They say ignorance is bliss & that which doesn,t kill you makes you strong... So I guess I,m a strong moron. Here I am in Spain, & what a journey! We arrived in Barcelona on sept 27th tired as hell (who sleeps on a cramped plane) at noon and searched for an hour as instructed for the guy from the motorcycle rental place who was supposed to be holding a sign. Nada... Freaked & tired, though all appeared to be on the ¨up & up" when we checked & reserved bikes, I assumed we were ripped off & now stranded in spain with no means of transpòrtation, no phone, no ride from the airport. zip. I made my way to ïnfo" booth & the kind woman assisted me in calling ¨moto espana". Evidently the person picking us up had car trouble, so we had to wait an additional hour plus for a ride to get the bikes. (finally got the bikes after 3pm) The bikes! We ride huge harleys in the US... but though the bikes we rented are much lighter, they are balanced MUCH differently. They are more the type of sport bikes one uses to rip about corners. My bike was incredibly difficult to balance and tippy as hell. SO... we rode briefly to the hotel for nite 1, slept fitfully, and set out up the "Costa Brava" having NO CLUE that the trip we were about to take is one of the most difficult rides in all of Europe! When we told the guy we rented the bikes from that we,d ridden the "Dragon,s Tail" in the US (360 curves in 11 miles) he said "yes, and???". That should,ve been our clue. So off we rode... First getting out of Barcelona was INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT... They have rotarys "rotundas" every half mile where cars, busses, trucks rip around jockeying for position as you attempt to figure out which turn to take. After that we wound our way up the twisty rocky coast with HUGE CLIFFS and minimal guard rails. I truly thought I wouldnt make it, but I also didnt want to turn back & redo the rotaries! Riders from all over Europe had come to do the ride, decked in full leather, on racing bikes... ANYWAY... Weŕe alive... I was truly scared to death and I feel strong having stuck with it and continued (like i had a choice!) I feel as if we,ve earned some fancy pants biker,s tatoo... After day 1, we ducked off the coast into the Pyranees Mts where the roads continued to be twisty as hell, narrow and dangerous (with wreaths & flowers from those who didn,t make it!) but the scenery is some of the most gorgeous I.ve ever seen. As to the riding, I know bikers travel the world in search of rides like this, so in retrospect, we couldn,t have chosen a better trip... We,re now high up in the mts, in a breathtaking village called "Ribes". Life is Good... Ride on Annie