Barcelona and Ibiza

After spending 4 weeks of networking and meeting up with my friends living in Spain, Marcus, Martin, Angela and Joanna came down to have some real vacation :-) I know the vacation was justified for them, but for me, vacation from what? I still haven’t come up with a good excuse.

I rented a little apartment in Barcelona so we could all be together, and it ended up to be a really really great time with a lot of good food, beach and (ehmm) an occasional night out.

Breakfast at the balcony, Marcus is happy! :-)

Tapas with Martin and Angela

The favourite dish. I can’t count how many shimps we downed during those days. Gambas al ajillo was definitely a top one.

I still remember this one.. Martin?

A night out.

Another one…

Martin went nuts…

The 3 boys :-)

I’m amazed Martin didn’t hurt his back doing this one… haha!

Did some sight seeing

We went up to Tibidabo

Had some coffee

Ate some more…

And more.. :-)

 

From Barcelona we flew over to Ibiza to spend a week on the island in the sun. We had an excellent time! :-)

I love the music. Still regret I stopped making it, I need to get back to that.

It can get really warm at night. Luckily Martin was smart enough to not get de-hydrated.

Party in Eden

Oh, look, it’s gold!

Sunset @ café del mar.. Probably the most overrated place on the whole island!

We rented a car and drove around the island and found this beach

Some relaxing at a really nice reggae bar

Angela and Martin chilling out.

And we found some decent waves on the way back!

A trip to Spain to get connected

Ever since I left Spain in 2003 I had the aspiration of coming back. After some serious thought during my trip in south east asia I decided to give it an honest shot, so I booked a trip to spend a month in Spain to get connected and of course, also meet up with old and new friends.

First stop – Palma de Mallorca. I met Roberto in the Philippines while practicing my backrolls. My first time in Mallorca, and I really enjoyed it!

Second stop – Valencia. Yes! Café con leche y croissaint. The breakfast of champions!
We visited some kind of food and wine event. In the end more wine than food…

A lot of protests going on against the way the government handled the economy.

Dinner at 12, Spanish style :-) We managed to get the food just before the kitchen closed.

Breakfast after a night out.

Alberto prepared a Paella

Some friends from the University and the first time in a looong while I met up with Roberto!

And off to Madrid…

I met up with the Madrileños Ruben, David and Fernando that I met on the Phillipines

Crazy guys… NEVER a dull moment with them around!

The day after I met up with my old Uni buddy Antonio.

And took the train down to Barcelona..

By this time I had a pretty full booked calendar. Incredible, I managed to arrange on average 2-3 meetings per day and through referrals of all the nice people I got to know I ended up with a really great network.

Lazy days…

After flying around like a maniac I had some lazy days at my parents place before taking off to Spain.

Checking out the sofa… :-)

Some coffee and cake with Magnus and Henok

A few beers with Martin and John

The student choir singing to celebrate the arrival of spring in Lund

A little bird out in the wood shed

Venice, Innsbruck, Vienna & Prague

After heavy negotiations and taking down the plans from being a round the world trip I finally got around to book a little euro-trip with my dad. We decided on the iternary of flying down to Venice, then taking the train back via Innsbruck, Vienna and Prague.

Flying down to Venice. I think we solved about 4-5 crosswords on the way.

 

The first couple of gondolas we saw.

Tiramisu impressed dad. Pasta alla sepia degli calamari, didn’t. I guess I’m the only one in the family that likes both

Breakfast at the first hotel. You could see the gondolas pass by outside the window on the canal. Really cool!

We took a walk around town

A lot of bridges and canals. We had lunch at this restaurant.

A classic.. :-)

Postcards postcards postcards…

Mixed plate from the sea. Dad was not impressed.. :-) Am I the only one who like fresh fish?!??

Aperol by the canal. Another Italian classic

Some nice scenery on the way through the alps

The landscape was incredible, like a postcard

Met up with one of my old flat-mates from Salamanca

In Vienna

Some serious Sacher-tart eating going on.

And visits to the Heurigen. Finally, after 20 years I managed to get some embarrassing stories from the youth out of my old man. Don’t worry, they remain with me. :-)

We arrived in Prague

And had a taste of some classical music

We took one of the last Cimber Sterling flights in the history back to Sweden. Two days later the airline declared bankruptcy and cancelled all service. What luck!!