Spain Vacation -- October, 2000

Tuesday, October 3, 2000

Go to the previous day, Monday, October 2

I was sound asleep (finally) when the alarm went off at 8:15 in the morning. It may have been 8:15 AM, but it felt like it was still the middle of the night (which, of course, it was in Dallas). We had an "official" breakfast and meeting from 9 to 11. Breakfast was good and the meeting portion of the morning was pretty light, which was a good thing given my lack of sleep. iPlanet's General Counsel, Brian Martin, gave a presentation that included a series of movie clips as well as a top ten list of things not to say if we get arrested in Barcelona--who knew a lawyer could be entertaining? That was followed by an executive Q&A session that was fairly tame. As usual, Tom asked a pointed a question about the application server, and, as usual, we were a bit disappointed by the response
There was a breakfast held for all the iPlanet guests from 9 to 11 as well. Lisa decided to skip it so she could sleep in (I wonder how many spouses actually went). She woke up shortly after 10 AM (lucky her). Ari called Lisa to say she'd registered us for the tour of "Modernist Barcelona Featuring Gaudí." Independently, I had spoken with the event coordinators following our meeting to see what tours were still open. There were only a couple options, and I also chose the Gaudi tour (the other option was a trip to the medieval town of Sitges)
We had to meet at 11:30 for our architecture tour. We had a terrific tour guide, Isabella, who was extremely knowledgeable, if a bit gushing of Gaudi's genius. She was always careful to identify thing that were NOT designed by Gaudi--by the end of the tour we were doing an impression of Isabella: "although beautiful, this is not Gaudi, so it is shit"

We first went to Park Güell which was supposedly built by 14 workmen in only 14 years. We walked around the park for over an hour. Before we got off the bus, however, Isabella warned us to be on the watch for pick pockets (or, in Steve's case, to be on the watch for "big buckets"). We really liked the two buildings in the park (the Porter's Lodge and the Administration building) and the lizard statue at the park's cistern

We had a great lunch at a Tapa Tapa (which just happened to be right next door to the restaurant where we had dinner the night before). Even though a lot of people were sick of having tapas all the time, the food was good and there was actually enough of it!

After lunch we went to La Pedrera which is Gaudi's most famous private building--its now an apartment building although Gaudi designed it so the entire interior could be converted into a hotel. Its facade, like Casa Batlló, is made up of curved surfaces and it has an unusual rooftop with multiple levels.

After spending about an hour, we drove to our last stop, Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudi's famous cathedral in the middle of Barcelona. With 60 people now working on it (and a couple of tower cranes over the site), the building won't be completed until at least 2030 (possibly as late as 2050). Eventually, there will be eighteen towers (representing the twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Christ). The tallest tower (representing Christ) will be as tall as a 55 story building. As our pictures show, the two sides ("front" and "back") of the cathedral are completely different from one another. Our tour Guide, Isabella, asked us to meet her in exactly thirty years when Sagrada Familia is completed (she said we would recognize her since she'll look exactly the same)

We got back to the hotel at about 5:30 or so. We didn't have a lot of time because both Lisa and I were very tired and we wanted to take a little nap. We couldn't, of course, so we got ready for the black tie dinner and party instead. Luckily, I had remembered to bring the instructions for tying my bow tie or I would have been really screwed (I had no recollection of how to do it).

We weren't exactly sure where we were going when we got on the bus for the party. We ended up at Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya which is on a hill overlooking Barcelona--it was an amazing view of the city just as it was starting to get dark. Just over the hill going away from the city was the Olympic stadium (which we could see as we drove up). We mingled outside drinking champagne. They had different performers outside as well (a man juggling fire, gypsies reading tarot cards). At exactly 8:00, music started playing--it was Freddy Mercury and Montserrat Caballe's song "Barcelona" (4MB download), and the giant fountain at the bottom of the hill was synchronized to the music. It was awe inspiring. I tried to take about twenty pictures of the fountain and the lights and the city, but (of course) they really didn't turn out very well. (I had to settle for purchasing a postcard later in the trip to recapture the moment--kind of lame)

After some more mingling we made our way inside for dinner. A string quartet was playing in the dining room (if you could call it that--it was a huge room with, as Lisa noticed, a huge organ). We sat with the Smiths, Carlsons, Toneys, and Pilar Garcia (our legal counsel whose husband couldn't make it from the states). Before dinner we saw Aaron Zimmermann who was making the rounds with the latest variation of his "quadrant shaving"--this variation included covering the shaved portions of his face (and one eyebrow) with red paint to match the color we were encouraged to wear. All the while, he was hobnobbing with Barbara Gordon and Marge Breya (we just need to get the boy to come out of his shell)

After dinner Gypsyland played for a couple of hours (the band was formed by a couple of guys from the Gypsy Kings). Lisa and I danced a lot, and the more we drank the more convinced we were that we could actually dance! We had a great time--so much so that we couldn't believe it when they started to move us to the doors at about midnight. When we got outside, they had the fountain and music playing again

When we got back to the hotel room, there was another gift waiting for us. This time it was a signed print by the artist Miriam Slaats entitled "Barcelona... Sensacion de Libertad." The work was commissioned specifically for us by iPlanet. Lisa was thrilled by the piece and I'm sure it will be hanging prominently in our home soon after we get home. We also received an invitation to next year's iPlanet Club in Maui--I've already started to set Lisa's expectations low that we'll be able to go next year too

Go to the next day, Wednesday, October 4

	I was sound asleep (finally) when the alarm went off at 8:15 in the morning. It may have been 8:15 AM, but it felt like it was still the middle of the night (which, of course, it was in Dallas). We had an "official" breakfast and meeting from 9 to 11. Breakfast was good and the meeting portion of the morning was pretty light, which was a good thing given my lack of sleep. iPlanet's General Counsel, Brian Martin, gave a presentation that included a series of movie clips as well as a top ten list of things not to say if we get arrested in Barcelona--who knew a lawyer could be entertaining? That was followed by an executive Q&A session that was fairly tame. As usual, Tom asked a pointed a question about the application server, and, as usual, we were a bit disappointed by the response There was a breakfast held for all the iPlanet guests from 9 to 11 as well. Lisa decided to skip it so she could sleep in (I wonder how many spouses actually went). She woke up shortly after 10 AM (lucky her). Ari called Lisa to say she'd registered us for the tour of "Modernist Barcelona Featuring Gaudí." Independently, I had spoken with the event coordinators following our meeting to see what tours were still open. There were only a couple options, and I also chose the Gaudi tour (the other option was a trip to the medieval town of Sitges) We had to meet at 11:30 for our architecture tour. We had a terrific tour guide, Isabella, who was extremely knowledgeable, if a bit gushing of Gaudi's genius. She was always careful to identify thing that were NOT designed by Gaudi--by the end of the tour we were doing an impression of Isabella: "although beautiful, this is not Gaudi, so it is shit"
	We first went to Park Güell which was supposedly built by 14 workmen in only 14 years. We walked around the park for over an hour. Before we got off the bus, however, Isabella warned us to be on the watch for pick pockets (or, in Steve's case, to be on the watch for "big buckets"). We really liked the two buildings in the park (the Porter's Lodge and the Administration building) and the lizard statue at the park's cistern
	We had a great lunch at a Tapa Tapa (which just happened to be right next door to the restaurant where we had dinner the night before). Even though a lot of people were sick of having tapas all the time, the food was good and there was actually enough of it!
	After lunch we went to La Pedrera which is Gaudi's most famous private building--its now an apartment building although Gaudi designed it so the entire interior could be converted into a hotel. Its facade, like Casa Batlló, is made up of curved surfaces and it has an unusual rooftop with multiple levels.
	After spending about an hour, we drove to our last stop, Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudi's famous cathedral in the middle of Barcelona. With 60 people now working on it (and a couple of tower cranes over the site), the building won't be completed until at least 2030 (possibly as late as 2050). Eventually, there will be eighteen towers (representing the twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Christ). The tallest tower (representing Christ) will be as tall as a 55 story building. As our pictures show, the two sides ("front" and "back") of the cathedral are completely different from one another. Our tour Guide, Isabella, asked us to meet her in exactly thirty years when Sagrada Familia is completed (she said we would recognize her since she'll look exactly the same)
	We got back to the hotel at about 5:30 or so. We didn't have a lot of time because both Lisa and I were very tired and we wanted to take a little nap. We couldn't, of course, so we got ready for the black tie dinner and party instead. Luckily, I had remembered to bring the instructions for tying my bow tie or I would have been really screwed (I had no recollection of how to do it).
	We weren't exactly sure where we were going when we got on the bus for the party. We ended up at Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya which is on a hill overlooking Barcelona--it was an amazing view of the city just as it was starting to get dark. Just over the hill going away from the city was the Olympic stadium (which we could see as we drove up). We mingled outside drinking champagne. They had different performers outside as well (a man juggling fire, gypsies reading tarot cards). At exactly 8:00, music started playing--it was Freddy Mercury and Montserrat Caballe's song "Barcelona" (4MB download), and the giant fountain at the bottom of the hill was synchronized to the music. It was awe inspiring. I tried to take about twenty pictures of the fountain and the lights and the city, but (of course) they really didn't turn out very well. (I had to settle for purchasing a postcard later in the trip to recapture the moment--kind of lame)
	After some more mingling we made our way inside for dinner. A string quartet was playing in the dining room (if you could call it that--it was a huge room with, as Lisa noticed, a huge organ). We sat with the Smiths, Carlsons, Toneys, and Pilar Garcia (our legal counsel whose husband couldn't make it from the states). Before dinner we saw Aaron Zimmermann who was making the rounds with the latest variation of his "quadrant shaving"--this variation included covering the shaved portions of his face (and one eyebrow) with red paint to match the color we were encouraged to wear. All the while, he was hobnobbing with Barbara Gordon and Marge Breya (we just need to get the boy to come out of his shell)
	After dinner Gypsyland played for a couple of hours (the band was formed by a couple of guys from the Gypsy Kings). Lisa and I danced a lot, and the more we drank the more convinced we were that we could actually dance! We had a great time--so much so that we couldn't believe it when they started to move us to the doors at about midnight. When we got outside, they had the fountain and music playing again
	When we got back to the hotel room, there was another gift waiting for us. This time it was a signed print by the artist Miriam Slaats entitled "Barcelona... Sensacion de Libertad." The work was commissioned specifically for us by iPlanet. Lisa was thrilled by the piece and I'm sure it will be hanging prominently in our home soon after we get home. We also received an invitation to next year's iPlanet Club in Maui--I've already started to set Lisa's expectations low that we'll be able to go next year too