Espana Part Siete

On Wednesday I went to the Vignette breakfast and saw a few sessions, but the whole thing was over pretty quickly, around noon. Stayed for lunch and then took off to find the train station, which was conveniently located very close to the hotel. The subway here is pretty cheap and very easy to navigate. A 10 minute ride, and then walked to the hostel. First time seeing the actual city, lots of narrow streets and Gothic-y architecture. Tons of small bar/restaurants, and other shops, brick streets, etc. Checked in, it's a very clean, and pretty cheap place, but not close to the major attractions, but they reached quickly via train. Took a siesta and then went out to eat and have a few cervesaas. Pretty decent taste and price, but everyone smokes like crazy so there is a constant smell of stale cigarettes. Finally slept somewhat normally. Got up today and went to 'Las Ramblas' which is the main drag. Lots of tourists. Walked all the way down to the Columbus statue and port. There was a huge student rally, not sure exactly what they were upset about, but some were waving Soviet flags. Really, that is who they look up to? Soviet era Russia? May want to rethink that. Bunch of dreadlocked hippies.

Espana part Seis

Yesterday was boring. Went to a few sessions. Missed lunch because I took a nap, and it wasn't buffet style, so I didn't want to sit down 45 minutes into the meal. Afterwards, went to the gym, a little sauna time and back to the room. Woke up at 4 am and watched CNN for a while. There are 5 stations in the hotel that broadcast in Arabic. Two in English. I find that odd. Had a $25 tuna sandwich for dinner. Love the WiFi feature on my phone, I can get email and text while connecting to the Vignette wireless broadcast. Didn't think it would come in handy, but already used it quite a bit. Found a hostel to stay at too.

Espana Part Cinco

Arrived in Barcelona at 7ish in the morning on Monday. Airport security seemed lax, I don't think my passport was looked at for more than two seconds. Took a while, but I found an ATM with the loudest buttons ever to get some Euros. My meager $40 only got me 25 after exchanging. Cab ride to the hotel was about 15, better than I thought. I noticed very quickly that the cab and hotel had an ever present smell of stale smoke because every person in Europe smokes a pack a day. Got cleaned up, took a nap and went to the conference not noticing that the opening remarks were at 2 pm. I guess they are serious about the whole things happening late in Spain. Unfortunately, I was still pretty tired and after lunch and talking to a guy from Turkey and an Australian who works in Dubai, I went back to the hotel for another nap, and missed all the sessions. Oops. The Turkish guy works for Turcel(?) the largest cell carrier in Turkey. I think that might be his name as well. Has a hacked iPhone. Is only 25, probably the youngest person here. The woman works for some waterfront project in Dubai which is going to be the home to 2 million people by 2020. I heard they are spending a billion dollars a month. Obviously it was no surprise that head of products for the vendor ate dinner with her, she said money is no object, they can throw as many resources as required at the project. The gala dinner was pretty good, nice steak even though I asked for vegetarian. Strange entertainment. It was like the bucket boys from Chicago or New York, but they were English. Banging on crates and shopping carts. Ended around midnight and buses took us back. Sweet hotel by the way, equestrian field, bidet, the whole works.

Espana Part Cuatro

Made a really dumb mistake Sunday. I had received an email stating that my flight had been changed to a 2 pm departure instead of the original time - 5:55 pm. So I left from Angie's, went back to Linda's, got ready super fast and took a car service to JFK. When I got there there were no representatives from Iberia. Hmm. So i called the airline, it was the return flight that was moved. They flip the month/day so I saw 11 and thought it was the day of the changed flight instead of the 18, which I should have paid attention to since there is no 18th month. Anyway, had to stay at the airport for 4 extra hours and missed lots of football. Not good. One small upside was changing my flight to Delta for a direct flight to Barcelona. There were lots of empty seats and although not comfortable, I wasn't squeezed in either. Mr Bean's Holiday is not recommended rental material. My phone was able to play music the entire flight, so that was pretty cool. Spending over $12 for two slices of pizza and a Diet Coke was not cool.

Espana Part Tres

Saturday night. Linda was not feeling well, so I went out with Angie and two friends of her for Vietnamese food in China town. Food was really good, especially the appetizer. It was similar to very tender pot roast in gravy and they give French bread for dipping. Main dish was a typical noodle with beef dish (not eating meat is going poorly). Too much tripe for my liking. Then went to pick up Angie's dog, and the couple went home. We went to a bar near her house, where they let the dog in and for some reason, is full of British people. Maybe because NYC is cheap now? Or is it that it's really not too long of a haul. Anyway, they seem to like the fact that bars are open past 11 unlike London. Had quite a bit to drink, and ended up staying at Angie's instead of going back to Brooklyn.

Espana Part Dos

Saturday woke up several times, finally got up around noon. Could hear Linda talking, she had been up until 4 a.m. talking to boyfriend. Sounds like they talk every evening. After a quick shower we walked over to Peter Luger's for lunch. They were super crowded so we had to get take out burgers. They have been ranked best steakhouse in the country many times, so it figures that they would have good burgers as well. And they were.

Espana Part Uno

Left Chicago on Friday afternoon. Blue Line to O'hare after brunch at Corner Bakery. The potatoes were greasy. Ride was fine, the middle of the afternoon only has two types of riders, travelers or students, lots of bags, books, and some bookbags. Flight left a bit late, but still arrived roughly on time to Newark, and then took a train to Penn St. Cold and rainy in NYC, seemed to be worse weather than home. Met Linda at her work where she was having a beer with two co-workers. Gashed her hand open on a broken glass the prior night and had to go to the emergency room for stitches. Stayed nearby and had really good ramen (Mabo-men to be exact). Didn't go out, just went back to her place and talked for a while.

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