Two scenes from Barcelona yesterday--if you REALLY have nothing else to do for ten minutes.

[DFW]

One--yesterday, I woke up in horror to find that I had left the charger to my cell phone in Germany, and I'm here in Spain until Sunday. My cell phone is an antiquated, very unsmart Nokia that would probably be confiscated in Finland under their Antiquities Protection Act (if they have one).

I was bemoaning my plight to a local friend, who said a mutual friend of ours knew guys who had shops with old phones and accessories. I went to see him (speaking Catalan as an American makes people remember you here). He told me to give him my phone. I did. He ran out the door and returned four minutes later with a compatible charge cable. I asked him what I owed him, and he said the guy who had it was going to throw it away anyway when he got around to it, so his guy just gave it to him, so he just gave it to me. He wouldn't even take a euro for it.

Two--last night there was a big demonstration here, and my part of town was blocked off from taxis. I had rather far to go, and couldn't see walking it to my 8 PM appointment. So I popped down into the nearest Metro stop. BAD mistake. It was crowded like a sardine can with about a thousand people with the same idea. The first train came after 15 minutes, and it was so crowded I couldn't even get on. Fifteen minutes later, the next train came, and I squeezed myself in. Pickpockets' paradise, I thought. Not just me, it turned out. Suddenly, next to me, a well-dressed Chinese man was grabbing what turned out to be his wallet back from a nasty-looking character with Balkan features who had just lifted it from the Chinese guy's bag. The thief wasn't giving up without a struggle even though everyone around him was yelling "ladrón (thief)." The thief had picked on the wrong tourist, though. The Chinese guy happened to fit a certain stereotype, and with his free hand was pulling some lightning martial arts moves on the thief, who gave up when the train pulled into the first stop. He took off as soon as the doors opened, somewhat more bruised than when he had gotten in.

So much for a routine work day for me. I think and hope today will be more tranquil.

[steve2470]

1. Such a boring life you lead hehe

Joking of course. Glad you, your wallet and your phone charger all fared well. Hope MrsDFW is well. I see Ingo on the 13th for our grand Potsdam tour. I'm in Amsterdam atm. Prague is tomorrow, for two days.

[Amsterdammer]

5. If you have the time...

Try some poffertjes at Carousel, H.M. van Randwijkplantsoen 1, 1017 ZW Amsterdam, Netherlands, just a few hundred meters from the Heineken museum. They're awesome!

Enjoy Prague, I was there this time last week, maybe it's a bit warmer now.

[DFW]

11. Mrs. DFW is on the mend, thanks.

As for your travel schedule, BRAVO! You are only over here for a few weeks. Make the most of it! Berlin, Düsseldorf, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Prague. THAT's the way you do it. A few days (never only one) in each place to get a feel for them in case you decide to come back.

And good for you for calling my friend, Ingo, and getting around with him. He's very knowledgeable and a great guy to hang with. The cafés in central Prague are great for meeting people, too, in case you're still into meeting the friendly natives (remember, it worked for me--just say hi, and they might just smile and say hi back).

In Prague, look for the ice cream place near the Karlovy Most (the famous bridge) called "Cream Dream." You will not beLIEVE that stuff!

[steve2470]

18. Oh forgot to mention Hamburg also...

For only one day though trying to keep my hotel bills down a bit. Meeting a friend there.

Glad MrsDFW is well!

[steve2470]

24. Oh I also went to Oslo

Only overnight but yea went to Norway. Did same thing with Malmo Sweden, just across the bridge from Copenhagen. Only for a few hours but I was in Sweden lol

So the grand tally is:

Berlin
Potsdam
Duesseldorf
Hamburg
Copenhagen
Malmo Sweden
Oslo
Amsterdam
Prague

I think I will need a vacation from my vacation lol it has been a bit exhausting at times.

[DFW]

25. That sounds like quite a schedule!

Who do you think you are? Me?

[steve2470]

26. Haha

Now I have an inkling of how you feel on the road

[DFW]

27. Ever since the day you left

I have not had a free day at home since, including weekends. Welcome to my world.

[steve2470]

28. Hope you get some free time soon, my friend! nt

[DFW]

29. Next weekend, I hope!! n/t

[yardwork]

2. I had that Nokia. It was a great little phone.

[Lulu KC]

6. +1

[DFW]

12. I don't want to give it up.

Almost everyone I've seen that has a smart phone lives inside those things. I refuse to, and damn the so-called "inconvenience." Life existed on this planet before 2008, if I recall correctly.

[babylonsister]

3. More than 5m join Spain's 'feminist strike', unions say

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/08/spanish-women-give-up-work-for-a-day-in-first-feminist-strike

Sounds quite eventful, both this strike and your evening!

[DFW]

20. The strike paralyzed much of the center of town. "Eventful" doesn't begin to cover it.

It mostly made working people's lives miserable, but it certainly got plenty of attention. I just wish they had done it over the weekend! Participation would have been greater, and people in town for work wouldn't have been resentful. I know people who commute two hours each way into town here, and on Thursday, you could add an extra hour or more to that for the way home. Ironically, I was mostly at the premises of a company run by women that day. They already own the place, and are more concerned about being able to pay their employees' salaries than blocking their way home from work.

[TuxedoKat]

4. Great story

Thanks for sharing. That's so cool that you speak Catalan. Many Americans have never even heard of that language.

[DFW]

10. I lived here for a little while when I was a teenager

It was the Fascist era, when Catalan was forbidden in schools and newspapers. So of course, as an act of defiance, it was my first project to learn it. Today, it still opens doors like you wouldn't believe. That fact that someone from the USA has bothered to learn it at all is, to them, a sign of incredible solidarity and friendship.

[TuxedoKat]

22. I remember those days

as we met some students from BCN who stayed with us back in the late '70s and early '80s and they told us what it was like under Franco.

We will be going there and to the Costa Brava again this summer so will get to see them again. I should break out my Catalan grammar book and learn something before the trip.

[Shanti Mama]

7. Heading to Barcelona for a very quick b-trip on Monday.

Never been before and wish I had time to see sights.
Everyone warns of the pickpockets. Glad your wallet was not stolen.

[DFW]

9. You will LOVE Barcelona!!!

Even if you don't have a lot of time, see whatever you can and do NOT miss taking a walk through the Barri Gòtic (Gothic quarter).

[Shanti Mama]

15. Got it. So many recommendations from so many people!

Thanks

[DFW]

16. Here's one more, as I am still here (er, I mean, there)

Go to eat at any of the several Sensi Tapes ("tapas" in Spanish) locations in the old town. Just get there very early if you don't have a reservation. A treat worth the trip alone!

[Shanti Mama]

19. Thanks. I'll try.

[mnhtnbb]

8. Lucky you to get a charger for your phone!

I have two pickpocket while in Europe stories.

The first was 35 years ago walking back to the hotel in Paris after an evening out. All of a sudden I felt splashed on one side
from the water pooled in the street from a rain shower earlier that evening and I looked towards the street. My shoulder hand bag was on the opposite
side of me. Then I saw a man passing me--on the side away from being splashed--and he had my wallet in his hand!
I reached out and grabbed his arm as hard as I could and yelled at him " Lâchez le!" and "Drop it!" He did! I was stunned.
Everybody around me stopped and looked at him. I picked it up--checked my bag for my passport (which was there).
No gendarme when you need one! His buddy had splashed me to distract me while the guy lifted my wallet from my purse.

The most recent pickpocket event happened in Berlin coming up from the U-Bahn at Potsdamer Platz in November 2013.
I was walking beside and about a step back from husband on the stairs when I noticed the hand of the guy next to me
up under my husband's jacket reaching for his back pocket. I turned and asked him what he was doing. Are you trying
to steal a wallet? (My husband always carried his wallet when we were traveling in his front pocket, so the guy wouldn't
have gotten anything.) He denied he was up to no good, but he had a buddy, too, who stopped with him as I was accusing
him of trying to pick my husband's pocket.

You really do have to be aware when around crowds.

[DFW]

13. Potsdamer Platz is particularly enticing for thieves

It is big, open, has a lot of side streets and some high end hotels with some high-end clientele. All the cops are usually down at the Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate, where the diplomats and VIPs stay, so the area around the Potsdamer Platz gets ignored except during the Berlinale, and the hotels there are always booked up 2 years in advance during that, so you have no chance of getting a room there anyway during the film festival.

[skypilot]

14. 'The Chinese guy happened to fit a certain stereotype...'

I love this description. And I knew right away what it meant.

[DFW]

17. The crowd was all applauding

He was a little embarrassed, but took it stride. He knew we were on his side. I got a smile when I exited at my stop saying "sai djen."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. Omigod, my dear DFW!

No boring days at the office for you! It's always fun to read about your amazing life.

And hubby and I know how much fun it will be to hear them in person!

You take care now, you hear?

[DFW]

23. Oh, I'll try!

Today is almost a day off. The weather is glorious and I HATE it that my wife is not here to enjoy it with me.

I will soon walk over to the Ramblas and look for some locally made cheese to take back.