should be inspired by trees.

 Also outside I discovered many interesting details.

At 5 pm I felt a little homesick and decided to leave wonderful Barcelona. I also had a good tailwind which I could not resist.

 I rode along the coast, where I passed a lot of crowded beaches.

I also met another touring bicyclist who stopped and we had a nice talk. I asked him where he came from and he answered from Iran. His name was Mohammad Tajeran and he had been cycling for several years even, i Australia and New Zealand! He has a a similar mission as me and is writing a very interesting blog called www.weneedtrees.com. He has been on the road for six years (about 38000 kilometers) and he has visited 83 schools! Visit his site!

 In the evening I found a wonderful field of flowers where I could pitch my tent.

 The smell of chamomile was good for my sleep.

Day 335, 115 km

I went up quite early and rode, still with a tailwind, to Girona. There I found a McDonalds where I tried several hours to update my blog. The Internet worked very slowly. I could upload my pics but when I came to the point where I was to transfer the pics to my page it suddenly did not work at all. Even my phone could not connect with it. I knew that all my waiting was in vain and when I at 4 pm left the restaurant I was not happy at all. When I discovered that now the direction of the wind had changed I thought it would have been better not to stop there at all.
In Girona I also posted 6 kg of my unnecessary luggage (mostly winter clothes and paper).

People told me that it had been very cold and rainy the week before. I could see signs of floods at many places.

I passed roads where I had been exactly three years early er, when we made a tour with my choir (Ekerö Kyrkokör).
Can I claim that I already have gone around the world or is it cheating because I made this trip with an aeroplane?
Anyway, Now I am sure that the earth is a globe!

Today actually it is day 339, but I don't want to write more. For the first time this blog is not published on the actual day. I will write more soon...