18:52

18:52 was my time at 5K race today. I finished second in the media category and 18th overall, out of almost 3000 runners. So tired and satisfied!

Racing kit for Sunday

I picked up the running kit for my 5K Media Challenge race, a part of Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend, on Sunday. A colleague who is also an avid runner convinced me to register. I wasn't planning on running another 5K this year, especially since I registered for the half-marathon on October 19, but now that I have my racing bib I can't wait to see how much I've improved (or not) since April. The last 5K I ran in 19:10 time. The goal for this Sunday is to go under 19 min.

Back at work

Getting back to work was easier than expected. Not that I missed work, but I guess the vacation was long enough to properly rest me and make me want to do something.

In the newspaper I work for, one can never be sure if he or she will have a job tomorrow, so when my access card opened the entrance door, I was relieved. The first thing being taken away when a person is fired is the access to the building.

In the two weeks I was away, three of my colleagues left the job for better offers. One of them was Joe, a Taiwanese/American/Canadian who was the editor for one of my daily video features. It's quite shocking to see so many people leaving. It makes me wonder about two things: will the newspaper survive at all; and am I not good enough in what I do, since I'm still here and everyone else's gone?

Traveblog Barcelona: Summary

It wouldn't have been much of a vacation if I spent hours every day blogging every step we made in and around Barcelona. Therefore, here's just a brief recap of things that left the impression.


Running uphill, getting lost downhill

Montjuic is a park on the hill on slopes of which was our hotel. It offers beautiful view of Barcelona in addition to the Olympic stadium, fortress, museums, etc. Every other day I tried to keep in shape by running up the hill. Strangely, I always managed to come up the same way every, then got lost on the way back. Monjuic's numerous paths and roads wind and intersect, and one time I emerged a couple kilometers to the west, next time I overcompensated and ended up about a couple kms to the east. It was no third charm, as I missed the path again. Finally, the day before we left, on the very last run I made it right, retraced my steps and came down the same way I climbed the hill.


A town that reeks of urine

It seems that bar-hoppers in downtown Barcelona don't bother searching for the washroom--they relieve themselves literally on every corner. The downtown being a maze of narrow, paved streets baked by the sun during the day, it's perpetually enveloped in the vapor and stench of urine. There are cafes and restaurants with tables spread on the squares and sidewalks, for those who don't mind sipping a beer or having a dinner amidst the unpleasant aroma.

At night shady, dirty characters crawl out to sit or crouch on the street and eye the passers-by. Each time we passed by a group of them, I half-expected to be robbed.


Gaudi, Dali - geniuses or lunatics?

You can't make a move around Barcelona without hearing or reading about Gaudi. He is so revered that you'd think he constructed half of the town, not "only" a handful of houses, including the Sagrada Familia cathedral which is still under construction and won't be finished at least until 2026. I must admit, there was so much overwhelming advertising about Gaudi's designs, that I had developed a dislike without seeing them. It all changed in Casa Batllo, house designed and inspired by the theme of water, a contemporary of Jules Verne's book "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." Walking its rooms and stairways makes one feels like submerging in a captain Nemo's luxurious submarine. Seen from the inside, Gaudi's "melting wax" designs started making sense and even revealed a weird kind of beauty.

Another famous case of unconventional designs and art is Salvador Dali, who purchased a theatre in his birth town of Figueres and turned it into a museum. While his eccentricism lurks in every bit of it, so does his genius--from experiments to present his art in 3D, to the manipulation of space and colors. He turned one whole room into a portrait of the actress Mae West, painted a portrait of a nude woman which, when looked at from afar, turns into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and so on... His jewelry designs are equally eccentric and breathtaking, the most fascinating piece being the beating heart made of gold and jewels. It truly is beating!


Tarragona

Finally, tired of looking over our shoulders for pickpockets, we went searching for friendlier and cleaner air. And, we found it in Tarragona. The town an hour southwest by train is so unlike Barcelona: laid back, clean, friendly and beautiful. With occasional dog-poop on the sidewalk. It's built on the remains of the Roman settlement of Tarraco. The emperor Augustus spent some time there and left many marks on the town, some of them still visible today. Roman ruins are fascinating, from the amphitheatre to the circus, forum and old walls.

We just happened to be there at the start of Santa Tecla celebration. St. Tecla is the saint matron of the town and in her honor there's an annual 2-weeks long festival. The most impressive part of the festival is the building of "castelli" or human castles where scores of people climb on each others' shoulders and build a tower several stories high. We were lucky enough to witness it. The real thing, however, happens every 2 years in October, when Tarragona hosts the world championship in "castelli" competition.


Air Transat

Worth mentioning for this vacation was fantastic service we had on board the "Club Class" on our Air Transat flights. Especially flying back to Toronto, when we scored sits 1A and B with legroom more than needed and even the passable food.

Traveblog Barcelona: Catalunya Day

We were blessed today--for the whole day there was not a mention of 9/11. Actually, no mention of 9/11 made in USA, but plenty of things happening connected to Sept. 11 Catalunya's way. Today was the Catalunya Day, a public holiday, which meant that most of the stores were closed, all the tourists and the locals mingled together along La Ramblas and the sea shore, with nothing to do but eat, drink and wonder aimlessly around. There was a brief but noisy demonstration of sort, with hordes of young people wrapped in Catalunya's flags marching on the Parliament building and shouting slogans in Catalan, which I could not understand. Other than that, it was blessedly free of pathetic commemorations and somber ceremonies. I understand that over 2000 American lives were lost on this day 7 years ago in the attack on World Trade Center, but that terrible event was used by the American leaders to justify two wars--Afghanistan and Iraq--in which many more thousands lives were lost. I simply can't feel for the Americans and not feel for their victims.

Traveblog Barcelona: We fight pickpockets, isn't that someone else's job?

You can't come to Barcelona without being bombarded by Gaudi on every step. So, today was our Gaudi day. Started with the visit to Park Guell, designed by Gaudi. All the buildings are built in his "melting wax-like" style. Even the walls and sidewalks were deprived of straight lines and sharp angles. The park was infested with tourists, to the point that it was difficult to move around.

As we didn't have enough Gaudi for one afternoon, we went to see his cathedral Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for over 110 years. Suckers as we are, we paid 10 Euros entrance fee to see the inside of the contruction zone, scaffoldings, bricks and tarps. I am not sure which side is the front and which is the back, but there's a very modern looking side which was an eyesore for me, and there was a much more stern looking side, even scary, but definitely more church-like and easier to digest. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't think my life would be empty if I didn't!

On the subway back toward La Rambla a man with a suitcase was leaving the train when a gang of dirty looking pickpockets appeared. One of the gang hid his hand behind a newspaper and had his fingers in the men's back pocket when Maggie of all people, grabbed his hand and started shouting "Don't do that". All of a sudden several other men started shouting at her and I held the thief's arm, afraid that he might try to hit her. Then several of them started swearing at us and spitting at us, and I decided it's the best if we leave the train on that station, so I walked by them and Maggie hopped behind me and out to the station. Sadly, none of the native Barcelonians moved to back us up.

After two bad episodes of pickpocketing in 3 nights, we were badly shaken and were thinking about re-locating our vacation to Madrid. Then we read about similar and worse episodes of pickpocketing in Madrid, and decided to stay in Barcelona, but be constantly on guard for the pesky small criminals. Thinking about buying a pepper spray for Maggie.

Traveblog Barcelona: Things to see and do in Barri Gotic

We woke up late, took the subway to Barri Gotic, had a sandwich and a coffee in a small cafe, then strolled the narrow streets of the medieval neighborhood. Of the things to notice was the visit to the Catedral, whose facade is under construction, but was impressive on the inside. We tried local sweets, bought and sent postcards and listened to street performers on almost every corner of the old town. Following La Rambla, checked Moll D'Espanya with its flashy (and so touristy) shopping mall, bars and restaurant, then walked back to the town.

The dinner was at Bar Celta where we ate tapas seated around the bar. It was really memorable, a thing to repeat in the days to come. After the dinner and a couple of cervezas, we joined the hordes of tourists along La Rambla, then took refuge at crowded Placa Reial for a hot drink. A bunch of rowdy English football fans entertained the crowds with out-of-tune interpretation of the British national anthem and other football songs. England is playing Andorra tomorrow on the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. As one England's fan explained, Andorra's stadium is too small for all the English fans who want to see the game.

There were girls sitting around the fountain in the centre of the square and the guys trying to pick them up. There also was police everywhere, keeping an eye on the Brits. The square is framed by bars and restaurants and it seemed that the high point of social life was happening right there.

Traveblog Barcelona: Pickpockets on day 1

The flight was almost pleasant, although the plane was packed. We got the upgrade to the "club class", which is Air Transat's version of business class. Unfortunately, they stuck us to the triple seater in the middle. But there was plenty of leg room and food was no worse than usually.

Arrived to Barcelona at 11:30, half an hour ahead of time, claimed the luggage and hopped on the Airbus which stops exactly in front of the hotel.

Hotel Ayre is a pleasant surprise. Room is small but clean, modern, with queen size bed, plasma TV, free Wi-Fi internet and free mini bar. The mini-bar contains 4 bottles of water: 2 regular and 2 sparkling ones, so nothing to envy us on.

Since neither of us could sleep on the plane, we dozed off for a few hours, woke up at 6 PM and went to search for a seafood dinner. Logical choice was Barceloneta, the port. I hate to admit we went to the most touristy part, where the restaurants are lined up next to each other, and waiters pull your sleeve, or in the lack of it, grab you by the elbow to get you to their restaurant. We ended up at the place where no one was hunting the tourists and shared a yummy seafood paella and black rizzoto.

After dinner went for a walk on the sandy beach where no one would serve coffee that late. The beach was full of young people, unfortunately fully dressed. No one was swimming.

On the way back to the hotel, the pickpockets made their first move on me. It was close to midnight, we took the escalator after leaving the train. A young, dark skinned man inserted himself on the escalator between me and Maggie, most probably planning to stall me while someone behind me works on my backpack. Since all the booklets and brochures we read about Barcelona warned about pickpockets, we were not unprepared, although I can't say I really expected the following to happen, especially not on the first night out in town. The man played with a set of keys and made a show of dropping them right at the top of the escalator. The drop was done so badly that I could tell it was intentional. Then he bent to pick them up, blocking my way. Since the escalator was crowded, I was turned sideways, my back towards the wall, then I literally kicked the guy in the butt with my knees and pushed him out of the way. He started shouting something, but then walked on as the other people started paying attention. A very pleasant English-speaking couple asked us if everything is OK. They complained about being pickpocketed themselves. All the zippers were closed and everything was intact, but the experience left both me and Maggie shaken.

About Traveblog Barcelona

It had been hectic few days trying to tie all the loose ends before going for vacation to Barcelona. That's the reason for this self-imposed silence on the blog. However, the travelog, which I will call Traveblog, will have to be brief. I can't spend hours typing in this stuff, I'm on vacation! Let's start from the beginning.