Hola!
I flew into Barcelona, Spain on Monday, November 26th after spending the weekend in Eindhoven. Fresh off the plane (and a couple hours of sleep...) in Girona...groggy, grumpy and needing a coffee -- I walked into the Airport searching for a coffee stand. My Spanish is well...just a tad bit better than my Dutch (in other words, its god awful...). Frustration set in after about 3 minutes or so and I figured "screw it" (last time I was in Spain, i ordered a coffee and they served me a piece of toast); I hiked out of the Airport and down a country road on what I thought would be a casual 5-6km stroll towards the beaches of Barcelona. As I left the Airport grounds, taxis were honking, people were speaking (loudly) some non-Dutch foreign language towards me, and I was having second thoughts about my upcoming stroll. As I reached the top of the 2nd large hill, I finally got a view of my surroundings. The "beaches" were no where in site.
In actuality, Girona is about 102km (62+ MILES) from Barcelona. Finding my way back to the Airport, I jumped on a $10 bus ride into the city. (The good thing is...that probably a week or two ago I would've kept going...but I'm learning...slowly...)
Dave Crowley (a long time friend from my Frontier/Global Crossing days) was a couple of minutes (via taxi) away from the bus station...we'd texted during my bus ride and he was just about ready (as was I) for a beer. Ah, I know this one (and was craving it)..."Clara" -- part beer, part sparkling water. Thankfully Barcelona was about 10-15 degrees CELSIUS warmer than Holland (that's about a 30 degree increase to around a crisp 65 degrees).
Thankfully (at $300 a night) there were no rooms available in Dave's hotel (although I was pretty exhausted and I probably would have auctioned the Avalanche for a room) but they were more than gracious to hold my luggage for me, since I had friends staying in the Hotel. I ditched my gear at the front desk and they invited me upstairs to the lounge. I was there a few minutes before Dave and without hesitation I ordered "Una clara, por favor"...wow, it worked -- no Toast ;) This one was served with Lemonade as a substitution for the Soda water. Dave (with similar mannerisms and likes/dislikes to my Uncle Bob) was having "none of that" and ordered himself a Heineken. After only 10 days on the road, I'd have to admit -- its good to see friends. And in Spain, with Dave, man...I felt for a minute like we were home.
Dave's company was throwing a kickoff reception for a big Internet Convention that kicked off on the 27th. So for the next couple of days I had the big time pleasure of getting to know Dave's crew, along with just (enough to be dangerous) about what they did as a company. I forgot how much I loved Barcelona, the food, the surroundings...we had a blast. AND most importantly, I want to thank all of them for taking me in...as one of their own...I absolutely had a blast. Out of laundry and with a tiny bed booked in Hostel down the road, Denver (Dave's boss) took me in like a brother (hell, I even showered in his room one night -- no Dave, not together) and literally, handed me the shirt off his back. Thank you Big time, my friend.
We took a day to go up to the Monastery atop Montserrat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montserrat_(mountain) -- its pretty amazing and an awesome hike. Denver wanted to go up and see the Monastery since it provided the backdrop to a pretty kick ass Bond movie. He's a pretty big fan -- and goes whenever he has the chance to some of the famous locales that the 007 man has been. The four of us had a blast -- it was a pretty killer hike (I slept the whole car ride home...)
Thanks to a buddy that I met at the conference -- not all was left untold. After a late night feast of Turkey bacon club sandwiches (yum!!) and a couple of other various tapas...Neily took a nighty night. Ha! Somehow I managed to wake up a few minutes later and rejoin the festivities.
Of all of the stories and good times from that 4 day stint in Barcelona, I'd have to say that Dave, his wife Kimmie, Denver, and many of the new people I met re inspired (is that a word?!?) me to journey to Africa. I was kind of down when I got to Spain but the crew reinvigorated me and challenged me to take my next step. Thanks to all of you, especially to you Dave, Kim, and Denver for helping me to realize how important a place like Africa would be to me. It was great to make so many new friends, practice a little "salesmanship," and to hear some American English voices.
Peace out for now,
Neil
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