Where in the World?

I’ve been involved in long meetings for the last three days. Our meeting room was down in the basement which meant there were no windows to the outside. After being couped up during most of the daylight hours for these three days, I decided to have a nice walk alone, outside, in the sun and air when we got off early today (4:15 p.m.).

I walked a little over two miles north of my hotel (Meliá Barcelona) through the back and side streets. I wanted to get a little bit of the feel of the neighborhoods in the area. The first half of the walk was mostly uphill. I found several small parks and ended up a nice park called Turó de Monterols.

There’s nothing quite like some fresh air, sun and exercise to adjust your attitude. It’s important to listen when our body, heart, mind or soul give us some guidance. It’s usually beneficial. I’m glad I listened today.

Have a great day!

Michael

It’s been a long two days of meetings. Tonight, we all went to a place near La Boquiria, which is the largest open market in Spain and I believe in all of Europe. Lots and lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, chocolate, meat, fish, cheese and etc. Very busy place. We had a tour here first and then walked to the back where the cooking class was located.

We started by making fresh Sangria from scratch. Very tasty and easy to make!

We had a starter dish made from salt cured codfish. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name. Basically, it is made from green and red bell peppers, onions with balsamic vinegar, re-hydrated salt cured cod fish, olive oil, black olives and parsley. The ingredients are layered with the fish and olive oil on top and served at room temperature.

Our main course was a paella made from chicken, pork, mussels, three types of shrimp, bell peppers, onions, olive oil and rice. It took about 1 1/2 hours to make but it was spectacular.

Our dessert consisted of peeled whole pears cooked in a red wine sauce sweetened with sugar, cinnamon and other spices. This was cooked over a low flame until the wine mixture made its way inside the pear. Very sweet with a wonderful flavor.

We had a lot of fun. It was probably one of the better corporate “events” I’ve ever gone to.

Michael

Tonight we ate at a fabulous restaurant called Taller De Tapas. The amount of food was outrageous even considering the number of people we had on this outing. I’m so stuffed right now, I can barely remain conscious. Sad but true.

I have to say though that every item (except one for me) was outstanding. We shared 18 tapas dishes with generous portions of water, wine, liquor, beer and coffee. I’m listing the menu of all the dishes we ate for dramatic purposes only.

Course 1:

Toasted coca bread from Vic with Tomato and extra virgin olive oil
Tomato and Nuri’s goat’s cheese salad
Oven roasted red pepper, sweet onion and aubergine with anchovies
Cured acorn ham from Jabugo

Course 2:

Cured acorn ham croquettes
Malagan style baby squid
Fried potatoes with a spicy paprika sauce and garlic mayonnaise
Cod fritters

Course 3:

Sautéed seasonal wild mushrooms
Grilled green asparagus with extra virgin oil and Maldon salt
Pan fried chickpeas with spinach and Galician pancetta
Steamed mussels

Course 4:

Sizzling king prawns cooked in a clay pot with garlic and chili
Grilled Catalan farmhouse sausage with white beans from Santa Pau
Grilled squid
Chorizos braised in Asturian cider

Desert:

Crema catalana (Crème brûlée)
Fresh fruit soup (fresh fruit cup)

Dinner started at 9:00 p.m. which is really typical for Spain and lasted until midnight. I believe it will take several days to recover from this one.

Have a great day!

Michael

We walked about 8 miles today through the streets of Barcelona. It’s a great walking city. Our starting place was near the Pl. Francesc Macia on the Av. Diagonal. Since most of us had not slept crossing the Atlantic, the first order of business was espresso.

Our walk took us down the Av. Diagonal to Pg. Gracia, a main thoroughfare that goes to the Mediterranean. After we reached La Rambla, our walk became more leisurely so that we could enjoy the street performers and peruse the many vendors along the sides of the street. We found a fantastic fresh market that was full of every kind of vegetable, fruit, nut, cheese, meat that you could imagine. I wonder what this place is like on a Saturday as many of the small shops were closed.

Lunch was at a small tapas bar. We tried about 10 different dishes. Very nice plus we were starving. After meandering around the very narrow streets in this part of Barcelona, we decided to walk to the Sagrada Familia, which is under construction. Gaudi started this church early in the 20th century, but it was never finished. It is a massive building with a very unusual style. Quite stunning to see up close.

Please view the travel snapshots from my walk. You’ll see many of the places we visited.

Michael

I’m on my way to Spain this evening and will arrive by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. This marks the 15th country I’ve visited. One of my “goals” before I die is to visit 100 countries. I have a quite a ways to go, but that’s not a problem at all. Barcelona is my actual destination in Spain. I’ve wanted to visit this city for several years. I’m actually surprised it has taken this long for me to get here.

Travel has become one of my passions. My current job has allowed me to fulfill a lot of my travel desires and quest for adventure. Or to look at it another way, I have engineered my career to satisfy my travel needs.

My anticipation level increases dramatically as I board the plane. I love the feeling. I’m fulfilling a big goal of mine, having a new adventure, seeing new sights and experiencing new things. For me, it doesn’t get much better than this.

As an added bonus, I got upgraded to business class on the leg of the trip from Boston to Frankfurt. That’s always welcome! It makes the almost 7 hour flight much more bearable. And it’s a real treat for me as I typically fly economy when I travel to Europe.

Remember that you can find adventure anywhere you want. Just go to a place you have never been; i.e. another city, state, country, museum, park and etc. All you need to do is get out of the house. Expand your horizons. You’ll enjoy it.

More on Barcelona later this week.

Have a great day!

Michael

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. – Lin Yutang

I love to travel. But, no matter where I go or what I do, it really feels good to get back home. It’s a place to recharge and get ready to travel again. It doesn’t take me long to be ready for my next adventure.

The return home is quite an important part of my travel process. Without the return home, I don’t know if I could call what I do travel. But, seriously, part of me is always home. It’s where my roots are and where I get my energy back after a long trip. It’s where I can completely relax and be myself.

One of the ways I’ve learned to cope or deal with a lot of travel is that I make wherever I’m staying my home. I call it home. I make it feel like home. I bring a few personal items with me. So, sometimes people ask me where I’m from and I tell them what hotel I’m staying at. I usually catch myself, but sometimes I don’t. Most find it humorous.

Anyway, I’m back. I’m missing my daughter already, but I get to see Erica. Balance is restored.

I leave again on Friday.

Have a great day!

Michael