Should you find yourself in...

[dark fuschia]

So what happens if I find myself in Tampa Florida? Also Atlanta Georgia? Also Ithaca New York?

I get to go there for work in September if some things work out

[sir archely]

Hey, if you find yourself in Ithaca, I could come over for a spell and visit. About a 3 hour drive from here, which isn't too bad. Always depends on the free time you have, but Ithaca is a great place. Moosewood Restaurant is there, Watkins Glen State Park is a short trip away (though there are more than a few other state parks closer, with hiking and so forth), and of course the finger lake it sits on, Cayuga Lake. Not sure how the temperature would be in September, but perhaps the trees will have begun changing. There are also tons of local wineries in the area, which you can visit for tastings. Most of the time the tastings are free (they just think you'll buy a bottle at the end).

[dark fuschia]

Oooh that definately makes Ithaca the most appealing. There's a laboratory there that I want to visit, I will see if they will let me visit!

[night faerie]

when in September? How long would you be here???

[dark fuschia]

oooh thats the problem, I don't know yet It all depends on when a certain piece of equipment is ready, and if it's not ready in time they may send someone else. But if I can make it and it works out with you guys I would definately love to stop by NY town and meet Gwen for the first time!

[Eyreplenh]

If you ever find yourself heading to Barcelona, make sure of one thing, one important thing that will be imperative to your enjoyment of the Catalan city; good walking shoes.

The Barcelona airport is conveniently located pretty much inside the city (if you fly low budget, make sure you're not flown to a "nearby" airport like Girona, which is a totally different city and one hell of a taxi ride away) with buses taking you the last little bit going to and fro every ten minutes. The climate in February is very pleasant, especially for a northerner like myself who had close to two meters of snow outside his bedroom window when he left, a refreshing fifteenish degrees.

Our hotel was, not unexpected, quite good. It ranks very high on both tripadvisor and expedia, and had recent, good reviews, so I was never really concerned about that. i never really am concerned about hotels. It's always there, as a thought, that I hope it wont suck, but really, how bad can it be? Anyway, the staff was very helpful and spoke really good English as well as tolerating my stumbling attempts at Spanish. Their tips for restaurants and things to do, as well as estimating distances and time were on the spot, and when I asked the reception for help to open up some wine they sent a guy with an opener to our door. Not bad for a budget hotel! Oh, it's called the Amister Barcelona, if anyone's interested.

Eating in Barcelona is quite easy. Most bars and cafes offer decent food, and if you tire of the Spaniards relentless fascination for red meat, meatballs, things stuffed with meat and meat stuffed with things, there's cuisine from all around the world to be had. We had some decent Italian food one night and some excellent Thai another. Wine is bountiful, good and cheap and the beer is light and drinkable. Those iced San Miguels have a special ability to throw themselves down your throat at an unexpected rate, but in a very pleasant way.

Okay, food and sleeping aside (what, is there more to life than this!?), Barcelona is a huge pile of fun. Now, the reason I implore you to invest in decent walking shoes before heading here is that any little trip is an adventure. Barcelona seems to hold its architects in high esteem and on a (very) loose leash. The king of them is of course Gaudi, but I'm guessing many minor despots have put their often weird and interesting marks on the city. You don't ever want to take a taxi because you'll miss out on all kinds of weird stuff. A pink little house in between big malls? An old castlelike house in the middle of modern apartments? A giant church that seems to grow bigger every year? Sure. Sure. Sure. In fact, the big church, la Sagrada Familia, is getting bigger every year, they never stop adding to it!


Barcelona also has several green spots, parks and the like, as well as an open university where you're free to wander, lounge and look at all the weird people. And dogs. I've never seen so many dogs in any great city as I did in Barcelona (well, truth be told I think I saw more in Bucharest, but those were lost and wild, hungry things, not loved pets) and people had a high tolerance for dogs running free and smelling their legs.

And, of course (sorry Apoc), Barcelona is home to Messi and the Monsters, home to the glorious Camp Nou, the home and Mecca of modern football. Now, I planned and bought the trip as a gift for WG for Christmas, and for some reason I wasn't thinking with my rational and selfish self, so there was no match on in the days we spent there. I did, however, wander in and around it, and it is a massive place. The place is football crazed though, that much is sure. All stores, cafes, bars and restaurants had at least two television sets going (Barcelona played an away match when we where there), one for the customers, and one turned to the window so that everyone passing by could see. WG and I were making our way home the night when they were playing, and even though we didn't stop to watch the game I was able to have a pretty coherent take on the match, there were so many sets turned to the streets!

Sadly, WG got a bit sick, so we laid low on the nightlife, which is supposed to be spectacular. No worries though, we might well go back, as it is a highly revisitable place. Barcelona is a huge city and no way you'll ever get bored or run out of things to see. Luego!