Where in the World?

I play a game called Geocaching. I’ve been playing since February 2004. Last year I didn’t really play the game that much. Supercomputers in the Rockies are working on figuring out the reasons why.

It combines several things that I love to do; explore, travel, technology, figuring out puzzles, hike, walk, photography and just getting out in nature. I’ve been working on getting back into shape so I’ve been doing a lot of walking and hiking over the past two weeks.

Geocaching is helping me to fuel that goal. I’ve redirected by mind so that it focuses on finding the geocaches and it doesn’t notice that I walk many miles in the search. This plan works for me.

For over a year I’ve been really close to finding a career total of 900 geocaches. I made a goal just a few weeks ago to reach 900 by the end of May. Today I finally made it.

Some might say it’s a small goal, a silly goal. I disagree. No goal is really silly. If it is something you want, then it’s important. Plus I’ve lost 3 pounds since I started the intense walking/hiking again. Not bad for a silly goal.

Michael

I was up in Northampton, Massachusetts this weekend with Erica. She was at a show and I was there to play. Of course I helped out a little bit in the booth.

Right next to Erica’s booth was a lady selling ceramics. Her husband was Steve Katz, one of the original members of the 1960′s band Blood, Sweat and Tears. How cool is that. If you were listening to music back then, you may have remembered the hits “Spinning Wheel” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.”

We chatted for a bit, not about music that much, but about the new Amazon Kindle. It’s like an iPod for books. I was amazed as I could literally have hundreds of books, newspapers, blogs and etc. at my fingertips on one device. It is a first generation machine and expensive but I think it will change the way we do things, just like the iPod.

Steve was a good guy and very into the Kindle. I wish him luck on his current tour schedule with the band.

Michael

I left work early as did everyone else. My company calls it “early release” and it typically happens right before a three day weekend. I quickly drove home, grabbed my GPS receiver, some water and my camera.

I decided to take a hike this afternoon as the week had been long and somewhat challenging. A lengthy hike was just what the doctor ordered. The sky was partly cloudy with many patches of blue sky. The temp was 75^oF. It was a perfect afternoon and shouldn’t be wasted sitting inside.

I went down to one of my favorite hiking areas in Rhode Island; Arcadia Management Area. Here’s a link to the topo maps for the area.

I hiked on a trail that went to a body of water called Deep Pond. Before getting there I made a slight detour and walked along a trail that took me to Hemlock Ledges which gave some very nice views of Beach Pond (top left photo).

After enjoying the views I traced my steps back to the turnoff to Deep Pond. After another mile of hiking I arrived at this lovely pond (see photo to the right). I spend a little bit of time here and then headed back to my car.

Overall the entire hike was about 3.20 miles which was just about right for me today. I got to enjoy the beautiful weather and spend some quality time under the forest canopy.

It’s the kind of therapy I was looking for.

Michael

My last day in Barcelona was a bright, sunny day with clouds that rose over the mountains. I’ve really grown quite an attachment to this city, the food and it’s people. I think I’ve gained 2 or 3 pounds with all the home cooking I was able to experience.

I learned a lot from my few days here. As I got to know the people on a more personal level in their homes and among friends, I realized that there were five fundamental lessons that were being taught.

First, I (we) need to slow down and focus on the present moment more. I’ve talked about this concept before, but it was refreshing and inspiring to see people living that way every minute.

Second, the importance of communication and how much we can communicate without speaking the language. Babi’s grandmother was the best at this. I couldn’t understand one spoken word from her, but I never had a problem understanding what she was telling me. Now that’s a gift.

Third, to be more open. Many of the people I met took a genuine interest in learning more about me despite the language barrier.

Fourth, laugh a lot and often. Though I feel that I do this very often, it’s always refreshing to see people live that philosophy.

Fifth, give and then give some more. Guests (me) are treated like royalty. It’s a great way to treat people.

I appreciate my new friends and I hope to see them very soon in the near future. I will be back to this place. It’s easily in my top five favorite places now.

Michael

I spent the majority of the day with my Spanish friend’s father and friends. Later we visited with her mother, grandmother and friends. It was a fantastic day. The scenery, food and conversation were quite special.

My friend’s father lives in S’agaró, Spain which is up the coast north of Barcelona about 60 miles. This is a beautiful seaside upscale resort area with stunning views of the Mediterranean. Most of the time was spent eating lunch (for over 3 hours) and talking. I was doing very little talking since I didn’t speak Catalan or Spanish. But it was fun to be involved with this close knit group of people. At one point, we had four countries represented; Spain, America, Ecuador and the U.K.

Near the end of the afternoon, my friend’s mother drove us to Vinyoles which is up in the mountains. In fact the area around Vic, Spain is a stunning valley surrounded on all sides by mountains. To the north, I could catch glimpses of the snow covered Pyrenees Mountains. They were simply stunning. I have to go back and explore this area some more.

My friend’s mother and grandmother were lovely! Her grandmother made a fantastic dinner composed of bread with oil and tomato, vegetable soup, omelet, and a very tasty dessert called A Gypsy’s Arm; some kind of cake with a crème filling. All the food was fresh and cooked on the spot. You can’t get any better than this.

I loved being able to experience the Catalan and Spanish culture at this level. I was able to see and experience how they live, eat and enjoy life.

At the end of the day I was feeling somewhat stressed because of some meetings I have on Tuesday. I was told to relax, enjoy the moment, tomorrow is tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Michael

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. – W. Earl Hall

It was quite a change to wake up to blue skies and sun this morning. There were a lot of clouds but the sky remained visible until mid afternoon.

I took advantage of the nice weather and started off the day with a 2 1/2 mile walk. All in all I would walk another 4 1/2 miles for a total of seven or so. It felt great.

I caught a bus to Placa d’Espanya and walked down the Av. Paral-lel to Port Vell. After watching the boats for a bit, I then took a very leisurely stroll up La Rambla, which is a fantastic street with lots of street vendors, artists, musicians and mobs of people. A latte and plate of chorizo was in order.

I then headed to Palau de la Musica to grab my third geocache for the day. Back to La Rambla to catch a taxi back to the hotel. I met a friend at the airport. After a late afternoon snack we headed to a modern dance show at a theater near the Montijuic. A late dinner was needed. We ate at a wonderful Catalan style restaurant called La Bodegueta del Poble Sec.

That was enough for one day!

Michael

We landed in Barcelona through wind and rain in the early afternoon. The forecast is rainy for several days. Oh well. Plans have to be adjusted. It shouldn’t really be a problem as there are plenty of things to do in this wonderful city.

My co-worker and I had a somewhat of a challenge obtaining our luggage after getting off the Lufthansa flight. There are two terminals at the Barcelona airport; A and B. We landed at a gate right in the juncture of the two. As we exited the gate, we both saw a sign with an arrow pointing to Baggage Claim – B. So, we followed.

After walking about a half mile to the end of terminal B, we walk down the stairs to baggage claim only to realize that Lufthansa bags are located in Baggage Claim - A. We ask someone how to get there and he points up and back the way we came. We tried to return up the stairs, but that way was blocked; no entrance to the gate area from here.

So, we walk on the ground floor all the way back to Terminal A which was at least a 1/2 mile or more. We find baggage claim A, but the doors are exit only and the guard will not let us in even though we showed him our ticket stubs and luggage tags. He tells us we have to go back up the stairs and through security again.

Argh!

Another 15 minutes and we are through security and down the stairs to baggage claim where our bags were just rounding the baggage belt when we walked up. We grab our bags and head outside to find a cab in the rain.

We quickly find one, explain that we need to be taken to two hotels; one a Marriott near the airport and the other in central Barcelona. The taxi driver takes off and after about 10 minutes, I realize he has passed up the Marriott. I show him the address and he starts getting very angry since he has passed the exit already. He had misunderstood us and thought we wanted a Marriott in central Barcelona, but there isn’t a Marriott in central Barelcona.

Once we straighten out the confusion, he angrily turns around and starts driving “wildly” through the traffic in the wind and heavy rain. He keeps repeating, in Spanish, how we messed up the directions. I keep nodding my head as I don’t want him to get any angrier than he already is.

Finally, after much swerving and high speed driving, we arrive at the correct hotel.

Welcome to Barcelona!

I know things will be much better, so I’m not worried at all.

Michael