Barcelona - Why did I leave Thee?

Partly cloudy. That was the consensus of the weather prognosticators for the weekend in Barcelona. Apparently, for the fortunate denizens of this fair city on the coast of the salty Mediterranean, partly cloudy means a completely clear sky in the morning and a few whispy clouds lazily drifting about in the afternoon. Yes, it was a glorious weekend in Barcelona.



First off, the pics. Click on the link on the right hand side of the page to go to My Picassa Web Album. The pics are all there. La Sagrada Familia has changed significantly since my last visit to Barcelona 7 years ago. All the clean stone wasn't up at that point. Also, the little chapel area with the excellent stained glass wasn't open then either. I also got to visit Parc Guell, which I missed last time. Its located on a rather imposing hill and offered some spectacular views of the city. I was loving my 10X optical zoom as I got some 'close ups' of the castle (Palau Nacional) on Plaza de Espana and La Sagrada Familia while several kilometers away..


I arrived early Friday evening and my buddy Bryan who lives in London joined me shortly thereafter. Our hostel, well kind of hostel, more like a hotel/hostel. Bryan claimed that he was 'getting to old' to bunk up in a dorm with 10 other people, so we settled for a place that had private rooms with two beds and a private bathroom. All in all, probably a good call, as sleeping was a fair bit easier than in other hostels I've been in. Right, where was I? Ah yes, our hostel was right off Las Ramblas - the main tourist drag with a multitude of over-priced hawkers of silly shit and mediocre food at exorbitant prices. But, its still a pretty cool street to walk down. So, we took a bit of a stroll around the town, got lost a little bit in the small winding streets littered with shops and restaurants, and basically just kept on commenting to ourselves: "Damn, its perfect here." While I've been fairly blessed with nice weather in Erlangen, Bryan lives in London - I think he appreciated the weather a bit more than me. But, the lack of clouds also became a bit of a bane to his existence as well, dude is pale. We grabbed some tapas at a couple of different places, but honestly we were much too close to Las Ramblas for them to be that good, but still, a hell of a lot better than most English fare.

We eventually ended up heading to an area know as El Born. We immediately recognized our mistake in our choice of dining establishments as the food and atmosphere were far superior in this area compared to what we had just experienced. Regardless, we made the best of it by visiting a couple of different bars and enjoying the night. We also hit up a club for a bit, and yes it was a proper club, as was evidenced by the weak 10 Euro Jack and Cokes. The music was crap and we were getting a bit bored, and Bryan wouldn't give in to my constant ribbing to go talk to some girls. He claimed there was a 'language barrier' - ok, so he doesn't speak Spanish, but come on, most of the girls in the club would speak English. I of course then, had no excuse, I had to go chat some girl up, and in Spanish, you know, just to keep up my cred. So, I did. I'm not saying it was the smoothest opening I've ever executed, but, it was my first attempt in a different language. I deserve some slack. I believe it went somewhat along the lines of 'I know the music is lousy, but I think you're pretty, and so I would like to know if you would dance with me.' Yeah, that's about the best I could do. We ended up talking with her and some of her crew for a bit, but yeah, nothing doing there. She used the lousy music as an excuse not to dance - which I can't fault, as often, if I don't like a song, I just stand in the middle of the dance floor with my arms across my chest, pouting, in protest.

Hmm, I apparently need an editor, that was much to long for one evening. Speeding things along...

Saturday, woke up about 11, more tapas for brunch, walk towards Parc Guell, pass a couple of Gaudi's most famous houses, continue walking to Parc Guell (it was about 6 klicks I think). Wait, what am I saying. That's not what happened. First we went to the beach. Ah yes, la playa. That was only about a 2.5 km walk, and it was mostly along the harbor, and I kept on saying, 'Damn, that's a big boat.' So first, I love water, whatever city I go to, I always have to go to the water (this led to me walking 8 km to the Danube and then back in Wien). So, of course on a crystal clear day, we going to the beach. Bryan made fun of me for wearing my sarong, but I think I look sexy in a skirt. And its nice and cool. So yes, the beach. I had read that the beach closest to us was Barcelona's only 'naturist' beach. Hmm, wonder what that could mean. We shortly found out. All in all, in what a perfect day there. Vendors walk around selling ice cold beers out of their bags for 2 Euro (and apparently Hashish as well - but I declined the offer - although I did thank him for asking - it was very considerate - although I'm sure if I had, it would have been rubish anyway). And yes, I will agree with the conventional wisdom that after a very short while, the fact that its a nude beach doesn't mean anything. Although, in the area we were in, it was just the ladies who did away with part of their clothing, so I can't say of CW holds true for me for a full nude beach. Oh, and did I mention that even my skinny ass is buoyant in the Mediterranean? That's just weird.



Right, so then we walked for a long time to get to Parc Guell - took lots of pictures - started walking back. Stopped for some beers and olives. Hmm, after the cured ham, and the mussels, olives might have been my favorite tapas. Sooooo tasty, and with little tiny, baby onions and pickles - oh and this was at 21:00 and there was no one in this bar - I was loving the late dinner style. We then found ourselves a proper tapas bar. We gorged ourselves. The table wasn't big enough for all the tapas and sangria. Definitely one of the best meals I've had. And well, the hunger built up from 16 or so km may have contributed. As we left the place at about 23:45, they were still setting up places for new customers. We were spent, so we just hit up a spot for a quick beer and then crashed.


Sunday involved more walking to La Sagrada Familia, a metro ride to Plaza de Espana, and then of course, another trip to the beach. Bryan was getting to be a bit of a lobster due to the sun (at this point I'd like to thank my Croatian ancestors for passing their Mediterranean type complexion down to me), so we went for a bit of shade at one of the beach front bars and had some absolutely delicious mojitos (I will slap the next person who makes me a mojito with refined sugar instead of cane sugar) and a wide assortment of tapas (and yes, olives featured prominently again). Bryan flew out on Sunday evening, so, that was about it for the evening. I saw him off and then returned to my new hostel (one of the 12 bed in a room varieties). I walked around the area a bit more, popped into a couple of places for a beer and a tapas or two, then went back to the hostel to see if the US vs. Mexico final of the Gold Cup was on at 23:00 (yes - I was going to watch a soccer match in Barcelona - and yes you can start making fun of me now). But, it wasn't on - and despite my mind telling me I should go explore more, I'm turning into an old man and I was tired - and I had to get up at 7 am for my morning flight. So, I just hung around the hostel talking with various folks, which is always fun.

So, that's it. That's my Barcelona weekend in compressed (well - not all that compressed) format. Next weekend I'm off to Berlin to meet my friend Lucas for some good times.

Education and Sacrifice, Part 1 of ?

Warning, this will be a long, long, long post. But I hope that you will read it, as in it, I will address what I feel are the major pratfalls facing our society (Wisconsin in particular as that's the situation I know most about) and what I think needs to be done to fix it. This is a long time coming, but, given the recent front page article on CNN, concerning the alarming exodus of faculty from UW-Madison to not just Ivy League institutions, but now to universities traditionally below us on the totem poll, I feel the time is ripe for a frank assessment of the problems facing us, and what can be done.

The reason that UW-Madison, the state of Wisconsin, and the U.S. face problems ranging from sky-rocketing education costs, to inadequate and excessively expensive health care, to continued exacerbation of climate change in the face of irrefutable evidence is that our election system is fundamentally flawed. Too many of our 'elected' representatives are beholden no longer to the people but rather to those who finance their reelection. A bone may be tossed to the masses every once in a while, but it can not be argued that the best interests of the constituents, the state (or country), and humanity are not served in our current system. My thesis is that the public financing of all elections (given some small showing of actual community support for the candidates) will result in a lower overall tax burden while simultaneously resulting policies that result in actions that are in the best interests of society.

To achieve this, a short-term sacrifice is required of not only the people, but also those in power. They must put at risk the comfortable and safe position that they hold being financed by special interests. This 'sacrifice' must in most cases be imposed upon the politician by the people by a massive uprising demanding change. The question then arises, who shall rally the people in this massive call for change? That I do not know. Caution, and the inability to ask their constituents to sacrifice now for a greater reward for themselves and their progeny seem to be abilities that are gradually ground out of politicians. Perhaps here, a lesson may be learned from the earthly sacrifices asked of those of a religious persuasion with the promise of a greater reward in the next life. Regardless, each day that goes by without the people and their 'representatives' accepting a small level of short term hardship, the hardship that we all must endure in time grows greater and greater.

Allow me to use as an example the current situation at UW-Madison. These are the facts. Madison's in state undergraduate tuition is the 2nd lowest in the Big Ten. Madison's tenured faculty rank near or at the bottom in compensation in UW's peer group. A new fee, doubling the previous fee, has recently been introduced for the employment of graduate research and project assistants. Many faculty state that the outstanding graduate assistants is the major draw of UW-Madison. Fewer graduate assistants can now be hired due to the new fee. Graduate students teach around 30% of all undergraduate credit hours. State funding of UW-Madison is at the same dollar level (not adjusted for inflation) that it was 10 years ago. Undergraduates are exiting their college experience with the greatest debt burden ever. A diverse, educated populous is needed to attract businesses to the state. UW-Madison faculty are flocking to other universities at an unprecedented rate.

To me the solution is simple. The state must fund the university at a higher level to increase faculty salary, lower tuition (yes further lower from the 2nd lowest in the Big ten), invest in clean energy (for a little background on this, check out this article on the pollution spewing from the EPA complaints against one of the UW's power plants), and take the lead on issues such as a living wage for all employees, divestment from countries with abysmal labor and human rights records, and contracting only with companies that respect workers right.

To achieve these goals, I prescribe the following course of action. 1. A significant increase in state funding to the UW system - financed by an increase in taxes of high income households, closing corporate tax loopholes, and increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco. These increase can be gradual,, for instance to retain companies until the increased tax burden is offset by a more attractive pool of workers. Income tax increases can also be offset by further subsidies for the implementation of green energy policies. The fact is, the state must collect more taxes to provide not only this generation, but generations to come with an adequate quality of life. 2. The increase of faculty salaries, the lowering of tuition, and an increase in graduate assistant salaries to ensure that top researchers come to and stay at UW-Madison. This small investment will reap significant rewards in the form of federal research funding, tax revenue from start-up companies, and an increase in businesses in the state due to an improved workforce pool. 3. Reinvestment in the state and the country. UW must ensure that with this improved funding, they act as a steward for the state by investing in research that will improve the quality of life of the state's citizens. 4. Educate the populace about the positive repercussions of a world-class institution being located in the state (this also must really be done before point #1 to make it politically feasible in the current climate).

For this issue, and for so many more, we need leadership from our elected representatives, our community and business leaders, and the populace. We must, we must, step back from the ease in which we slip into apathy and stand together and demand that our interests and the interests of our children and our children's children are protected.

This course of action is akin to preventive medicine. We MUST take action now or face a much more dire situation in the future. This applies not only to the situation at UW-Madison, but also to healthcare, K-12 education, continuing education, energy and environmental policies, and a litany of other examples. The system is broken. Shall we continue taking water from the well in a bucket with a leak in the bottom to put out the fire, or shall we allow the flames to burn brighter for a short time knowing that the time we take to plug the holes will allow us to put the fire out rather than merely keep it in check?

I ask each and everyone of you to take leadership in this task. Wherever you live, the story is playing out the same way for your university, for your K-12 system, for your healthcare system, for your environment. Contact your representatives. Demand a change to public financing of elections. Demand that they protect our future by investing in renewable energies and taxing polluters. Demand that they provide health care for all and emphasize preventive medicine to avoid greater costs down the road. Demand that they invest in an education system that doesn't teach to a test, but rather teaches critical thinking, social skills, and a variety of subjects to ensure that our children are able to do more than recite facts and figures. Demand that they respond to you! You hold the power. Embrace it, use it, demand accountability, reject apathy, embrace a better tomorrow today.

Salzburg trip and an update on taxes

Thanks to Mike, and the wonderful software the Lucas is working on, I discovered FactCheck.org's excellent analysis of the "Fair Tax". This is relevant, as some of you may recall my posting on taxes last month (although I imagine most of you skipped that one). In it, I wrote about my desire for the U.S. to increase the sales tax, start taxing services (like lawyers and financial consultants) and to give further tax credits for renewable energy use, and stop subsidizing a lot of different areas. This would allow a decrease in the income tax rate, and by exempting basic consumables, would amount to a progressive tax. The "Fair Tax," often bandied about by conservatives, would eliminate income and social security taxes and attempt to collect all revenue from sales taxes. This approach would be egregiously regressive, as low income families spend a greater percentage of their income on consumables than do richer families. So, not fair at all, I suggest you check it out.


Last weekend I was in Salzburg, which I think has become the favorite city I've visited on this trip (oh and you can see all my pics from there on my web album. However, it will not hold that title for long, as I venture off to Barcelona in about two weeks, and then off to Rome in July.

It wasn't a perfect day in Salzburg, a bit overcast and some occasional sprinkles, but I was OK with that, it kept me nice and cool as I hiked up the mountain to the Festung Hohenzalzburg, the giant fortress in the pictures that construction began on in 1077. Many of the pictures in the album are either of the fortress or from it. Aside from the fortress, the wonderful architecture, being the birthplace of some dude named Mozart, and The Palace of Mirabel (where all the flower pics are from), Salzburg also gets a ton of tourists due to its prominent roll in The Sound of Music. There were a ton of tours offered to take one around to the sights from the movie. Having been scared at an early age by my mother's love (and what seemed like weekly consumption) of the film, I was unable to partake in the tour. I fear I may have ended up in a paroxysm of seizures. And yes, I have grown to appreciate the film a little bit over time (particularly Christopher Plummer's role), but I'm not ready to embrace it yet (I think that has to do with my loathing of Julie Andrews).

So, I just walked around the city, took lots of pictures, and had a nice time making fun of the other American tourists. As a solitary traveler sans fanny pack, I am not easily identifiable as an American or a tourist at all for that matter. In fact, my favorite part of the trip was when I went into a shop to buy some Mozart Balls (some kind of chocolate candy with pistachio in it), and I said in response to the shop keeper's queries that my German was not so good. She responded, "Ah, Italiano?" I then smiled, and sheepishly admitted that I was an English speaker. So, thank you Eastern European ancestors (that'd be you great-grandpa and great-grandma Zupancic) for allowing me to pass as Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Jewish - I love being a chameleon.

Not much else of interest to note. I went back to the hostel, was doing some reading, chatting a bit with some folks, when I was pulled into an enjoyable conversation on literature, philosophy and religion after one of the girls at the table was shocked to see that I was reading Ulysses for pleasure. Now, the quintessential description of James Joyce's Ulysses is that its a book that's more talked about than read. I quickly grew to understand the truth of that description, as it is a very difficult read. However, I knew that going in and chose it precisely for that reason. I knew I wouldn't have access to a library with books in English here, and I also know that especially when traveling, I zoom through novels. Case in point, I bought Bret Easton Ellis' latest Lunar Park, for the trip to Vienna - just a four hour train ride. But of course, with the train ride down there, and a little free time in Vienna, I was left with nothing to read for the return journey. So, I brought along Ulysses because its long, and I knew that its 'interesting' style would force me to read slowly and for short periods only. Now, bringing along something like The Brothers K or War and Peace would have given me something long to read. But I also would have been reading them compulsively - as I consider them spectacular and great fun to read. So, they would have lasted two weeks top. It all makes sense now, doesn't it?

So, that's my Salzburg trip. Next stop, Barcelona.