The major excursion of the semester for Alex's students was last weekend in Barcelona, and a very good time was had by all. Eric even managed to play Magic, although it cost him mightily in karmaesthetic points--he missed seeing the interior of the Sagrada Familia, which Annabel said was the most amazing place she'd ever been in. Of course, he also missed out on the 3-kilometer-long line to get in...
At least I got to see lots of other Gaudi, including the interior and roof of the Pedrera, which Julie and I passed on last time we were in Barcelona because of the long line. Not this time--no line at all. You have the official tourist link, but I'll stick in a few of my own pictures of this truly astounding apartment building.
Apologies to Ryan for the group shot--it was the only one of all of Alex's students that also had Annabel in it. (Don't worry, I've got better ones to pass on to Ryan.) And of course the second-last one isn't the Casa Mila, it's the Sagrada Familia from the Casa Mila. Nice when your fabulous works of architecture happen to have amazing views of your other fabulous buildings, no?
We had wonderful food the whole time we were in Barcelona, better than we've had in Spain so far, but it did make me think about how important food has been to me during these months abroad. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it, buying it, eating it, cooking it, and looking around for the best opportunities to do any of those things. I have the buddha belly to show for it, but it also makes me wonder how much of a hedonist/materialist/gourmand/meat-puppet I've become. If I'd been putting a fraction of the time I've spent in pursuit of good food into writing poems, for instance, I'd have produced a whole Greco-Spanish book by now.
We stayed in what we came to call "the hostile" with the students, with reservations made by AHA, and I remembered the first overnight excursion back in 2004 in a loud and cramped hostel, then opted out for better digs on subsequent Oviedo excursions. (In La Corunya in 2004 we were extremely lucky and got a free upgrade at our hotel to a room with spectacular windows and a view of the dolphins in the harbor the next morning.) I have a new appreciation for the one- and two-star hotels into which the Athens Centre booked us on our Greek excursions, and I apologize now, well after the fact, for taking those accommodations for granted.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was having a couple of beers with Raul Rabionet i Janssen, a senior Magic judge with excellent language skills who welcomed me to Barcelona and to Spain. For those few readers of this blog with an interest in Magic, he happened to win a Sealed PTQ in which a bunch of senior Spanish judges played just for fun, and now finds himself on the other side of the table, as it were, preparing to play on the Pro Tour. Jim, this could be you one day!
The best thing about our hostel was the location, right in the Barrio Gotico, just a couple of blocks of Las Ramblas. We had a lot of fun just walking around, especially up and down Las Ramblas. I didn't always have my camera along, but Annabel got this picture of the best of the many "statues" that were posing along the promenade. Don't ask me how he does it--my best guess was some kind of giant magnet.
We are not generally fans of these statue-performers--too much like mimes--but it was fun just mixing in the big city crowd, especially at night, and Annabel really liked watching some of the painters and dancers.
On our last half-day we went over to Barceloneta, the neighborhood where we stayed with Julie for a week in 2007, just to visit our old digs. Of course we had some excellent seafood, and even managed a little bit of beach time, although bundled up and some distance from the crashing waves. I'll leave you with one of the pictures I posted on Facebook. (It looks deceptively calm out there, but there were actually some very big waves booming in, and a few surfers to watch.) Hasta pronto.
At least I got to see lots of other Gaudi, including the interior and roof of the Pedrera, which Julie and I passed on last time we were in Barcelona because of the long line. Not this time--no line at all. You have the official tourist link, but I'll stick in a few of my own pictures of this truly astounding apartment building.
Apologies to Ryan for the group shot--it was the only one of all of Alex's students that also had Annabel in it. (Don't worry, I've got better ones to pass on to Ryan.) And of course the second-last one isn't the Casa Mila, it's the Sagrada Familia from the Casa Mila. Nice when your fabulous works of architecture happen to have amazing views of your other fabulous buildings, no?
We had wonderful food the whole time we were in Barcelona, better than we've had in Spain so far, but it did make me think about how important food has been to me during these months abroad. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it, buying it, eating it, cooking it, and looking around for the best opportunities to do any of those things. I have the buddha belly to show for it, but it also makes me wonder how much of a hedonist/materialist/gourmand/meat-puppet I've become. If I'd been putting a fraction of the time I've spent in pursuit of good food into writing poems, for instance, I'd have produced a whole Greco-Spanish book by now.
We stayed in what we came to call "the hostile" with the students, with reservations made by AHA, and I remembered the first overnight excursion back in 2004 in a loud and cramped hostel, then opted out for better digs on subsequent Oviedo excursions. (In La Corunya in 2004 we were extremely lucky and got a free upgrade at our hotel to a room with spectacular windows and a view of the dolphins in the harbor the next morning.) I have a new appreciation for the one- and two-star hotels into which the Athens Centre booked us on our Greek excursions, and I apologize now, well after the fact, for taking those accommodations for granted.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was having a couple of beers with Raul Rabionet i Janssen, a senior Magic judge with excellent language skills who welcomed me to Barcelona and to Spain. For those few readers of this blog with an interest in Magic, he happened to win a Sealed PTQ in which a bunch of senior Spanish judges played just for fun, and now finds himself on the other side of the table, as it were, preparing to play on the Pro Tour. Jim, this could be you one day!
The best thing about our hostel was the location, right in the Barrio Gotico, just a couple of blocks of Las Ramblas. We had a lot of fun just walking around, especially up and down Las Ramblas. I didn't always have my camera along, but Annabel got this picture of the best of the many "statues" that were posing along the promenade. Don't ask me how he does it--my best guess was some kind of giant magnet.
We are not generally fans of these statue-performers--too much like mimes--but it was fun just mixing in the big city crowd, especially at night, and Annabel really liked watching some of the painters and dancers.
On our last half-day we went over to Barceloneta, the neighborhood where we stayed with Julie for a week in 2007, just to visit our old digs. Of course we had some excellent seafood, and even managed a little bit of beach time, although bundled up and some distance from the crashing waves. I'll leave you with one of the pictures I posted on Facebook. (It looks deceptively calm out there, but there were actually some very big waves booming in, and a few surfers to watch.) Hasta pronto.
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