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September 28, 2013

Paris for the n'th time

We got a brilliant night time bus tour as we rolled in to Paris and to the hostel. While I'd booked ahead, I got stuck with having to swap back and forth between hostels. I started at the prescribed one, being the same St Christopher's I went to with Madde back when I had my first visit from London.  I joined a roommate from the Netherlands down in the bar for a quiet night with mediocre Parisian De Mory beer. We accepted the hospitality of a rather drunken Frenchman in the bar who shouted a round of yager-bombs before heading up to bed. Hostel charm.

I wasn't going to be denied one more time at the opera house so I went to Opera Garnier first thing in the morning, getting my booking for the tour. There was some time to wait so I strolled down to the Tulleries Gardens to read under a tree for a while. On the way back, I joined some Eminem groupies as they waited for the notorious rapper to emerge from the exclusive hotel. I only stayed long enough to get a glimpse of his swaggering entourage but it was fun to know what the hype was all about.

The interior of the Opera Garnier was absolutely stunning, with all of the glitz and glamour that the art had assumed at the Napoleonic time when it was built. The staircases were built for flowing dresses and the building was set up for a structured procession of proceedings from room to room as the drawn out social event of the opera went on.

When we walked in to the main interval hall, I was absolutely dazzled. A room to rival the hall of mirrors in Versailles for sure. I didn't know so much about how it was done back then but I found out how the social convention was for women and men and how different it was to how we go now. Women stayed in the boxes and the men went out to conduct their business, following strict conventions in courtship and presentations when arriving at the house. In the main auditorium, at least they had the fantastic fresco by Cézanne, bringing colour, life and modernity in to an otherwise regimented space.

I took the afternoon nice and slow with a meandering walk to the Grand Palais, then going over the road to the Petit Palais where there was an all sorts museum with artefacts and art from all over the ages of France. While walking through the Petite Palais, I couldn't help but stop and wait a while. I sat there and absorbed the low rumble from the nearby Cafe where despite the amplification and echo of the tall vaulted veranda, the lush green courtyard lapped up the sound, transforming it in to something all the more soothing. The sky was dull with occasional patches of blue jumping at the eye but all was really made better by the long green banana leaves and a smatter of yellowing leaf reminding me that summer was indeed coming to an end.

That night I went out to the Eiffel tower to start a bike tour by night that I'd booked through Busabout. Strangely, by the time I got there, the groups were being divided up but when we went to show them our receipts, it appeared that our bookings hadn't been properly recorded and there wasn't space for all of us. The group of girls wanted to stick together so they left the spot for me, leaving quite disgruntled with the company and Busabout for giving them the false assurance that they had their spot saved.

I helped lead the bike convoy full of terrified riders over the hostile Paris roads as they were familiarized with the commands from the tour guide for single file, mob formation and bunching up. The tour had much less talking and information than I expected and for someone like me who would happily take to the roads at night anyway, it wasn't much of a novelty. We stopped for some good but terribly expensive gelato for a good 20 minutes and I started to doubt the quality of the tour but when we stopped by the ferry terminal on the side of the Seine, I was happy that we would get to see some sights from the water as well. The highlight was cracking open a good number of bottles of red over the course of the voyage, finding a funny

I had moved to a new hostel for the 2nd of 3 nights having not managed to get the middle night at my original hostel. I stuck with the St Christopher's brand and tried out their new hostel near Gare du Nord, a good 25 minute walk from the original. I made a new friend over breakfast we agreed on heading straight out to Musée d'Orsay to check out my favourite brand of art, French Impressionist. Sam was a casino cocktail waitress and body builder/sculptor from Alberta and it was interesting to hear about her rather different way of life. We got on well and after a good couple of hours of walking through the gallery, we both sat down to relax over lunch in the gallery. Having seen one of the waiters pass by with a decadent mille feuille, we decided to order and share one before heading back out to the gallery. There wasn't all that much time left in the day when we left the gallery and I had to head off to change hostel once again to be ready for the early pick up the next morning.

I rushed out of the hostel with some juice and a left over baguette that I still had packed from breakfast. I was on the run to the Bastille where I hoped to catch the performance of Lucia di Lammermoor they had that night. I was told that if you got to the ticket office 60 minutes before the show started, you could often get discount tickets but I was only there 45 minutes before after a long check in ordeal at the hostel. The line moved smoothly but by the time I got towards the front, number 4 in line, the tickets ran dry… Bitterly disappointed, I talked to the scalpers and looked out for any people who were trying to sell any leftover tickets from partners who hadn't been able to come. The options were thinning and I went back to a couple of scalpers but wasn't happy with their price, trying to haggle down by playing the student card and since I knew the market well enough but he knew too well that there were still enough people around to price me out of the market. There was one more guy with a ticket but even with the show having just started with the lock out in place, his deal was just a little too good to be true and having no way to check that his A4 print out ticket was genuine, I think I dodged a bullet by saying no.

I was rather desperate having come so close that I stayed outside the opera, waiting for the unlikely possibility that someone would be waiting around for their +1 to arrive or cancel, allowing me to step in and buy the otherwise un-used ticket. My luck was running thin and as it came to 20 minutes in to the first act, still outside, I asked a couple of open looking people as they left the house what they thought I could do, suggesting that I may be able to buy a ticket from someone if they left the opera having not liked the first half but they didn't give me too much encouragement as the line-up was star studded that night.

40 minutes in to the first half and I was almost ready to go home when I greeted and struck up conversation with a man as he left the main doors. As it turned out, he was the director of the French National Opera Young Artist's program. I asked him about the program and learned about it spanning all of the main opera houses in Paris and not just the Bastille or Garnier and just how many were currently on the program. He was very sympathetic to my plight that night and thought I should be able to see the opera so he took me inside to the ticket desk where he spoke quickly in French to the ladies before writing something on a small square of letterhead paper which would soon act as my VIP ticket. He told me to take the lift up to the 3rd floor where I could wait for the break in acts when an usher could show me in. I greeted the usher as I wondered towards the nearby late-comer's video screen but when I explained the situation, he just winked and lead me to the heavy auditorium doors. He showed me inside and pointed out that I could take up a position on the stairs of this upper balcony.

The second half of the act was in full swing and I could see everything through the thin balustrade in front of me. The Chorus was seated in a stark semi circle on stalls set 4 metres above the action below as long ramps broke up the stage and moved around between scenes. The singers were top notch and while the soprano was very different to the Emma Mathews version of Lucia I was involved with in Perth, it had a different sound that still made a lot of sense of the crazy character. I spent the interval exploring some more of that modern house. It was completed in 1990 with an obvious mission to make sight and sound accessible to every seat in the house. It wasn't the traditional horse shoe shape at all and with a capacity of close to 2700 it was obviously a house for some pretty big voices.

Having been told at the close of the first half by a couple of lovely old opera ladies (who I think were staff from somewhere else in the house) that I'd have to find a better place off the stairs to sit. I told them about by little white ticket and exclaimed that I could go and get a much better seat than where I had been before. I went down to the dress circle and the usher then told me that I could take any seat I wanted that wasn't currently used. I felt very privileged, especially considering the alternative of still being on the road side either attempting to get in in vain or having given up.

The opera closed with a fantastically supportive rupture of applause, making it a real night to remember and leaving me with the lesson that a friendly face and a polite tone can take you a long way when coupled with hopeful persistence.

I took the train back to the bar strip to catch up with Samantha for the evening session back at ye ol' faithful, O'Sullivans. It was still early so we took a couple of pints and then sat down, watching two classic Italian boys eye off people around the room. We had a lively chat about the transparency of it all but as the night wore on, we made guesses on who they would hook up with that night. It was that sort of place in a way. After a good dance and general wind up of the night, we caught a taxi back to her hostel (the people who lurk around Gare du Nord are bad news) then I carried on back home to mine.

Yet another early morning bus ride out but before, I took the time to enjoy the fruit I'd stocked up on before. Some banana slices to compliment my nutella baguettes in the morning was all I needed to brave the long ride to Bern.

September 24, 2013

Wine country

I didn't really know what to expect from Bordeaux and I think one part of me thought would be a town that was really just defined by the vineyards surrounding it. To an extent, that was correct but there was a lot I was to find out about the city in the two short days I had there.

Lesson 1: There are no hostels. Apart from a dodgy place pretty far away from the cultural centre of the town, there were no hostels. This was a provincial sort of place and my last minute approach to booking wasn't really the best in this case. What they did have were lots of little economy hotels. The bus stop hotel didn't have any cheap single rooms left so with a hint to check down the road, I hung around at the reception door until the host decided to turn up. I was in luck with a little double bedded room for me to indulge in after a good number of sleepless nights in Spain.

Lesson 2: Nothing is open on Sundays. I went out to explore as the sun made its way to the horizon but quickly realized that there was something I was missing about this place. What day was it? It only seemed relevant when I found that most shops and even restaurants would be closed that night. I settled for a pizza joint, taking the steaming box back up to my room for an early night in, in the first private room I had had in a long time.

Lesson 3: There really isn't too much in the town of Bordeaux and while the town is quite interesting historically, there aren't too many good places to witness it.

Lesson 4: The town is full of students and while it's certainly a walkable place, a bike is a pretty good idea since it's quite long and narrow.

The following morning, I found my camera was showing the final stages of a slow death with the screen degrading to a final darkness and the lens just failing to extend when turning on. It was time for a quick run through the local fnac (the only thing open on a Sunday coincidentally), finding myself a little shockproof camera that seemed a little more suited to my new phone-less lifestyle. I had gotten in to the habit of replacing my phone maps with pictures taken of paper maps and tourist information boards at tourist bureau's. It worked out pretty well from place to place. Whoever needed a phone anyhow.

I joined a winery tour in the afternoon which just seemed to be the thing that you do in Bordeaux. After a bus trip out through the burbs and out to country, we arrived at our first Chateaux called Chateaux Segonzac, learning about some of the quirks of marketing wine out of Bourg or Cote de Bordeaux and getting that name on the label of your bottles. One of the things I liked about the first tour was that it took us through the industrial parts where all of the hoppers and separators were, showing the big concrete vats where the skins and juice would be mixed to bring the red colour to the wine. I didn't know that the early process of wine making depended so much on re-mixing the skins through the wine vats before the product gets strained, barrelled and cellared. I now knew that apart from the type of grape, the major distinction between a white, rose and red is the difference between no hours and a weeks' worth of skin mixing.

We were shown around the bottling areas and shown the big racks of aging bottles. Not big compared to the monster Torres winery I saw out of Barcelona but it was fun to get closer to the action. I got to know a couple of German exchange students living in Bordeaux on the bus between that and the next destination being the very cosy Chateaux Falfas, enclosed by high walls and a well over-grown garden. Perfumed roses took our noses before we delved in to the dark cellar for a dimly lit wine tasting.

The girls invited me to a little pub quiz night that evening but they were off to freshen up and meet some friends for dinner so I set out to find this killer crepe place I'd heard about. I sat down by myself to a little table at a place called Crepe d'Angel and tried out my ordering and not long after, my first savoury crepe ever was on the plate. I am a now a convert to the crepe but I still couldn't leave without a chocolate sweet crepe. I took a light jog down the road with my desert in hand, knowing that without a mobile, coming late could spell the end of my evening. At the agreed time I sat outside the tourist bureau. 15 minutes past the time and my impression of German timing was down the chute but without anything to replace the wait in the meantime, I persisted and just as well because, 30 minutes the girls emerged, all apologetic with stories from dinner.

We roamed the streets, deciding how to eat an oozing crepe elegantly, eventually finding the bar. House wine was cheap and good as what seemed like whole Erasmus exchange crowd flowed in to the little bar. The quiz questions dissipated into the noise as the night drew on. The three of us took in the sights on the river bank, including a mirror-like water bed, reflecting the glowing Haussian architecture as if it was inverted and floating in the air. I enjoyed a good sleep in the next morning, making the most of my big room before catching the bus out to Paris via Tours before Lunch.

September 22, 2013

Towards Basque country: San Sebastian

Some friends were on the bus that morning out of Madrid, asking about my unlikely date but like me, they were hardly surprised that it had fell through. On the way to San Sebastian we were made aware of all of the little differences that separated the middle of Spain to 'Basque country'. The fact that they had a completely unique language, on land with a financially separated administration from the french and Spanish authorities that have jurisdiction over the small provinces. In Madrid, they had tapas, in San Sebastian they would have pintxos instead of tapa (the main difference being the toothpick stabbed through the bread, deriving the name), zurito instead of cerveza and kalimotxo for the half half mix of win and beer you would often find at bars.

Back in Madrid, Katie had told me about this place she was staying in San Sebastian so having not booked anything until the bus ride over, I thought I would give it a shot. Katie and I got off the bus together, heading to Rodger's hostel, well away from the Busabout options (which had really gotten some horror story reviews). Katie's sense of direction was simply rubbish though, taking wrong turns almost as soon as we got off the bus. I ended up having to take the helm, going in to a couple of shops with our tiny map, pointing and using a couple of words in Spanish before realising that they really did just speak Basque in many places. We finally found the place, stealthily hidden behind an apartment building door with a little name tag on the doorbell directory. We were in the old town while the rest of the Busabouters were in the mass market hostel a good deal north of us. After asking Katie where she had taken me to, she explained that most of the hostels in the old town took this format, composing of 4-6 rooms on a single floor of a building. I could only end up getting the first couple of nights in the place but there was always a good chance of spaces emerging as people changed plans and left their bonds in the hands of the owners.

We went out to find some dinner and joined up with some of the busabout group who had taken the recommendation of the guide. The food looked incredible and the format was somewhat different to what I had experienced elsewhere in Spain. Tbe pre-prepared pintxos occupied the bar counters, ready for individual selection and purchase. At 3EUR per piece with some going for more, it was not a place for a big evening meal. Katie and I retreated to a bar we had seen on the way with a Thursday night special on pintxos. Back at bar, we stocked up on tasty morsels and the beer to wash them down with. There was just enough space for some desert quality art food at the first place before we headed out to find some night life.

I followed the crowd over the river and we ended up at a crowded strip full of life. Bowing to a bus load of pressure, I gave busking a shot. I hoped that there were no Italians to boo as I started reeling off standards from the baritone repertoire. Coins started dropping in to a borrowed hat from people on the bus but soon I got the attention of some locals, not knowing what to thing about this random guy singing at the top of his lungs in the middle of the square, surrounded by a rowdy bunch of Aussies. The change ended up going to some communal drinks. I figured out why this place was so popular when I passed my mountains of coin shrapnel over the counter to a sighing tender in exchange for 6 beers. A smaller group of us wandered around for the next hour trying to find some place to kick on, finding ourselves eating birthday cake under lite rain. Finally, we ended up at this packed little one roomed place called  be bop bar. I ended up saying hi to a bunch of local architecture students who I hung around for most of the night. Some drinks later and with tired feet from dancing, I made off with on of them, re-joining her cajoling friends an hour or so after to say farewell.

Katie and I traded stories of love and conquest from the last night over a late, absorbent breakfast. There was one thing I could think about doing that day to bring back consciousness and that was to go for a swim. San Sebastian is known as a prime location for surfers and it didn't disappoint. Cold and refreshing with some great waves to catch.

That was about all we could manage that night before the evening began once more. In that small 40 person hostel, the kitchen was small and homely and Marco would cook up a brilliant paella every second night. Drinking games too and it was just a stone's throw to Ezpala. Courtney and I met and had a very energetic night on the dance floor of that dark underground bar.

Another second hung over morning and I caught up with Katie for a familiar breakfast before heading up to the tall Jesus statue that watched over the old town from the peak of the adjacent hill. We found it best to walk off the spirits, urging each other to take more steps up the hill face. We were rewarded with panoramic views over both sides of San Sebastian, the beaches and the island sitting in the western bay. On talking about the last night, we decided to catch up with Courtney and her friend by the beach bearing street side candy but mobilelessness struck again and we just missed them.

The hostel opening I was hoping for didn't end up opening up, leaving me to move around the corner to an even smaller hostel composing of 4 quad bed bedrooms and an even smaller kitchen. Rodger's hostel seemed like the surfer's choice with paraphernalia scattered over the walls but to me, it was just a bed for that night. I already had my people over at my old hostel.

It was a weekend night and hunting for affordable food in such a food capital became very difficult. Delectable pintxos adorned the bar tops of every bar we saw and having missed lunch, we were up for a big meal. San Sebastian is such a wonderful destination for food with each bite being a pleasure and the sight of the next taste to come being even greater. On the down side, it is not a cheap place. With drinks being a good deal more expensive than your average over Spain and the preferred pintxos style being on a per portion basis, it is somewhere I would definitely come back to on a more adult budget. This being said, we settled for the franchise fixed prices of McDonalds.

Stocking up on a bottle each of 4EUR vodka (not intending at first to finish them...), it was back to the old hostel where Marco had another night in store for us all. We ended up at a nice little place which had a bit of a festival, open air concept, based on tokens. Either way, once the Macca's lining broke down, Katie and I were pretty out of it, finding ourselves preferring not to stand up for some time. We both met again the next morning at 7am while trudging in land to the bus pick up point. We had both unused tokens in various pockets and concluded eventually that I'd managed to lock myself in an automated bathroom, mistaking the 'delay exit' button for the one that lets you out, for the maximum 20 minutes while Katie headed back with Marco having not been able to find me.

By the sounds of it, San Sebastian had been more of a party stop than a cultural one for most of the others too. I felt like I knew the place and it was now on my re-visit list with the next destination now on the horizon. The bus ride over the boarder marked the end of my time in Spain with a new found fondness for this country that has so many more facets than I had expected. Having only had a glimpse of this country, it is now a top place to explore in the future. Having learned about the completely different regions in Catalonia, Valencia and Basque country made Spain a real surprise to me. With a national identity being to me a mix of creative flair, laid back life style and great food, I felt I had a lot to learn from the place. Till next time Spain.

September 19, 2013

Towards Basque country: Madrid

A short walk from the bus an the drowsy Busabouters streamed into uHostel but I had other plans. This was another place I decided to avoid and down the road, I found the state run Hostel with the name I couldn't say which was immaculately fitted out. The internet had perfect reception in the rooms and the bathroom was refreshingly luxurious, making Madrid the top hostel so far.

After the general move in to the place, I joined the rabble once again on a trip to this tapas place called 100 Montaditos. This place was the best place for cheap drinks and was a bit of a franchise take on Tapas. We came to learn that Madrid was much more of a place for it than Barcelona not that this was the best place to find that out. Beers were 1.50 and the 100 different tapas varieties came in packages with names like "The Destroyer" and "Classica". Aside from the lame naming the place was a good start to the evening and the evening ended up kicking on way in to the morning with a trip to Maccas just around the corner from the 360 hostel belonging to some new found friends.

I went to catchup with Elenore, Katie and Lydia on another Sandemans walking tour. We walked around the city with Jose, out of Placa de Mayor, down towards the oldest restaurant in the world and then to the local 24hr chocolateria. Onward to the Royal palace and the opera before taking up Jose on his recommendation of a place called La Tiacebola. I guided the girls as the map reader and just as they thought all hope was lost and that the place was never to be found, we spotted the little old sign by the door. This was undoubtedly the best Spanish meal we had had up till then. Not only had Jose delivered on the tour but he had gone on to make the day for us. We dusted of a decent carafe of house wine and found our merry way to the Palace for a closer look. This, surprisingly, was actually the biggest Palace in Europe and offered some real treasures.

While it wasn't as consistent as say Versailles, it bettered the place in variety with the occasional instance where crazy creativity had taken over. Some rooms would fake it and some were over the top in a way that made you think that budget was low but that some artists would take it upon themselves to make a masterpiece. The highlight for me was definitely one relatively small room that we found where the wall wasn't covered in fresco, stuco or tapestry. It was covered in countless ceramic works, adorning the walls and coming out of them with green and turquoise leaves and cantilevered cornucopias. The roof was rich in texture and shape, changing shape as I moved around the room. The dining hall had a table to seat something like 100 people with the table settings immaculately measured. It was near closing time so we had just enough time to see the old school, in house palace chemist. Shelves stacked with elegant jars full of exotic spices and 'erbs made for a rather strange sight which had a weird sort of clinical feel. That evening was another tapas haunt with a rather different food policy.

All drinks came in 500mL plastic cups and there as really only one rule: If you still have something to drink, they'll get you more taps. I got one super sized beer and the surges of food started to come. It was clearly a good student and young person hang out as the food got noticeably more filling as the beer dried up. A great way to catch up with  a big group of friends as when you finish eating, you've all already bought your drinks. No skwabble on paying for shared food. It was already built in to the drinks costs (and a beer really wasn't expensive anyway).

The main event of the night would be a flamenco show. We didn't get there particularly early which may have been an oversight as we got shunted down to a table down the end of one of the wings of the room. The rhythm was exquisite and the guitars looked a bit like they'd done that show a thousand times but the sound they made was still everything one would expect. Unfortunalty, the singer pitch didn't really satisfy but out of two singers, there was still plenty to love. It finished late so something brilliant came to mind: 24hour Churros. We made the trek across the town with hot chocolate in mind, not leaving the place till 2am.

I took a moment by myself the next morning to check out the famous Prado Gallery, walking just 20 minutes across this rather small capital city. The place was just choc-a-bloc full of Renaissance Spanish religious art and after that, it was full of the more crazy brand of art, edging closer to the surrealists. One curious work was a prelude to the Mona Lisa but a student of Leonardo. It had all of the hallmarks including the pose and the face but did not draw any attention. It was interesting to think of how close that painting was to the real deal in time and space. Of course there was a whole wing devoted to Goya which was packed full of tours and students alike. I had less than an hour to explore what could have consumed days but such is the beast of short term travel.

I joined the girls in the Parque del Retiro for lunch, taking in the warming sun and the space and silence afforded by an expansive city park. The sweet sound of unaccompanied violin filtered through the trees to compliment the last throws of our picnic. She played Bach's violin sonatas and partitas from memory and it was exquisite, I had been starved of good street music for so much of my time in Spain (a marked drop in quality when entering Spain actually) and she provided relief.

I talked to her after she played and learned about her move from Latvia to Spain and now to Switzerland where she had been playing in the orchestra belonging to Gideon Kramer, one of the true virtuosos of our time. I went bank to the group and they said I was obviously more interested in the music than them. They said I should ask her out which didn't really seem like a bad idea at the time. I said that I was going to see the Barber of Seville that night and that she may want to join. Funnily enough, she already had a ticket and was going with some friends. I had no phone and no method of contact but we arranged a place to meet at interval but having not been to the opera house before, soon after we said goodbye, I knew that we wouldn't meet again.

I headed down to the Teatro Real in time for 4pm to buy my last minute ticket as they sell them at 90% off in the hours before curtain open. I made it to the hostel to change and back in time to get a bite before the Opera started. Of course you have Largo al Fatotum in opening with Figaro boasting his wears. The house was big an although Figoro's voice was nice it didn't carry. Unfortunately he cracked a couple of times towards the end, setting a precedent for a relatively ordinary performance. The colours were bright and though the set was sparse, rainbow colours featured in the costumes and the final cast call was pretty. The orchestral pit was quite high and open, leaving me to wonder whether the fact that vocals sounded soft was due to the singers or the building, I did try to catch up with my Latvian friend at interval that night. Our rendezvous was to be on the second floor balcony facing the royal palace. Little did I know the size of this balcony. A VIP event consumed a segment of the balcony and the floor's bar, making it difficult to see all of the faces around the area. I thought of many reasons why I would not see her there, as it was a bit of an absurd idea in the first place and with half of the interval left, I went to explore the rest of the house. The interval food options being tapas rather than chips etc. looking like quite a good idea for the longer operas.

I left the opera feeling a little unsatisfied having not been impressed with the performance as I had been by other European performances and I had also missed the representative of those wonderful Bach violin sonatas. I decided to go and join a pub crawl at that time, the Spanish night still being young, I tried two venues I knew from adverts but those Madrid bars composed of this weird mix of bar and club where the music was too loud to talk but the light didn't seem right to dance. I was clearly more sober than many others at that point and couldn't really make friends or maybe just didn't want to. Some pub crawl guy tried to recruit me in to the crawl with a free armband, staying for a couple of free drinks before deciding that I just didn't seem in the mood for a night out.

I jogged up a couple of main roads, heading towards the hostel, not being a victim to those I saw prowling on the main road out of placa del Sol. The similarity it bore to La Ramblas in Barcelona the week before brought on an instinct to raise my senses and keep good distance in my jog home. It wasn't a time to be kind or friendly.

September 16, 2013

A Mediterranean Spain

It was a big drive from Nice to Barcelona stopping in Avignon on the way. It looked like a pretty interesting town with a whole lot of Papal history behind it, so after the long drive, it was getting late. The bus arrived in Barcelona and stopped on a main road, leaving us to walk over, past a pretty considerable row of sex shops and finally on to the Be Sound Hostel which was one that I decided not to stay at and from the walk in and the tiny staircases up and as I saw the narrow little staircases up and down the hostel, I was pretty happy with my choice. I got myself on to their internet and figured out where my bed actually was then said goodbye on my walk up to the Barcelona St Christopher's Hostel.

My walk took me north along las Ramblas to the Placa de Catalonia. This hostel was the newest in the St Christopher's franchise and was fully configured with key card lifts, floor access barriers, room lockers, bunk curtains, hostel-wide wifi, a bar and free breakfast in the morning. Definitely the better choice. After I settled in to the room which even had its own little lounge area, I went out again, back towards the Be Sound to catch up with some friends for dinner. We were pretty keen for tapas as it was the sort of thing we were expecting to get out of Spain. I suggested a little square lined by restaurants that I'd passed on the way through. A couple of drinks down in the open air of the square under trees. A big group of school kids ran past on what seemed like some school physical education class. It was 7pm. Even though we were all pretty peckish at this point, 7 is really a pretty early dinner in Spain and we thought we'd have to force ourselves in to a new routine, We only lasted till 7:30pm before we succumbed to hunger and ordered a big 7 dish tapas pack. The tapas would always be ordered separately to the drinks it would seem, something different between the Catalonian area and other parts of Spain. One of a couple of cultural things we were struggling to figure out. It seemed to us that there were some quirks and lots of know-how about eating and drinking in Spain. A little past 10 and the same group of 40ish kids ran past, making us wondering what schedule they could possibly be operating on. Night over and it was time to sleep so I said goodbye as they would be heading out of Barcelona the next day.

The next day I woke up to the rustling of a girl in one of the other bunks of the room who I had met when I came in the day before. I let her know about the bike tour I had signed up for the day before and she jumped at the chance to join albeit without time for breakfast. Sophie and I walked on down to the old town where the tour was due to start from and with some pastries on the go; she was ready for the adventure.

Once on these fat wheeled bikes, we were gliding through the narrow lanes of the Barcelona old town, amazed at our brazen tour guide and his cavalier attitude to pedestrians. We heard about the old town hall and the earlier leaders that I can't remember so much about anymore. Over time we made it to the Sangrada de Familia, The single craziest structure I've ever seen. We learned about the architect Gaudi making his home in Barcelona and his demise during the construction of his masterpiece. This church resembled a melting sand castle with tall spires and great bunches of fruits adorning their tops. While this was my top destination in Barcelona, I would have to wait till another day. The tour took us past the biggest brick triumphal arch in the world and an old moor inspired bull ring. Lunch at the beach and then a little more history on the Spanish absorption of Catalonia and some of the reasons behind an independence vote and also the futility of it.

Sophie was pretty impressed by the Gaudi art we saw so the afternoon became a bit of a building hunt. We found two apartment block-type buildings including one which resembled a dragon in some way. The bombastic curves really thrilled me and while pretty amazing; I couldn't help but sympathize for the poor engineers that had to make it work.

That afternoon we considered trying to make it out to Park Guell for a picnic dinner but the weather closed in on us. Just as we were heading from the hostel to the metro station, the rain started pelting down with thunder following soon after. It would have to wait.

Tonight would be a big a big one. With the Hostel bar (Belushi’s) pumping up for the night, Sophie and I went down and introduced ourselves to a bunch of Belgian med students who were taking a post exam holiday together. We joined in on their drinking game until about 2am when the bar closed. Turned out that this was a thing they did every night and whenever the bar closed, there was always a hostel contingent that would go out to a club – a different one for each night. The club was great, down an inconspicuous staircase which popped out of the floor, down in to a beach side club called Opium. What was so amazing about clubs in Barcelona was just how civilized it all seemed to be. Even though it was almost 3am in the morning, everyone seemed so level headed and just wanted to dance and have a good time. I ended up going back with the Belgians at 5:30am as I heard stories of how wonderful Bruges was and how I should have had it on my itinerary. The club was just starting to get busy.

The next day and Sophie and I met up again over breakfast before heading out to Park Guell, Gaudi’s gift to public space. Gaudi was inspired by nature and only tried to enhance it so when he put his hand to a park, the result was so unique. Elevated rock balconies blended seamlessly into the surrounding greenery with rough pillars topped by aloe vera which looked like they had been naturally formed by centuries of erosion. We took to the high road and found a lookout which gave us a view of the whole city, quite flat and low but punctuated by the massive Sangrada de Familia which we had seen the day before. The mosaic art took even more time for us to explore as the patterns and colours absorbed us, despite the occasional spell of rain.

We came back to the city centre to the roars of crowds. It was the Catalonian Independence Day and the locals were out in full force. Sophie and I saw the traditional human tower and saw the little toddlers climb to the top, a good 8m up to be the 5th person at the top of the tower. It seemed like a pretty crazy tradition but I guess that what makes it so fun. The colours were all yellow and red with Catalan flags flying from every balcony. We said farewell as Sophie headed off to Madrid.

I rushed off soon after to a tapas and paella class where we I chanced across some more Busabout people. We learned about making a traditional tapa by rubbing a cut half of a tomato against the bread like a grater, the traditional Manchego cheese. A good sangria mixing tutorial and a couple more plates of nibbles and we were ready for the main event: A paella cooking demo by their fantastically charismatic chef at the Travel Bar.

The next day, I was on yet another wine tour that would also be taking us up to the picturesque monastery of Montserrat. We passed the city cemetery on the way to the mountain, a curious cultural quirk where cremated remains are slotted into holes in the mountain side and faced with plaques. The more affluent, the more people would pay for their loved ones to be higher up on the hill, ‘closer to God’. When we got to the Monastery, we were faced with a huge line, shaking our heads in dismay as we only had 40 minutes in the place before having to move on. We soon learned that the line was only to pray at the Black Madonna, a sacred site at the back of the church. We could simply walk in the front door to see the inside of this magnificent building. In the far distance, we too could see this relic as pilgrims passed by in front of it.

Before our time was up, we timed our arrival for the funicular to the top of the hill which was blessed with incredible views and many small chapels. I power-walked along the path to the first of many lookouts, most of which I’d have to miss out on. I raced up a steep, root infused rock staircase, up to the summit of the hill, granting a fantastic 360 degree panorama of the area, this rock being the highest point for as far as the eye could see. I paused to take in the strong breeze before scaling the path back down to the funicular station.

The Torres Winery was next and it was pretty obviously geared up for tourists. After a cinematic introduction, we were corralled in to a little tractor train with audio guide for a dozen languages. It passed by row after row of vines before taking us down in to one of the state of the art climate controlled cellars, sitting mostly underground. We could see endless rows of French oak barrels, stacked in these huge rooms. Passing by the big processing silos and huge cages of bottle aging wines, we could appreciate that this was truly a high production winery. We could taste wines and see a somewhat extensive history of the Torres name as they even had a little museum.

Coming towards lunch, we stopped in a little town called Sitges, a thriving community of gay men on the coast. The beaches were busy and it was a curious sight when you realized that the town seemed to be about 95% composed of men. We could walk up to the church and see the town hall but the town was pretty quiet over the weekend. We ended up relaxing for a while with beers and hot dogs, seeming to reinforce the stereotype belonging to our majority American group. I grabbed desert at this wonderful pay-by-the-gram bakery called ‘Granier pans artesans’, leaving with this beautiful apple and hazelnut pastry.

I’d seen adverts around town and online for a duo of Spanish guitarists and having arrived back in Barcelona just in time, I strode over to the little church where they would be performing, guided through the many pedestrianized streets guided only by my phone. I made it to the church just as the concert was starting so stood outside this little stone vaulted side chapel that faced a lovely cloistered courtyard. With a capacity of not more than 50, I slid into a seat between songs before the music really heated up. The players were husband and wife and played beautifully together, strumming closed-eyed with a somewhat sensuous nature. You could really see that they had grown up with that music and knew it in their souls. The small space erupted following the last song with a spectacular encore to follow. The couple whipped out their party trick with four hands on one guitar. The pair changed roles of fingerboardist, ground bass player, plucker and percussionist too many times to count as they romanced the instrument and each other leading to an even grander applause. We all stayed around to enjoy a glass of white where I enjoyed the company of an older Canadian couple who had not more than a couple of days in that brilliant city.

I met Claudia and her friend over breakfast the following morning and it seemed we all had one thing on our minds being… Lunch. And Sangrada de Familia. We started in La bouqueria which was a fantastically colourful market selling everything from seafood and Jambon to saffron and fruit juices. The two South African girls had been to this great little organic/raw type place around the corner from the hostel for the last two days and seemed keen on making it the third day running.

We avoided the long walk under the sun and took the metro to find the line already stretching around the building. Long but fast since 40 minutes later, we were in and admiring one of the most fantastical pieces of architecture I have ever had the pleasure to enter. It was like the rule book had been completely ripped up. As if Gaudi had walked into a rain forest one day and emerged with an architectural model of a church made of mud and sticks the next. The interior was so tall and full of colour, all engineered with minimal columns to hold up that colossal sculpted roof. Like in the park, the balconies were like eroded cliff faces and the whole atmosphere was like a reconstruction of a forest.

From the outside, closer to the carved facades, you could see people but from a distance, the structure continued to look like a melting sand castle. The place is still under construction with an estimate construction date being somewhere at the end of the century. There were a couple of models of the completed project which showed how it would look at the end. Apparently, the place is already so popular as a tourist destination that it’s making profit already. Some even expect the construction to be delayed because the church is paid well by the city until the date that it is finished.

The museum below the church was equally fantastic with full 3D detailed models printed and viewable. Apparently Gaudi left so many models and drawings behind that they can complete the thing without substantial re-invention.

In the evening we headed out to the ‘Magic Fountain’ which puts on a show at 8pm each night. We took a funicular out to somewhere up a hill and ended up having a really long walk through well-manicured but dark gardens, using phones to light the way on occasion. In the distance we started to hear Disney tunes and headed for the music. The show had already started and the crowd was huge! We ended up finding a place on the stairs and began to unpack our picnic. We unpacked the Torres wine, cheese, bread and chocolate and were sat transfixed. The music was timed and the light and water show was fantastic!

That night, we picked up some more hostel people before heading out to Razzmatazz, a Barcelona 5 floor super club. The line was long and we were ready for it but when we got to the door we found out that the cover fee was 30 Euros since there was some big act on that night. We didn’t really want to bother and moved on to another club, somewhat closer to the hostel. A little put out; we found a little place suggested to us called Jamboree. It was great fun in our little group of eight in this tiny club with a capacity which was probably not more than 100. We danced till the morning with some leaving later and later. I stayed with some a couple of new found friends till 6am since I didn’t really see the point of sleeping before hopping on an early morning bus out of Barcelona. I said bye and walked back to my own hostel, up Las Ramblas.

Had I known what I know now, I probably would have taken a more dodgy way home as believe it or not, the most popular pedestrian thoroughfare in the day is safe at night but still isn’t a great place to walk at 6am. Drinks were at least 10 EUR a pop at the club so I hadn’t had a drop for a good 4 hours at that point. I was in a pretty vigilant and sober way. It wasn’t the first time I’d walked back by myself in similar cities but it wasn’t going to be my night. I walked 10 minutes up Las Ramblas from the club, passed a police patrol and not more than 200m onwards, I passed a news stall. From behind that, two African women came up to me and grabbed me from in front and behind. It was pretty obvious that they were trying to sell sex so I just thought it’d be a simple no and to walk on but it wasn’t so simple. They distracted my hands at the time but I didn’t realize the significance of that till I checked by pockets not more than 20 seconds after they went away. My phone was missing. I looked around but of course they were gone. I jogged back down the road to the patrol I’d passed just moments before but the language barrier hit. They directed me to a station down one of the perpendicular roads. I knew at that moment that they weren’t even trying to sell sex and that that was the ruse in the first place. I still had my wallet which I was grateful for but a new phone getting taken was really not what I was looking for at that point in the trip. The station was open but they could only say that I should wait for their translator to get in at 9am to take the theft report. I didn’t have the time. I admitted defeat and headed back to the hostel, hoping to at least salvage some phone information while I still could. I saw countless other women along Las Ramblas on the way home who approached me so I ended up breaking into a jog instead to avoid any possible contact. Easy prey I realized and thank goodness I wasn’t drunk as I’m sure most of their victims were.

Back at the hostel, I logged into a handy little online phone locator and looked at the activity logs, finding out that these crafty women had already changed the sim card four times, I assume to find out whether it was locked and had finally turned it off. I sent the remote wipe and kill command but they knew what they were doing and not more than 30 minutes after the theft, they had wiped it off the face of the network.

I packed up and jogged on towards the bus rendezvous, somewhat put out but in the grand scheme of things, pleased that I still had my health and also my wallet. The bus arrived mid-day in Valencia, checking into the ‘Green hostel’ which was a pretty middle of the road place. Not wanting to sit in the police station first thing in the day, I went for a walk with some Americans around the town, taking in some of its really old roots. For quite a small town, they had a couple of very grand buildings including the Cathedral and a rather old Valencian Gothic Silk Exchange building. The de-commissioned bull ring was playing host to Oktoberfest celebrations and as far as food went, they were known for some sort of special tigernut milk known as horchata which was a pretty good drink, chilled under the afternoon sun. For its size the monuments were of a pretty good standard with the silk exchange hall of columns being pretty fantastic but I think I was getting a little used to the big city marvels and it didn’t amaze me as much as it might have at the start of my trip. The city had the hallmarks of a once great mercantile city.

I dropped into the police station later that afternoon and it would have been much easier with a phone to entertain me but the 3 hours it took to get through to an office passed pretty slowly. Eventually being woken from unintentional slumber, I was directed to a phone where an operator took down most of the detail in English, sending the translation through to the local officer who did all the rubber stamping. A well-cooked traditional and authentic paella put an end to a long, long day.

I woke up to the sun and realized that I had no alarm clock since my phone was gone. I never thought about the consequence though. I was late to a bike tour I had booked the day before. I raced to the reception and got the tour company on the phone. I let them know I was fit and able and moments later I was out the door running over to the bike store. I followed the map they had given and arriving, well puffed and hot, they found me a bike. Contrary to their protestations, I got them to put a likely tour path on a city map and then I was on the bike to go and catch up. I was almost an hour late for a 3 hour tour but I was going to catch them. I cut ahead to where I thought I’d defiantly be able to head them off. I then followed the map to the letter through little alleys and along busy roads till I was sure they couldn’t be behind them. Seated at the top of a staircase at the edge of the old city, I hoped I had guessed the guide’s path correctly and had found a foolproof choke point. I rinsed an earlier graze from a fall, having gone over the handlebars when I rode down some stairs while riding hands free, reading the map. Fifteen minutes went by and I was beginning to doubt myself. I back tracked a little bit, only along the most visible road options and in one of the small squares, I found them. The tour guide was surprised and a little suspicious of this random coming up to him claiming to be on his tour but armed with his name and a convincing story, I joined them. War torn but relieved, I joined the tour for the valuable last part of the tour.

This segment would take us to the new town. Santiago Calatrava, responsible for the Turning torso skyscraper in Malmo and the new World trade centre transportation hub in New York, was accused of bleeding the city dry after massive budget over-runs on this project of tremendous scale. The ‘City of the Arts and Sciences’ is an incredible architectural complex complete with opera house, sports stadium, physical sciences museum and planetarium. I was happy to get the background from the guide and felt my rapid and foodless morning was worth the struggle.

I ran into my New Zealand friends from Cinque Terre once more and joined them that night at a tapas festival down by the port. I had no idea it was on but thankfully I did run into them. What a great evening full of food, drink and cultural exchange. Money switched for tokens which you could exchange for tapas, drinks or deserts at one of 30+ stalls around the tent. Chefs were tasting and rating the morsels on a stage and the rumble of merriness echoed off the ceiling. After double deserts, we were so full at the end that we rolled into the taxi. I joined them for a super homemade breakfast the next morning before we caught the mid-day bus to the next destination.

I had learned about Catalonia, about Valencia (the fact that they were originally completely different Spanish cultures) and was ready to move west to the next area, to the centre of the country and the capital, Madrid. I had marvelled Gaudi architecture, partied till the morning with the locals, tasted the wines of the area and seen the land from a height. I was beginning to understand the flavour of Spain and where their relaxed and casual nature came from. Despite a little mobile theft setback in Barcelona, I was resolved to get by without and to make the most of the rest of this surprisingly intriguing country.


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Category Archives: News

The Future is Now

Autumn is always a time of change and this year some big changes are coming to Trumpetflower-land. First and foremost, I’m launching a Patreon campaign! If you don’t know about Patreon, it’s a nifty new way to support artists. It’s … Continue reading

Posted in News | 8 Comments

Friends from Far Away, PZS & beyond

The longer the wait between blog posts, the more news I have to report, so naturally this post is a bit of a doozy. But followers of my Tumblr might already know about the recent release of “Friends from Far … Continue reading

Posted in Comics, Events, News, Shows, Teaching | Leave a comment

Travels & more!

Hello there! This being my first blog post in months, I have much to report… First things first: I have just returned from a grand couchsurfing adventure in the company of Max Karl Key and our fabulous friends from foreign … Continue reading

Posted in Drawings, Events, Life, News | Leave a comment

A Brave New Trumpetflower

I’m pleased to present this newest incarnation of my website – more dynamic than ever before, and ready for regular updates. The dust hasn’t settled completely, and there’s a little more tweaking to be done, but I couldn’t wait to … Continue reading

Posted in News, Paintings | Leave a comment

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Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Dialectics and the Center

Most people want to be part of the reasonable center.

Marx's uses this desire. His theory is called Dialectical Materialism. In dialectics the philosopher defines two contradictory positions. As the philosopher argues the contradictory points people begin to imagine a position as the rational center.

Now, here's the deal: By choosing the extremes, one can make any position on any issue appear to be the center by defining the extremes.

Marx never explained how a communist utopia would work. All he did was to create a left/right dichotomy in an effort to create a new center.

In progressivism, the radical left will define a new extreme. The reactionary right will react in defense of the status quo. The dialectical argument will form a new status quo. After which the radical left will choose another radical position leaving reactionary conservatives defending the new status quo.

When one studies the history of our financial mess, one finds that the financial tools at the center of the mess were created by progressives of yesteryear. Insurance, Credit Default Swaps, Mortgage Backed Securities, Hedge Funds, CDOs, short selling, etc., were all created by progressives. Yet the elite is able to project ownership of this toxic mix of derivatives onto Conservatives.

The funky derivatives that crashed the market were created with the idea that they would regulate the market. Rather than excepting that they don't regulate the market, progressives are able to use the failure of their creations to justify a new layer of regulation.

Go figure?

With dialectics progressives change society through illusion.

Many of the things we consider the rational center today were considered dangerous extremes in the past. Conversely, we see the rational center of yesteryear as a dangerous extreme.

Have you ever noticed how the elite spend so much time trying to define the position of their opposition? They do this to make their radical position appear the rational center.

In this last election we saw everything from racism and teabagging to excessive slurpee drinking projected on the tea party.

[slurp, slurp, slurp]

The arguments put forward by members of the movement were systematically ignored.

With this free floating system, the ruling elite can yank the people about by their nose rings.

Unfortunately, this method of gaining power by shifting the center has the long term effect of eroding the foundations of a nation and eventually reducing the people to poverty.

The founders were living in a day when the elite under King George was trying to centralize power by changing the foundations of the colonies. They saw the dangers of these tactics. Their solution was to set the center with a Constitution.

Today we find that the Fundamental Change of FDR and Obama has created a dangerous world where the Constitution of our founders is seen as a dangerous extreme.

I hold with the tea party that the Constitution was a good thing, and that this game of trying to move the center through dialectics is an inherently bad thing.

Through 2009 and 2010, the tea party worked heavily on the Republicans and convinced many in the party to return to their forgotten principles of this great nation. I hope that Republicans do well in the midterm.

Altough I am currently rooting for the Republicans, I don't see this as a Republican thing.

It's a Constitution thing. For this reason, I am rooting for the independent Tancredo in Colorado because he is an independent with a chance of winning.

The worst thing that can happen to this country would be to develop a two party system where the minority Republican Party favors the Constitution and the majority Democratic Party wants a socialist utopia and the center is simply societal decay.

My biggest hope is that the tea party stays independent and that we see a number of tea party candidates on the Democratic side in the 2012 election.

Pennywisdom said...

You should check out my new post The Tea Party to Restore Sanity it is kind of along the same lines as this.

Pennywisdom said...

I don't know why my html isn't working. Just go to thebobo.net

y-intercept said...

You are missing the close quote. I will comment on your blog


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How can we deal with rising levels of air pollution?

How can we deal with rising levels of air pollution?

Data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that air pollution in the UK has reached crisis level. Deaths from asthma have risen by 25% over a decade and many areas of the country have unpleasantly high levels of pollution.

Impact of pollution

We all benefit from the use of transport, heating and power, but we all suffer from the effects of contaminated air.

The Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health have estimated that outdoor pollution contributes to around 40,000 early deaths a year.

We can act to reduce the overall levels of air pollution and its impact on us. One of the biggest things we can do is to stop being so lazy and make more effort as individuals to reduce our emissions and take sensible precautions.

Other measures will only work at scale with a big effort by society and government. There are also some ridiculous suggestions put out there by scientists and journalists that are unrealistic and unhelpful. Nobody is going to listen to anyone telling them to just stay indoors.

Avoiding the worst areas of pollution

Quit smoking. Smoking is like paying for the privilege of stuffing your face in an exhaust, a quick search of the side effects of smoking and vaping will hopefully help you to kick the habit.

Now that your air quality is instantly improved, it is time to look at other ways to avoid the harm of air pollution.

Avoiding the most polluted areas is a fundamental, if a bit obvious, way of improving your quality of life. More than 40 cities and towns across the UK exceed levels set by the World Health Organisation.

The town of Scunthorpe has finally topped a rankings table – as the most polluted place in the UK with 15 micrograms per cubic metre. At least it isn’t as bad as the 217 micrograms recorded in Zabol, Iran, another place to scrub off your holiday bucketlist.

Most of us don’t have the luxury of choosing where we live, though. However, there are plenty of apps that can help you measure your local air quality and help you plot a better route.

Wearing masks

This one is up for debate. Go to any big city and you will see local citizens wandering with paper face masks. They are almost ubiquitous in a place like Tokyo. In order for them to offer any real protection, you have to use a good model – the most basic paper masks to do very little.

A good model will end up looking more like respirators than masks and carry a heftier price tag. You might not get them in designer models and the looks you will draw from passers-by might be quite alarming, but some studies have found reduced blood pressure in mask users, so there may be some greater benefits.

In the home

There are plenty of precautions we can take in our homes to limit air pollution and keep it in the evil outdoors. There have been some concerns about the volatile organic compounds emitted by household products like air fresheners and perfumes.

Without going tinfoil hat on you or causing panic on the streets, it might be worth considering using them in well ventilated areas or reducing the amount you use.

Some of the scents in our favourite products can produce carcinogens like formaldehyde when exposed to ozone. Having houseplants can actually soak up some of these toxic chemicals, fill your house with happy oxygen and brighten it up with colour as long as you remember to water them.

Air purifiers are another great way to mop up unpleasant particles in the air. They can take away triggers for asthma, pollen dust, carbon, bacteria and cooking smells.

Avoid lounging indoors in your dirty outdoor clothes. You might not need to go to the extremes that CNN recommend – they suggest you ‘strip soon after hitting your doorstep’.

Some advice is unhelpfully inconvenient. One academic study on the subject in the Journal of Thoraic Disease has ‘staying indoors’ as its first suggestion. This begs the question what else must we do? The main cause of death – is life itself!

What we must do as a society

There is only so far that we can go to prevent air pollution as individuals before we need to collectively wake up to this hazy, brown, coughing crisis and do something. There is plenty that society and the government can do.

Carbon emissions must be reduced – whether by incentivizing consumers to cut down on their wasteful use of resources, regulating businesses or investing in cleaner, green technology. For example, more investment in public transport and pedestrianised high streets could help reduce the burden of transport pollution.

How are you reducing your energy footprint and what would you like to see done by people in power? Our Public Health & Community Studies students in Coventry, London and Scarborough look at how we arrange our societies to ensure that the most vulnerable people do not disproportionately suffer from their environment.


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« Getting plenty of interviews but not getting job offers? | Main | The Top 5 Ways to Use Your Winter Break »

Count on Your Career Center

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The academic year is nearly halfway over and you're probably thinking about "what's next." As you are thinking about looking for a job, where you would like to live, and working on your resume and cover letter, make sure to visit your college or university's career center.

Your career center is your partner in the job search process and provides many helpful resources to assist you along the way. It may feel slightly intimidating to reach out to your career center and schedule an appointment with an advisor, but trust me when I say we want to help you and see you succeed. Here are some ways you can engage with the Career Center and successfully prepare for your upcoming job search:

One-on-One Appointments: Review your job search documents (resume and cover letters), develop your job search strategy, and discuss the application and job search process with an advisor.
Mock Interviews: Practice interview questions with an advisor, HR recruiter, or school administrator to polish your interview skills and boost your confidence.
Alumni Connections: Ask your advisor if it is possible to be connected to alumni of your college or university in your geographic or school targets.
Networking opportunities: Ask if your career center plans workshops or events that connect you to school administrators or alumni to help you form new relationships and learn from experienced professionals.
Job Fair Information: Your career center likely has information about upcoming job fairs in your region or at your own institution and can help you prepare for these important job search events.

Don't be afraid to leverage the resources available to you and take full advantage of what your career center has to offer. You'll be glad you did!

Holly Klenk
Assistant Director, Cohen Career Center
College of William & Mary

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Archive for the ‘Email’ Category.

Students can now personalise their MyZone with themes

Whether you want to differentiate between inboxes or simply want a bit more colour, your MyZone/Gmail can now be customized with your own personal touch.

Here’s what to do:

1) Open MyZone
2) Click the gear in the top right
3) Select Themes

It’s that easy.

For more information and support on how to set the theme to your MyZone, please see the following article from Google:

Google+ is now available for your College MyZone account

We’re pleased to inform you that Google+ is now available for your College MyZone account.  Google+ is a social media tool that introduces new ways to connect and communicate with each other.

Joining Google+

To use Google+ you need to join and create your Google+ Profile. Make sure to join using the name you’re commonly known by. Learn more

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Feature highlights

  • Google+ Profiles: Create a profile with information about yourself. For example, you can add information about your classes, campus activities or groups, projects and expertise. You can choose which information is visible to others inside or outside TCD. The only exception is your name, which is always publicly visible. Learn more about Google+ Profiles.
  • Circles: Share information with specific people by organising your contacts into circles. For example, create circles for friends, classmates, courses, projects or special-interest groups on campus. Learn more about circles.
  • Hangouts: Connect and communicate in multi-way video rooms called hangouts. Hangouts provide screen sharing and integrate with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for collaborative editing. When you start or join your first hangout, you’ll be prompted to install the Google Voice and Video Chat plug-in for your web browser. You’ll also need to connect a webcam and use a computer microphone (preferably a headset). Learn more about hangouts.
  • Picasa Web Albums: Because Google+ uses Picasa Web Albums for photo sharing, we’ve also turned on this service for your Google Apps account. When you share photos, they’re stored in Picasa Web Albums, which you can access at
  • Mobile access: You can use Google+ on mobile devices, using either a native app or a mobile web browser. Learn more

Important reminder

  • Because you’re signing up for Google+ with your email address the College’s Policies, in particular the Social Networking and Social Media Policy, apply to Google+ usage.

If you have questions or need help with Google+ then make sure you check out these Google+ resources:

Change to spam email filtering service for staff

On Monday, 26th May, we introduced a change in the way spam is filtered in the staff email service.  Exchange Online Protection (EOP) scans for spam emails and any messages infected with viruses that are addressed to staff ‘’ email accounts.  When the EOP service detects and identifies anything suspicious, it will place it in quarantine and will send a notification email to you to inform you of this action.  You will receive notifications daily, should there have been anything new placed in quarantine.

Within the notification email you will be able to manage any emails that have been quarantined.  This includes reviewing all quarantined emails and marking any message that has been incorrectly identified as spam.  As well, you will be able to report unwanted spam or phishing emails that arrive in your inbox.  Reporting such email is a benefit to all staff as it reduces the amount of spam or phishing emails that get through the filtering service.

The new EOP service replaces the previous service, Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE), and so the previous facility to login to your quarantine online will be discontinued in due course. This service provides a means of combatting the significant increase in the number of phishing attacks on College which we have seen recently. We are doing our part to help keep your inbox safe.

For full details on what to expect, how to manage your spam and how to report spam or phishing emails please see our Spam email filtering web page.

Update: Password recovery service for students

In response to a large number of student password reset queries at the Helpdesk, we launched a new service in April 2013 in which students would be able to reset their own password easily and remotely.

At the start of the 2012/2013 Academic Year, approximately 430 students contacted the Helpdesk for password help.  With the implementation of this password reset service, the Helpdesk saw a 43% reduction of password queries at the start of the 2013/2014 Academic Year.

In January 2014, there were just 91 password-related queries.  That is a reduction of 46% from January 2013.

If you’re interested in using the service, the only thing you’ll need to do right now is sign-up with your mobile phone number and, optionally, an alternative email address. The options to sign-up for the service, and to use it if you forget your password, can be found at

A recent change to the MyZone ‘sign in’ page

Your MyZone ‘sign in’ page might look different these days. This is due to a recent change that Google has made to all of their ‘sign in’ pages.

Mostly, this means that you will now need to sign in with your full email address, i.e.,

Phishing awareness update – Thank you!

At the start of this academic year, we saw a significant increase in the number of ‘spear’ phishing attacks on College.  Both TCD staff and students are very good at spotting a phishing message.  However, a good phishing attack can catch people out.  Therefore, IS Services set out at the beginning of this academic year to raise awareness about phishing.

As part of that initiative, we posted advice and tips from our IT Security officer to our website, included an article in our October enewsletter, as well as emailed all of College about these ‘spear’ phishing attacks in October and again in December, right before Christmas.

With each attack that came into College, we immediately blocked the spamming address and notified all of College.  We kept the alerts section of our website up-to-date and current with news about incoming phishing attacks, and connected with our followers on Twitter regarding each fraudulent message that came into College.

These efforts have had a significant effect.  Over the Christmas holidays, only one TCD email account succumbed to a phishing attack. With over 20,000 existing TCD email accounts, that’s a remarkable success. We would like to take a few minutes to thank you for your attention and continued vigilance!

Phishing attacks will always come in, but we don’t always have to fall prey.  Remember that IS Services will never ask you for your username and password information through an email and that you should be extra vigilant about not opening unexpected emails.  Keep an eye on your email about upcoming dates for our second annual IT security week.

Introducing the new Service Status page for IS Services

We are writing to introduce the new Service Status page for IS Services.  On this page, you will find the latest news on the status of key IT services and systems within College.

Check this page for the status of the following IT services: student & staff email, TCDconnect, the wired network, Staff Wi-Fi, internet access to external sites, the College webserver, TCD web-based systems, and student printing.

You can find the Service Status page here:

Additional information and up-coming service alerts can be found in the ‘Alerts’ section of the IS Services website or through the IS Services Twitter page.

MyZone & Internet Explorer support from Google

MyZone Students should be aware that Google, providers of the student MyZone email service, will only provide support for the two latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

IE 10 launches on Friday, 26th October 2012, and as a result Google will discontinue support for IE 8 shortly afterwards.

If students encounter any difficulty using MyZone on IE 8, we advise that they use the lastest version of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

IS Services

Changes to student mailing lists

With the introduction of the new academic curriculum coding structure for 2012/2013, there is a change to the mailing lists used to contact different groups of College students.  The new system is explained in detail on our student mailing lists web page.

The old student mailing lists are now permanently frozen, only reflecting 2011/2012 data, and so should no longer be used.  Only the lists available via the web page above are being updated regularly.  The mailing lists for contacting all undergraduates or all postgraduates have already been ‘unfrozen’ to reflect the new student data for 2012/2013.

If you wish to email a specific group of students which is not covered by one of the options provided on the website, then please contact the IS Services Helpdesk and define your requirement in as much detail as possible.  IS Services will establish, with the help of SUSU, if a dataset can be provided from the student administration system to meet your requirement.

IS Services

New ‘set password’ page for MyZone & network login

Students can now set their MyZone password and network login password to be the same, via a new webpage.  This new page can be reached via the ‘Set Password’ link on the MyZone ‘sign in’ page, as shown in the image to the left.

After clicking this ‘Set Password’ link, you will be asked to enter your username and current network login password.  You are then brought to the new page that allows you set both passwords to be the same.

You can still have separate passwords for MyZone and network login by using TCD Password Manager to set a separate network login password.

IS Services


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Friday, June 30, 2006

Hicks prosecution illegal

America's highest court has found the military commissions set up to prosecute Guantanamo detainees to be illegal. Australia's independent legal observer, Lex Lasry QC, has called for Australian David Hicks to "be returned to his home", and John Howard has urged the US to find a quick alternative for dealing with Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Do you support the stand of the Australian Government? Should they defend their citizens?

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Not so different

An extensive Pew survey has revealed that Westerners and Muslims view each other in very much the same way. Waleed Aly argues that the clash of civilisations, therefore, feeds off xenophobia - not reality. Do you agree? Is the crisis in relations almost entirely in our heads?

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Israeli crisis

As the crisis over a captured Israeli soldier yesterday escalated, Israeli troops seized most of the political leadership of the Palestinian Authority. Do you think this a reasonable step by the Israeli leadership or is it an act "open war" against the elected Palestinian government?

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Thursday, June 29, 2006

Research indicates that honesty can desert us when no one (or no thing) is watching. Are you always scrupulously accurate with the honesty box in your workplace? Is Australia a country of honesty-bound citizens?

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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

IR dead duck?

Major employers surveyed by The Age have no intention of using the new IR laws to push individual contracts, to de-unionise or to reduce minimum conditions. Are the laws a dead duck? Does they need to be revisited or rolled back?

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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Religion before country?

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has asserted that Muslims identify themselves by religion before nationality. Do you think these are valid concerns or is Mr Murdoch out of touch? Does religion stand in the way of an undivided Australian society?

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Monday, June 26, 2006

Free-to-air TV

Matthew Ricketson argues that commercial free-to-air TV programmers days are numbered. With the rise of the internet and pay TV, the staple diet of cop shows and hospital dramas is wearing thin. Do you think the commercial TV channels in Australia are up to scratch? What changes would you like to see on free-to-air TV?

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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Censoring the internet

As the Federal Government promises free porn filters to families, the question of government interference with the internet has been thrust back into the spotlight. Do we need a $116 million project to protect us from the web or is this a waste of money and an intrusion into civil liberties?

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Mick Dodson argues that Tony Abbot's comments on indigenous Australia perpetuate a number of dangerous myths regarding the supposed failure of self-determination. Do you agree with Dodson's perspective or has Tony Abbott got it right?

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

True reports

Maria Tumarkin argues that despite attempts to simplify report cards we still don't know how and what our children are doing. How do you feel about the new reporting systems? Are we judging our children fairly?

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Roof sickness?

The new wavy roof at Southern Cross Station is being blamed for illness among Connex workers. Have you experienced headaches or nausea in the station? DO you think the $700m redevelopment has been a success?

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Racist Australia?

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has lambasted John Howard for his deepening of racist and discriminatory policy. Do you agree with Fraser? Or are we as tolerant and humane as we have ever been?

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Monday, June 19, 2006

Dirty Tricks?

Ted Baillieu has accused the Bracks government of embarking on a "personal assault" against him. Is this simply a case of a public figure responding poorly to scrutiny or are politicians and their families fair game? How do you think allegations of a "dirt unit" in the Premier's office will impact on Steve Bracks reputation.

Friday, June 16, 2006

ABC appointment

Right-wing author Keith Windschuttle has been appointed to the board of the ABC. Do you think he's the right person for the job? How do you think his appointment will impact on the national broadcaster?

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Portsea or Preston?

ATO figures have revealed Portsea to be the highest tax paying suburb in the country. Would you like to live there? Which suburb do you think is the classiest?

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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Elevator experiences

Multi-story travellers around Melbourne have reported similarly terrifying lift experiences to one currently under investigation by WorkSafe. Have you had a terrifying experience in an elevator? Or do you always take the stairs?

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Abu Bakar Bashir

Abu Bakar Bashir has been released from jail in Indonesia and has signalled the start of a new campaign to impose Sharia law in Indonesia. Should Australians still be worried about the influence of the radical cleric? Could his release be a catalyst for new terrorist attacks in the region?

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Gay marriage law overturned

This morning Governor-General Michael Jeffery invalidated the ACT's Civil Unions Act. Do you feel he has acted appropriately? Should the Prime Minister allow a conscience vote on the issue of same-sex civil unions?

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Monday, June 12, 2006

Guantanamo suicides

Three suicides at Guantanamo Bay military jail, where Australian man David Hicks is imprisoned, have been described by its commander as "an act of warfare". Is it time to shut the controversial prison down?

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Friday, June 9, 2006

The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been hailed by world leaders. Do you think it will have any impact on the insurgency in Iraq? Will Australian troops be able to return home sooner?

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Thursday, June 8, 2006

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson's declaration that operations in East Timor are not officially considered 'warlike' means Australian troops stationed there will be paid less than their colleagues in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is this fair?

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Gay marriage

John Howard claims that his intervention against allowing civil unions amongst gays and others in the ACT is entirely reasonable. ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell has labelled the decision homophobic. What do you think? Should the Federal government be able to override ACT policy on civil unions?

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Tuesday, June 6, 2006

666 and superstition

For Satanists today is the ideal date for the devil to claim the Earth. Are there any other superstitions that you follow? Or is superstition, as this site says, 'a terrible serpent, reaching in frightful coils from heaven to earth and thrusting its poisoned fangs into the hearts of men'?

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Monday, June 5, 2006

AFL Injuries

The playing future of Collingwood forward Blake Caracella is uncertain after scans confirmed he fractured vertebrae and bruised his spinal cord on the weekend. Does the AFL need to tighten its rules to protect players with their heads over the ball? Or are neck injuries just one of the risks players need to accept when they take to the field?

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Nuclear Australia

The Government will decide early next year whether to proceed with uranium enrichment or even nuclear power plants. According to the Prime Minister, this is the debate Australia had to have. Where do you stand? Would you support the construction of nuclear power stations in Victoria?

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Turn it off?

A $1 million State Government advertising campaign will show how simply turning off appliances properly can slash household energy bills and cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

Is this an effective approach? What other strategies should the government put in place?

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Friday, June 2, 2006

A Refugee Review Tribunal member says her use of the word "oogabooga" in a Burmese dissident's file was a simple error. Do you believe her explanation, or do you think it raises questions about broader issues within the Refugee Review Tribunal and the Department of Immigration?

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Thursday, June 1, 2006

Ashes Tickets

Cricket fans have jammed phone lines and the official Cricket Australia website in search of tickets for the much-anticipated Ashes series this summer.

With five-day passes now retailing for more than $1000 on eBay, how are you going to get your Ashes tickets? Do you think the allocation process could have been handled better?

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Having committed $780 million to cover football between next season and 2011, the Seven and Ten networks are set to renew their push for a historic change to the last Saturday in September, with a night grand final.

Would you support this?
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