which ones are the Soccer stars?

Torres and Mata

Friday  May 25 - Return to Zurich

 The conclusion of this trip was interesting.  It turned out that two famous Spanish soccer players were on the same flight.  I only noticed them at the baggage area when a large group of kids were crowding around them taking pictures.  Being completely ignorant of who's who in the soccer world I asked my colleague who informed me that it was Torres and Mata, who play for the Spanish National team and Chelsea FC.   My colleague asked  me to take a picture of him together with them - which they were quite nonchalant about

Demonstrations in Madrid

Tuesday  May 22 – Madrid

After a very long day of meetings (well actually it was only a single meeting) we caught a cab to the hotel, but found as we neared the hotel a very large traffic jam stopped progress which caused us to walk the remaining half kilometer.  A very large protest was being held and the police had blocked the street our hotel was on.  People were gathering from all around, and heading in the same direction as us, so we joined the protest crowd for a bit (dragging our luggage behind us).  The protest was about government changes in the public education system.  Due to the financial crisis that Spain is in, the Government has decided to reduce the education budget and eliminate part time teachers.

Dinner in the evening turned out to be another late night - bed after 12.

On a street corner

No fish on Monday's

Monday May 21 – Gijon Spain

Morning was spent working from my hotel room and then after putting in a good 4hrs, decided to reward myself with a break and went for a run along the sea side.  I arrived back close to lunch time and very hungry (again).   My attempts to obtain food however once again met with little success.  It seems that in Gijon (originally a fishing village) that most restaurants are closed on Mondays because the fishermen don’t work Sundays and therefore there is no fresh fish and no point in opening a restaurant without fresh fish.  This included the hotel’s restaurant.  But room service was available (after 1:30pm). In end I did get something to eat but it was horrible.  Fortunately dinner was excellent, but I didn’t get to enjoy it until 10pm.  My stomach isn’t set up for this type of eating schedule.

The end result of eating at 10 pm is going to bed after midnight on a full stomach.  Unfortunately I had a flight to catch early the next day and had to get up at 5:30 am.

In Gijon along the beach in town - much nicer than Mumbai I must say.

King kong's Loo

King Kong's toilet

 Sunday May 20 – ZRH / Madrid / Gijon  Spain

A beautiful  sunny Sunday in Switzerland and I have to leave to go to Spain.  The flights are uneventful and I arrive at the hotel at 6 pm.   As I was only able to eat a very poor sandwich on the plane (at a cost of 10€) I was very famished and immediately set out in search of a place to eat.  However in Spain the restaurant opening times are very different from elsewhere (or at least India).  For lunch they open at 1pm until 4pm, then close between 4 to 9pm.  This caused me to slowly starve for a few hours.

I passed the time with a very nice walk along the sea side and up to a park overlooking the sea with a large concrete statue (by a famous artist - or at least I was told by a local).  This statue, after it was unveiled was acclaimed by all to be a great work of art, until one day a visiting dignitary commented, after being shown the statue that it looked like “King kong’s Loo”  (a big toilet).  And for evermore that was the name of the statue. 

Mumbai vs. Switz - photos

Oh it is good to be back in Switzerland

View from Hotel

See the slum by the water - fishermen's homes

The nice walkway along the bay

Downtown Mumbai

Well I am back again in Mumbai for 3 very busy days.  The good news is that I am staying downtown, so the morning drive is much shorter and the hotel is very nice.  The Trident is one of the hotels also attacked in 2008, or at least I assumed so after seeing the small monument to the staff and guests who died in 2008.  I hope it wasn't due to something else that I wasn't aware of.

The other evening I noticed in the lobby a small crowd gathered behind ropes and later learned that IPL - cricket league - "Mumbai Indians" were staying at the hotel and practicing nearby.  Since then have rubbed shoulders with the players at breakfast and in the elevator.  Unfortunately I don't know who the hell each one is.  They definitely look very fit.  Today in the elevator a player got on and he started up a conversation with a little boy (in Hindi).  After the player got off, the little boy turned to me and asked what team I played for? I was wearing a Man United football jersey and I also look very fit, so I understood his confusion.