If you are a frequent visitor (one or two of you…) and click on the “Recent Albums” thumbnails to the right, you might have noticed a slew of new albums. They are actually old albums that I had on Sony ImageStation and most are of pictures of my time at IESE Business School. Sadly, ImageStation is closing up shop, so I have moved my favorite albums on to the blog. You can access the albums via my old posts, but I’ll add the links here if you are curious as to what we were up to a few years ago: Sailing the British Virgin Islands, IESE Business School (5 Albums by Quarter), Christmas 2004-05: India, Summer 2004, Christmas 2003-04: Italy and Uruguay 2002-03.
Archive for the 'Barcelona' Category
Barcelona
Las Ramblas – tourist hotspot, but a must see. Stroll down the center pedestrian walkway, admire the “living statues” or sit at a café and people watch (watch out for pickpockets & scam artists)
Barrio Gotico (if facing south on las ramblas, it’s on your left) – Small boutiques/stores line the narrow streets. Can be intimidating at night, but is very safe if you stay on the main thoroughfares. Calle Ferran dissects the Gotico in 2 and has many restaurants/shops. Also has many cool restaurants but tend to be tucked away, so get directions from the hotel before going. Great place to stroll, shop and get lost. Barcelona Cathedral is also in this neighborhood
Recommended Restaurants: Pla – hip out of the way place that has fusion Barcelona cuisine.
El Raval (facing south on las ramblas, on your right) – gritty, immigrant portion of the city. Probably best avoided after dark unless you are with locals. Some great ethnic restaurants, alternative bars and is an up & coming area of the city. Rambla de Raval has some interesting bars & restaurants.
Plaza Catalunya – at the top of las Ramblas and the transportation hub of the city. Great place to start your exploring as most everything is walking distance away. Café Zurich is overpriced and full of tourists but is a convenient meeting spot that everyone knows.
El Born – hip and trendy part of town. Great boutiques and restaurants although they can be expensive.
Recommended restaurants:
- Cal Pep – one of the best restaurants in Barcelona. Try the Calamari.
- Sandwich and Friends – on the Paseo del Born, great for a quick unique sandwich and people watching from the outdoor seating area
- La Paradetta (behind the old “Mercado”) – Seafood store turned restaurant. Great for massive quantities of supremely fresh fish.
Gracia – this are of the city is often overlooked by tourists as it is a bit out of the way. Great restaurants and a bohemian flavor. Great Lebanese area. Many restaurants off the plazas and on Carrer Verdi. Shopping on Gran de Gracia.
Diagonal – High end shopping and business District. Nice tree lined walkways, but lots of traffic.
Paseo de Gracia – like Diagonal, it has lots of high end shopping, but definitely worth the walk. There are a couple of Gaudi houses (Casa Batllo & La Pedrera). Walk up from Plaza Catalunya to Diagonal. If you continue past Diagonal you get to Gracia.
Montjuic & Tibidabo – The two “hills” of Barcelona. Pick one, the views are very similar. Both require various combinations of public transport unless you have a car.
Gaudi – this architect gave Barcelona much of its “look” either directly or through his influence. You can see his work on Paseo de Gracia (also a nice shopping street) or go up to Parc Guell.
A good way to see a lot of the city quickly is to take the Bus Turistic. Ask at your hotel for the closest stop (you can get on at any of its stops) or go to the start of the tour at Plaza Catalunya.
South of Barcelona are a lot of nice beaches, but Sitges is worth a day trip even if it’s not beach weather. Great little town with seaside church. Big gay scene during weekends and especially in the summer with lots of art and culture festivals. Big Carnaval in February.
North of Barcelona is the “Costa Brava.” Recommended places are Llafranc and surroundings, Tossa del Mar and Cadaques. Figueres is a bit inland and houses the Dali museum. A must see for Dali fans and very interesting for all others. A car is a must to really be able to see the Costa Brava.
Northern Spain
San Sebastian – Gorgeous city, fantastic urban beach, phenomenal cuisine (can be expensive to stay there and eat there). If you drive stay in the outskirts or nearby towns. 30 minutes to French border and not far from Biarritz.
Bilbao – see the Guggenheim and stay for the world renowned cuisine. Very pretty city set on a hillside, although we didn’t have the chance to explore it in depth.
Santander – ugly city, but very nice beaches in the “El Sardinero” area. Worth checking out if the weather is nice.
Santiago de Compostela – never been but it is the terminus of the “Camino de Santiago” a religious pilgrimage route across northern Spain. Supposed to be a very beautiful city.
Galician Atlantic Coast – phenomenal seafood
Southern Spain
Sevilla is a must see. Especially the Cathedral, el Barrio de Santa Cruz & the Alcazar. Get lost in its old town with its windy streets and picturesque houses.
Recommended restaurants: Bodega Santa Cruz – cram in there with locals and tourists for the best tapas and beer in town. Lots of great little bars and restaurants
Cordoba – easy day trip from Sevilla. Walk the streets and have lunch there. Main attraction is La Mesquita – a Moorish Mosque with mesmerizing red and white arches that has a Catholic Cathedral built in the middle of it.
Granada – The Alhambra dominates the scene here and is definitely a must see. Make sure to get your tickets in advance through the web or the BBVA phone number (you won’t regret it). Do it early, because they only reserve a certain amount of tickets. If you can’t get the reserved tickets, get to the Box office 1.5 to 2 hrs before it opens to make the line (especially on weekends).
Granada has lots of great bars and is home of the free tapa with every round of drinks.
The coast of southern Spain is beautiful but can be very crowded and over-developed depending on the place and time of year. Skip this unless you are going during summer (avoid August… the entire north of the country is in the south.)
Balearic Islands
Great islands in the Mediterranean. Heavy party scene on Ibisa and Menorca. Mallorca is bigger and more laid back. Dramatic changes is scenery. Rocky coves & Caribbean like sand and blue water beaches. Flights or ferries from Barcelona or Valencia.
Madrid
It is more your typical big capital city. Lots of museums, restaurants and a very active nightlife. Dinner is very late (like in all of Spain), but Madrid even more so. If you go to a restaurant before 10pm you will likely be dining alone. Lots of good day trip to the nearby cities that are accessible by train.
It’s a hot Barcelona afternoon, summer seems to have arrived a little early; I sit at one of the outside tables of the café I’ve written so much about in the past. All seems normal, the kids playing, the parents chatting over their cortados, but there is one difference… me! While last year I sat at the same café looking forward to a summer in Barcelona with Prachee, today I’m faced with the reality that our days in this great city are numbered. We’ve decided to return to the U.S. on June 6th; first to the East coast, then for a stopover in Southern California with our eventual destination the city of San Francisco. Let me get to the business at hand just in case you don’t make it through my nostalgic rambles! Prachee and I will be arriving in San Francisco around the beginning of July. We are both looking to make career shifts after the MBA, Prachee into Marketing or Non-Profit, myself into Technology. If we could solicit your help with putting us in contact with people you know who are in our fields/industries of interest, regardless of whether they are hiring or even if they don’t live in the Bay Area. We would appreciate the opportunity to talk with them and get some advice on a career in marketing, non-profit or technology. Also, while we already have some friends and family in the San Francisco area, it would be great to arrive in a new city and have the benefit of tips and insights of new acquaintances. Thank you in advance for all your help.
Some of you might be interested in how we got to this point in our job search… what I call the start of Phase 2. Since Prachee arrived in Barcelona in January we’ve focused our search in continental Europe. While many companies came to recruit on campus, many of the ones we were interested in wouldn’t consider any candidates without EU work permits. The situation is similar to current immigration policy in the US… what a brave new world we live in! To make the story short, I had two offers by graduation time, one from Nissan outside of Paris and one for Dell in the EU. Prachee had some offers to do development work in Jordan and in Bulgaria. However, with visa issues and for both of us to be able to find the jobs we want in the same city in the world, the best thing for now is to move back to the US.
It’s been a long and eventful last quarter at IESE, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007)
Believe it or not, it snowed in Barcelona this year… while it is not very typical; I felt it was a fitting melancholy start to the final album of the “IESE era.” I’ve also included some pictures from dinner parties and night outs since the start of the quarter (Pics 2 – 5). The Multicultural Fair was again an epic event and one that will be fondly remembered by all those who were there. Compared to last year, there was more food and more booze, which unfortunately meant more craziness and will probably result in 2005 being the last multicultural fair at IESE! (Pics 6 – 13). This final quarter was a very social one as everyone realized they had to make the most of the limited time we have together. Team dinners reunited Team B4 after some of the members had been away on exchange during the 4th quarter (Pics 14 & 15). We also took the opportunity to see a bit more of Catalunya with Joaquin and Heike and a great trip to Alp in the Catalan Pyrenees! (Pics 16 – 18). Packy, from our days in the Toyota MT Program, and her friend Susan stopped by Barcelona and we took the opportunity to introduce them to some of our friends at IESE (Pics 19 – 21).
For Spring Break this year we were able to organize a trip to Morocco (Pics 22 – 34). Prachee and I had wanted to go since we got to Barcelona, so even though it was only a week, we decided to go for it. We traveled mainly in the northern part of the country as we wanted to take our time in each city we visited and didn’t want to spend the better part of our week on a train or a bus. Flying down to Malaga, we took a train to the bus station, then a bus to Algeciras and finally a ferry across to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. The next day we crossed the border on foot and got together with 4 other Spanish backpackers to negotiate a taxi ride to the town of Chefchaouen. Seven people in a Mercedes 240D on dirt roads for an hour and a half… welcome to North Africa! Chef, as it’s often referred, is a sleepy little town in the middle of the mountains that is renowned for its laid back attitude towards life and the consumption of Kif (marijuana). It’s locally grown in the hills surrounding the town and although illegal in Morocco, the town authorities look the other way in exchange for the euros that “tourism” brings in. Chef’s medina is very manageable and acts as a good introduction, with its blue washed walls and scattered craft stores.
The next day we were on a “direct” bus to Fez which took nearly 5 hours to cover 200 kms and stopped at countless towns and road crossings! The Fez Medina is truly amazing and probably the highlight of our trip. It is a completely walled city where little has changed since medieval times. The warren of streets is mind numbing and the constant attention from shop keepers selling anything and everything wears you down. They immediately identified Prachee as Indian and for the next two days we heard nothing but references to Bollywood films and Indian actors! Apparently not too many Indians make it to Morocco, so needless to say that we had a hard time being inconspicuous. Our next city was Meknes, which also has a medina, but which pales in comparison with Fez in size and complexity. In addition to some shopping (ie haggling) in the Meknes medina, we also visited Volubilis, the site of some impressive Roman ruins. We considered going down to Marrakech, but decided to stay in the north and leave southern Morocco for the next trip. Our final city was Asilah on the Atlantic coast were despite some very aggressive “touts” (people trying to take you to a hotel/sell you kif etc.) we enjoyed a couple of lazy days in the sun.
Bill and Jim joined us in Barcelona when we returned from Morocco (Pics 35 – 37). Unfortunately, Prachee and I were a bit out of commission that week! Despite knowing better, we had been a bit lax with what we ate in Morocco and when we got back to Spain we paid the price. In Mexico they call it Montezuma’s revenge… I’m sure the Moroccans have a similarly appropriate name! The end of classes officially came on April 22 and was followed by the 2005 Graduation Ball at the Codorniu Cavas (Pics 38 – 41). It was an amazing evening with heartfelt speeches, a one of a kind venue and dancing until 4 in the morning! The next day, my mom and dad arrived from California followed by my sister Claire a few days later. We headed to the south of France, west of Toulouse were we met up with John Vignoles, my dad’s cousin. He and my dad have been researching our family tree and had tracked the Vignoles to this area, 13 generations back! I’m not going to get into the details of the story, but if you have a spare 8 hours… just ask my dad (Pics 42 – 44)! On our way back we spent the night in Cadaques, a great little town on the Costa Brava. We then visited Dali’s house in Port Lligat and his museum in Figueres the following day (Pics 45 – 47).
Once back to Barcelona we did day trips to Sitges (Pic 48) and Montserrat (Pic 49) as well as various “meet the parents” events (Pics 50 -51). Chris arrived a couple of days before the Graduation and we did some sightseeing in Barcelona (Pic 52). Graduation day started with a tour of the school for the families, a presentation of “a typical day in the MBA’s life” and then finished the morning with a Thanksgiving mass. We returned in the afternoon for pictures, the official ceremony and a dinner al fresco in the IESE gardens (Pics 53 – 56). Capping off the day was a party at a nearby Club that went on until the sun came up the next morning! Chris had to get back to work the Monday after the graduation and Claire, Mom & Dad stayed a few more days sightseeing and enjoying Barcelona (Pics 57 – 59). This past weekend was the 2005 Paris Olympics and Prachee and my 1 year engagement anniversary (Pics 60 – 63). IESE was once again the overall winner… that’s three years in a row. Prachee and I stayed for an additional two days enjoying the city… I was a lot more relaxed this year! The last two pictures are of the people I’ve gotten to know here at IESE; they have been like family over these last 2 years. I hope to see them again soon.
It’s hard to believe the MBA is over. It’s been a privilege to be able to take these past 18 months, be in Barcelona and live the experience of a lifetime. I look to the future with optimism: a new city waits to be discovered; new jobs; seeing old friends and making new ones; new challenges and opportunities! If that wasn’t enough, I’m looking forward to a couple more milestones for me this year, getting married and turning 30! Whatever the future holds, there is no doubt that the past two years have been special; for their intensity and emotion; for the places I’ve been and the friendships I’ve made; for what I’ve learned about business, but more importantly about myself; for the memories and the special place they hold in my heart.
I hope to continue to write every once in a while, but I’m sure that my updates will be less frequent once settled into a work routine. Please send me an email when you get a chance and let me know what you are up to! Ciao, Charles
India… I don’t even know where to start; maybe that is why it’s taken me so long to get this email out. If you are planning on one day traveling to India, the most important thing you need to know is: are you veg or non-veg? You must be very clear on this, because you can’t be both! At restaurants they don’t care whether you smoke, but you must be explicit about veg or non-veg. Alternatively, you can save yourself the trouble and go to a pure veg restaurant where you’ll get veg whether you like it or not! There is tons of fantastic vegetarian food in India, so it wasn’t hard for a Uruguayan meat eater to go veg for a few weeks.
Fortunately, for Prachee and I, we didn’t have to deal with the 2nd question everyone asks you in India: love or arranged? Marriage that is… they pretty much guessed correctly that we were not an arranged marriage. However, just because people on the street were clear on our status as a couple, it didn’t stop them from looking at us like we were zoo animals. Then again, Indians are used to seeing zoo animals everywhere they go. Too bad that I don’t have photos of all of them so you could believe me, but I saw pigs, goats, cats, dogs, monkeys, crows, horses, camels, elephants and of course cows in the streets. From the perspective of an MBA, a zoo in India has to be the worst business proposition ever; why pay for what you can get for free.
It is hard to imagine what one billion people is like, but you get a pretty good sense of it in Bombay. The first thing that strikes you is the density of people, the next, the sheer number of taxis! Taxi drivers are my favorite, but drivers in general in Bombay suffer from what I call OCHD. Obsessive Compulsive Honking Disorder is a phenomenon by which drivers continuously feel compelled to honk the horn for no apparent reason. The interesting thing is that passengers reinforce this phenomenon by having the expectation that if a taxi driver is not honking, he is not “working hard enough” to get you to your destination. Since we are on the topic of horns, if you go to India you might wonder, like I did, what “Horn OK Please” means. This is painted across the tailgates of trucks and apparently it means that they want to be honked at! All I can say is that you can imagine what a Bombay traffic jam sounds like!
Through the eyes of a first time visitor, India is full of funny idiosyncrasies, but that is what makes it such a wonderful place and like nowhere else on earth. And while I joke that I was stared at, I felt very much at home, very welcomed. Bombay in particular was a fascinating place. The city is common property; it belongs to everyone, regardless of who you are or how much money you have. The truth is that survival is the name of the game, although that means very different things to different people. Whether you are wondering where your next meal will come from, or whether you’re wondering if your BMW will survive Bombay’s crushing traffic. The city is very safe, extraordinarily hard working and permeates a sense of fairness that somehow manages to reconcile the disparate fortunes of its inhabitants.
Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007). The start of the album is of Prachee and I at our engagement party in Bombay (more pictures follow). Pictures 2 – 5 are from my first few days in India. Of course I didn’t take any pictures on the second day, as I spent it in bed eating toast and drinking coke. The dinner before going to pick up Prachee, Shobha and Saurabh at the airport, Vivek and I went to a very nice Indian place called Nebula. I don’t know whether it was the raw carrots or the ice in the Bloody Mary (what was I thinking), but my stomach was not happy to be in India. Fortunately it was a 24 hour thing and I am happy to report that I had no further incidents! Pictures 7 – 9 are also from the Bombay party. It was fantastic to finally meet so many people that I had heard so many stories about. I must admit, it’s exhausting to be the center of attention; we barely had time to enjoy the fantastic Indian buffet. I think it was good practice for our wedding day though… I might have a sandwich before the ceremony.
You’ll see many pictures of us eating, if you’ve seen Prachee’s pictures (or know her), you know this is a general trend (pics 10-12). January 1st is also Shobha’s birthday, so after a wonderful 5 course non-veg meal at China Gate, we started off the New Year singing happy birthday! Pictures 13 – 15 are of us out and about: at an “in” bar called Indigo; at Phoenix Mills, an old textile mill turned shopping center; and at Café Mondeguar, a Lonely Planet tourist trap. Janelle, a friend from Prachee’s MBA and exchange in Barcelona, joined us for a week from her MBA Corps. assignment in Kazakhstan.
Picture 16 is the start of Pune and that is me hanging out with the cows! In Pune we had dinner invitations nearly every night and wherever we went we got gifts. Pictures 17 – 19 are at Prachee’s uncle’s where her aunt performed a pooja (prayer) before the gift giving. Check out my Indian threads!We also had another engagement party in Pune, but it was mostly for family, so the atmosphere was more relaxed (pics 20 – 22). It was fun to see Prachee’s grandparents having such a great time, enjoying seeing the whole family together.
Let’s not forget that this was a shopping trip (pics 23 – 26)! Outdoor markets, Sari “wallas” (sellers), my wedding Sherwani, gifts, various souvenirs… no wonder I had 50 kilos of excess baggage (and most everything went back to DC!!). As you can see, Saurabh was enjoying the shopping (…really it was the allergies). Picture 27 is of a Hindu temple, I liked that is was simple yet intricate, imposing yet at the same time blended into its surroundings perfectly. Picture 28 is of us with Prachee’s friends at a Chinese restaurant in Bandra, a suburb of Bombay. Pic 29 is the sizzling brownie at Cream Center, by far my favorite restaurant where they have a Chana Batura which is out of this world. Prachee and Saurabh raced through the bubbling chocolate… I just stayed out of the way!
Pictures 35 – 49 are from the three days Prachee and I spent in Goa. While it was by time, only a small fraction of our time in India, the pictures are more typical of a vacation album. The first few are of us at our hotel; relaxing by the pool and the swim up bar… it was a swanky resort. We spent most of the time on the beaches, which were only shared by the fish shack restaurants. We only had the included breakfast in the hotel, the rest of our meals were all of supremely fresh fish, goan curry, the best nan ever and an ice cold KingFisher beer with sand between our toes. On our last day in Goa, we wanted to do some sightseeing, so we went to Old Goa. The Portuguese influence in the buildings and the people is evident throughout, but the churches in town make it hard to believe that you are really in India.
Returning to Bombay was actually a relief. Although I enjoyed the lazy days of Goa, the electricity of the city welcomed us back and I found that I had missed the chaos just a little bit. We had a few more days of spending time with Prachee’s grandparents, who had made the trip back to Bombay with us. Some last minute shopping, visits from friends, return trips to our favorites restaurants and one more cow picture! A Thumbz up for the road and it was time to leave India, content in knowing that I’ll be back soon.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was writing my summer summary email! Last year, the fall quarter couldn’t finish fast enough; this year, it went by way to fast! The second year of the MBA is what this experience is all about, still working hard, but having a lot of fun as well. Being able to pick your own classes has some sort of psychological effect; even the worst class is better than any last year simply because you chose it. Working in groups on projects can be much more painful than studying for an exam, but at least things are done on your terms, your schedule. I am often busier than I ever was last year, but I am usually working on the entrepreneurs club website (http://www.ieseentrepreneursclub.com), swim team stuff or whatever else is going on at the moment.
My classes were definitely hit or miss. I loved Brand; we had to pretend to be an ad agency and do a full advertising campaign proposal for the Smart Car. My entrepreneurship class was great, but a ton of work! We spent a lot of time doing research for a business plan for a wireless VOIP Company we call Intelia. Marketing in the New Economy sounds sexy, but it really isn’t! I don’t know if the fact that it was at 8:15 in the morning had anything to do with it, but it didn’t meet my expectations. Service Management was OK, got some choice nuggets of information out of it, but it had the potential of a great class. I also took a couple of classes in Spanish, more for practice and because they fit in my schedule than for anything else.
Wedding update: Prachee has been working tremendously hard on the wedding planning. She has visited venues, met photographers and coordinators, poured over the guest list, negotiated contracts and taste tested caterers! I on the other hand, bring in value by being a “sounding board,” proof reading contracts and browsing photographers’ websites. In other words, I am fulfilling the time honored role of groom and asking “what do I wear and when and where do I show up?” Day and place are set: October 8, 2005 in San Diego, California.
I wanted to tell you about what has been going on this past quarter before I leave for India the day after tomorrow. I am very excited to finally get to see India… it should explain a lot (just kidding sweetie!). Prachee is also coming back to Barcelona in January and I’m looking forward to being together in the same city again. I’m sure India will be full of pictures and stories, so that will be a separate email in January. Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007).
The kickoff event for the IESE Swim team was the 3rd Annual Sitges Swim. (Pics 2-6) Since most of us had not stepped into a pool in 3 months, what better way to start off the season than with a 2.3 km open water swim! I still don’t know why I ever thought the Mediterranean was warm, although it might have had something to do with the fact that it was October. A group of about a dozen of us took the 45 minute train ride to Sitges, south of Barcelona. From there we walked to a big hotel which is on one end of the crescent bay and then swam to the church by the sea at the other end. All we had to deal with were some jellyfish, much to Katie’s dismay, no sharks
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We had some great dinner parties this quarter, and while I forgot to bring my camera to most of them, I did manage to get some pictures at a few. For my birthday, I got together with some friends at a Catalan restaurant called La Pitarra in Barrio Gotico. (Pics 7-13) The food was excellent, the company even better and I’ll remember it as a great birthday with my IESE extended family. Katie, who lived in California for 4 years, misses Mexican food just like I do! So for her birthday we went to Margarita Blue for some BCN-Mex and some margaritas. (Pics 14-16) As Katie is a kid at heart, it seemed appropriate to wear cone hats and eat from “Happy Birthday” plates. Needless to say, the other patrons gave us looks that read: what the hell are these “guiris” (foreigners) doing! While I get my fix for Uruguayan food at a takeout place called “El Criollo” in Gracia, every once in a while, we have to go for some asado! Fortunately, the Latin American Business Club organized a dinner at “El Gaucho” where we proceeded to eat enough red meat and drink enough cheap red wine for a small village. (Pic 17)
When Europeans (read French) say that Americans have no culture, they’ve obviously never celebrated Halloween or Thanksgiving! These great American traditions have been imported into IESE by past American students and have turned into highly anticipated yearly events. Everyone got in the spirit of Halloween and got into costume, turning our “Bar of the Week” into a crazy dance party. (Pics 18-22) For those of us that have lived in the US, there is no doubt that we hold Thanksgiving as a very special holiday. It’s easy to be homesick during the holiday season, so it’s great to get together and share a meal with the IESE family.
IESE organizes a Thanksgiving dinner every year on the Saturday of the week of Thanksgiving. (Pics 23-26) Over here, the highlight is not the food, but the entertainment! Each first year section, the exchange students and 2nd years each put on a skit where the tables are turned and there is no mercy for the professors. I was supposed to represent the second years in a turkey carving competition, but when the birds came out, there were only three! That meant that the first years competed and I played turkey carving consultant. The evening is capped with a charity auction where students and professors bid on “theme” dinners, career planning advice, guitar lessons, etc., provided by other students and professors.
For Dana, it isn’t Thanksgiving unless it’s Thursday or unless fried turkey is on the menu. (Pics 27 & 28) This year, the Americans, Canadians and select party crashers feasted on 5 fried turkeys and enough trimmings to feed a large village! If you celebrate Thanksgiving and you’ve never had fried turkey, it really is something you should consider trying out next year!
Thanks to the Spanish holiday calendar, we had several long weekends on which to get away from Barcelona and get to see some more of Spain. Last year we had talked about climbing “Aneto,” the highest peak in the Pyrenees. (Pics 29-37) Despite a 3:30 am departure time for the climb, followed by endless hours scrambling over boulders, we had a great weekend. I should know better than to attempt single day ascents and the effects of the altitude sickness soon took hold and turned around at the glacier, two hours from the top. Despite an extremely hard climb, 14 out of 19 in our group managed to summit! On our way home we stopped in Barbastro, a small town in Aragon, and had an epic 4 hour meal in the best Spanish style!
In early December, the anniversary of the signing of the Spanish Constitution, a boxing day and the Catholic holiday of the Immaculate Conception gave us a 5 day weekend. (Pics 38-55) Katie, Dana, Matt and I jumped in a car and headed south. Driving along the coast we spent the Friday night in Alicante and the next day drove through Murcia down to Cabo de Gata in the south-east corner of Spain. A happening place in summer, in early December it was a desolate, stormy fishing town. Our evening of cheap entertainment consisted of red wine, olives, oreos and playing hearts! Next it was on to Sevilla, were we met a friend Manuel Menedez who took us on a tour of Sevilla’s finest drinking establishments. Our final stop was Granada, home of the Alhambra and the “free tapa” with every round of drinks. Although it was very cold due to the altitude, Granada is a vibrant college town with lots of nightlife. If you are coming to Spain, Granada should be on your list of places to visit. The pictures don’t do it justice, but the Alhambra is a must-see!
The fall quarter drew to a close with the annual IESE Christmas Ball. For the first years it marks the end of the first quarter, without a doubt, something to celebrate. For the second years it is half way to the finish and while that realization saw some melancholy faces, the spirit of Christmas was in the air and it was a great opportunity to see everyone together outside of IESE. I will include the pictures with my India email once I get them all together.
While one of the reasons I did a full time MBA was not to think about work, it seems that all I think about these days is getting work. So, if you or someone you know is looking for a newly minted MBA please go to: http://www.charlesvignoles.com
I hope this holiday season finds you healthy and spending time with those you hold dear. I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Take care, Charles
School started today and vacation already seems a distant memory. For this email, I’ve given up my quaint coffee shop and headed to the Starbucks. I know what you’re thinking… with all the great coffee shops in Barcelona, what the hell is he doing at a Starbucks. Before you laugh, let me tell you about the two great things about Starbucks, other than that it has a power plug for my laptop: 1) most importantly, it’s the only coffee shop in Barcelona that is non-smoking (apparently it ruins the aroma of brewing coffee); 2) You can order a soy milk iced mocha blended and nobody gives you a dirty look (except Ben .
This summer has definitely been one to remember, so in a way this email is as much for me to record the events as it is to inform you of what I’ve been up to. You already know from my last email that Prachee and I got engaged in Paris on May 31. Thank you to all of you who sent emails and cards of congratulations, we really appreciate all of your well wishes. Wedding plans are ongoing; site selection is well on its way after seeing many places while I was in California for three weeks. Before you ask when and where in the world, no date has been set and the front runner is San Diego, California.
I might have already talked about the trip to the north of Spain in my last email and some of you who are also on Prachee’s emailing list might have already gotten some of the pictures. This will be a summary/wrap-up of the whole summer with a few pictures from each trip/event.
Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007) The summer officially began after the IT Management final where we proceeded to drink Cava on campus (we’re fancy at IESE). Followed by more drinking during lunch, then off to the beach for some cervezas under the sun and closed it out with dancing and drinking at a club by the beach! As I told you already, Jim (worked with him at Toyota) came over to Barcelona just in time for the start of vacation and we headed to the beach. First to Sitges just south of Barcelona and then rented a car and went on a weeklong trip to the north of Spain (pics 1-8). We had a fantastic time and the best part about it was that the weather was great and we had the beach practically to ourselves (Free travel tip: Spain in June – great weather, not crowded and cheap!)
Shortly after Jim left we had the Festa de Sant Joan, the patriot Saint of something around here… they don’t need much reason to party here in Catalunya (pics 9-11)! Supposedly it’s a “religious” holiday, but in actuality it is far from that. Everyone drinks Cava and eats coca, then get together for dinner and finish off at the beach jumping over big bonfires. I know… bizarre, but after you’ve had a few Cavas you just follow along! We went to dinner at a friend’s house and I ended up with BBQ duties. I was cooking beef, pork, chicken and even sardines… my most diverse BBQ yet. Check out my new BBQ’ing outfit!
Soon our friends Lisa and Suzanne arrived and I proceeded to drag them around Barcelona half asleep on my walking tour. Everyone knows that the best way to get over jetlag is to stay awake, and the best way to do that is to go see the sights! (Suzanne might disagree) After a few days in Barcelona we were off to the island of Mallorca (pics 12-18). I didn’t really know what to expect and was stunned at how beautiful it was. We started off on the North coast in the town of Deia. You can see that the coast is steep cliffs dropping off into the azure seas. Cala de Deia was one of the few coves accessible by car/foot, most can only be reached by boat. There we met up with Zfort, a Hungarian ballet dancer turned computer consultant that Suzanne had met on the flight from New York. He took us to the little house on the hillside that he was staying at with a friend (no electricity or running water). That night Prachee and I met up for dinner with my friend Patricia from IESE who was doing an internship in Palma de Mallorca. She recommended the unbelievable beach En Trenc that you see in the pictures (felt like you were in the Caribbean – except it was clothing optional).
In mid-July, Prachee and I set off on our big trip of the summer to the Balkans, sort of like a pre-honeymoon. After a 5 hour delay leaving Barcelona we arrived in the middle of the night in Venice and somehow found our hotel. The next day we spent a wonderful if tired day exploring the nooks and crannies of Venice (pics 19-26). Later that day we were supposed to fly to Prague, but after another delayed flight, we decided to consider it a sunk cost, turned in our boarding passes and headed back to Venice. We caught the last train out of Venice and made it as far as Trieste (Italian/Slovenian border) again in the middle of the night. The next day we were on a train again to Zagreb in Croatia (pics 27-30). Marko, a friend from IESE who is from Zagreb, showed us around and invited us to dinner. The following night we found ourselves on an overnight bus through the extremely windy mountain roads of Bosnia on our way to Sarajevo. Prachee’s dad (Vivek) was on assignment there and he was one of the reasons why we’d decided to go to the Balkans on our trip (pics 31-39). We spent three wonderful days with him wandering the Turkish quarter and sightseeing around Sarajevo. The reconstruction of the city is nothing short of miraculous; however, reminders of the war are all around. Also, unlike pre-war Bosnia, the different “ethnic groups” (they are actually not different ethnically) have pretty much segregated themselves in areas throughout the country.
We then headed to the Adriatic coast of Croatia on an excruciatingly long bus ride with no air conditioning. Ever since Venice, I had not been feeling well, but I just thought I wasn’t getting enough sleep and was “tired.” When we arrived on the coast in the beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik (pic 40), what I thought was a “breakout” on my head and face from a new sun block was starting to spread to my body! The next day the doctor delivered the bad news that I had Chicken Pox (pic 41)!! (I know… never had it as a kid!) There was no way I was getting back on the bus, so we hired a car and drove back to Sarajevo. Three days of self imposed quarantine and recovery followed by a few more days of lite sightseeing. Prachee and I were disappointed that we missed the coast of Croatia, but on the positive side, we really got to know Sarajevo well and spent extra time with Vivek. Our trip back to Barcelona included a day in Ljubljana, Slovenia (pic 42-43) and another great day in Venice.
After Prachee had to go back to LA to start her last semester of her MBA at USC, my friends Nathan and Andy came over. My travel budget was very stretched by this time, so they went off to Sevilla and Lloret del Mar for a few days. When they were in Barcelona we hit the beach, went out to some clubs and we even saw some parts of Barcelona that I’d never seen before! During the week they were here, the Festa Major de Gracia (pics 44-47) was going on, basically a huge neighborhood street party that lasts a week. You can see the decorated streets and the fireworks finale in the pictures.
The summer was capped with a three week trip to California mostly to see family and friends as well as to spend a bit more time with Prachee before another three month stint of living on different continents (pics 48-51). The highlights were definitely sailing in Santa Barbara on Paul’s boat (my sister Claire’s boyfriend) and Ale and Stefi’s wedding in San Diego (even got to see Chris and Lindsay for the wedding weekend). I also enjoyed wine tasting in Santa Ynez under the pretense of looking for a place to get married, breakfasts in the patio with my parents and meals with friends.
In between trips and visitors we hung out around Barcelona. Didn’t do much sightseeing, but just lived in the city, which I sometimes felt I never did during the school year. We also enjoyed the beach with several trips to Sitges and Bogatell. There was also a bit of a dinner party circuit among a few of us from IESE that remained in Barcelona during the summer.
That is about it, I am getting out of Starbucks, because just like in the US… it’s freezing in here! Hope all is well and sorry about the “novel!” Charles
I hope that this email finds you well. I am writing this from my favorite coffee shop on a little plaza off the main street in my neighborhood Sarriá. This coffee shop has seen me on many Sunday afternoons, with my cases in one hand and an espresso in another. We didn’t have too much of a spring this year in Barcelona, it went straight from cold and wet to hot and humid! Although I had the place mostly to myself when the weather wasn’t good, it’s now full of people sitting at the outside tables and lots of kids running around while grandparents chit chat on the benches. Most people would argue hot, humid and crowded doesn’t sound like too much fun, but I’m grateful to sit outside and enjoy the sun, read a mindless novel or just catch up on my emails as long as my laptop battery hangs on.
The dreaded first year of the MBA is finally over! You probably can’t imagine how many times I wished for the first year to finish, but even in the middle of midterms I knew that as soon as it would be over, I would miss it. I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder than I have these past nine months, but just like climbing a mountain, the moment you get to the summit, you already forget the hardships of the climb. I wake up in the morning and although “sleeping in” is wonderful, I still have to fight the urge to go to IESE half expecting to see my fellow Section B’ers at their seats in “the cave” (what we called our classroom). It makes me think that next year at this time, everyone will leave again, but this time it won’t be for only three months. That is when you come to the realization that it’s the people that make IESE special. The relationships we’ve forged with people from all around the world will be our greatest takeaway from the two years at the MBA.
Those of you who read my previous rambles probably remember my requests for summer employment. I am grateful for the leads some of you provided and although I was offered some consulting work by a couple of professors, none of the opportunities compelled me to give up the chance to use these three months to reflect on the past year, look to the future and do a bit of traveling! So Prachee and I are spending our summer here in Barcelona, with Prachee working on her Spanish while I lay the groundwork for a business plan I would like to develop over the next year. Let me tell you about some of the things that have been going on this past quarter. It’s been a very eventful one and as all of you know, Prachee and I got engaged in Paris! No date set yet, but wedding plans are getting under way. Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007)
The professors took it easy on us for the first couple of weeks, I think they felt bad that we only had a long weekend in between the second and third terms. That was a great weekend for me though, I spent the majority of it catching up on sleep, reading the latest Clancy novel in Parc Guell and having a few drinks with friends. The first big event of the quarter was the Multicultural fair (Pics 1 – 4). There were 30 stands representing the food, drink and culture of 40 countries. It was like a Tourism convention but with ridiculous amounts of alcoholic beverages made of anything you can imagine… it’s amazing the things you can ferment! Many countries grouped together due to small numbers, so the three Uruguayos joined up with our neighbors from across the river and had the “Rio Platense” stand. We had cleriquot, empanadas, alfajores and some vile drink the argentinians call fernet (sp?) y cola (if you haven’t tried it… don’t). If anyone has a big Uruguay flag send it over… I’m going to need it next year!
Easter vacation couldn’t come soon enough! I was going back to California for the first time since I left on September 1, 2003 (Pics 5 – 11). As usual the week went by way too quickly, but it was wonderful to spend time with Prachee, my family and also to see friends. I had been cooped up studying all winter, so time on the beach was an absolute must, but I also spent considerable time doing tech support for my family’s many computers. Chris and Lindsay were even able to come back to spend the long Easter weekend in California, so the whole family was back together for a few days. It also gave me the opportunity to shop for a certain piece of jewelry that would play a critical role during the Paris trip a couple of months later. Coming back to Barcelona was definitely hard. I can’t say I missed Los Angeles since I’ve been here, but coming back to the European cold and the IESE grind definitely made me long for sunny California. At least the atmosphere among the students was more jovial and everyone had relaxed quite a bit from the pace of the first two quarters.
My friend Kate organized “an evening with Incubus” (Pic 12), a band that I like a lot, but never had a chance to see them in concert. Our Team also had a couple of team dinners (Pic 13). We had a potluck at Martin’s with food from our respective countries and a “Share your Photos from before IESE” on the terrace at Anna’s. We also had to make it out to the local amusement park, Port Aventura (Pics 14-15). Just picture Universal Studios but with everything in Catalan, Spanish and English. It was still a bit like being instantly transported back to the US… the only beer available in the whole park was Budweiser!! We organized a kind of contest where teams competed against each other in the park in order to complete tasks on a list and earn points.
I haven’t had too many visitors this first year, but then again, with my schedule at IESE, I probably wouldn’t have been much fun! Fortunately, Shane and Karen made it over and spent 10 days in Barcelona with me (Pics 16 – 19). I was able to join them on a bit of sightseeing during the weekends, but during the week I only managed to see them for dinner each night! The second years graduate about a month before we finish our term, so the school gave us a long weekend so we wouldn’t be hanging around during the ceremony. A group of nine of us made the most of it and went rock climbing and canyoneering in the neighboring province of Aragon (Pics 20 – 26). Most of us, including myself, had not been canyoneering before. We had a great time and we’ll definitely be going again next year.
I think that I’ve already mentioned that I’ve been swimming with the IESE team this year (Pics 27 – 29). It’s partly been to stay “in shape”, partly to meet different people and partly to train for the Paris MBA Olympics. Although in the first quarter we only had a few people in the pool, as the year went on the team solidified into a great group. Luis, our coach kept the workouts interesting and we also finished off the year with a team dinner. The training paid off, because we won the gold medal at the Paris MBA Olympics (Pics 30 – 32), adding to the dominating performance of IESE, as we took the overall title for the second year in a row! Prachee also came back to Europe for the Paris weekend and I innocently extended our stay so we could “take advantage” of already being there to do some sightseeing in Paris (Pics 33 – 37). Although there are many funny stories including how she brought the ring with her from the U.S. in her carryon and handed the box to me; the big moment took place on Monday night just off the Petit Pont with Notredame and the Seine both lit up in the background. It was raining, so I asked her to hold the umbrella, got down on one knee and proposed. Prachee’s look of sheer surprise was priceless and of course she said yes! If you want more details, you’ll just have to ask Prachee next time you see her! Or here is the link to the Ofoto Engagement Album Prachee put together (same one I sent with the engagement announcement).
Finals were waiting for me when I got back to Barcelona, but after what seemed like an interminable week, the first year was over! Jim, whom I’d worked with while at Toyota Logistics, arrived just in time for the fun (Pic 38). We spent the weekend in Barcelona including a day trip to Sitges (Pics 39 – 44) and then headed by car to the north of Spain. Lots of beach time in Santander and San Sebastian with a little culture (Guggenheim in Bibao) thrown in for good measure (Pics 45 – 56). Check out Prachee’s Ofoto Album for more pictures.
That brings us to this week. I am making headway on the “To Do” list that has been growing since I started school. For at least another week, I’m content to sit here at my favorite café with an espresso…con hielo (with ice) in my hand. Take care and enjoy your summer! Charles
Just coming off a long 4-day weekend in Barcelona which I like to think was well deserved after another busy 10 weeks. Finals for the 2nd Quarter were last week and Monday started 6 new and fresh classes! That last quarter went by fast … maybe too fast. The first quarter sometimes tended to drag on and I was so glad when it was over. Although I think the last quarter was more work than the previous one, at its close I am faintly aware that the end of my first year is just around the corner. All of a sudden I’m rethinking the first quarter’s wish that this be all over soon! After a month long Christmas vacation it took a few days to get back into the groove, but knowing what to expect really made all the difference for me. I have also been very fortunate to be part of a great group. Those of you who have been in Business school know what a difference that can make. Everyone gets along and our expectations of the program are mostly in line which keeps everyone motivated, but also keeps things in perspective. There was a lot more group work this past quarter, including a fifteen page paper for Ethics class on Eliot Spitzer, the New York State Attorney General (I can send it to you if you need some reading material and are having trouble sleeping). We’ll see how the grades shake out, but whatever happens I feel much better about the second quarter. With the weather warming up and what looks like some interesting courses lined up, I have higher expectations for the spring quarter. Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007)
The first picture (1) I had to include because it is representative of most of my time during the past 11 weeks; this is part of my team during one of our morning meetings (Martin from Denmark on the left; Patricia from Spain on the right and Lukasz from Poland in the background). As you can see we are a very environmentally-friendly team and we run a paperless meeting; we share work through the school’s website called the Global Campus and work from our laptops. The next pictures (2 – 4) show the group in our Paper Plane Factory for Operations class. We set up a Toyota Production System assembly line with takt time, kanbans and even music in the background to keep the workers happy (Mister Mister – Broken Wings). Needless to say, the professor shortly found out that I had worked at Toyota and for the rest of the class I had “TPS Expert” tattooed across my forehead. It was great for my class participation, but I had to come to grips with the depths of my brain washing after spending 5 years with the company (thanks RJ!).
Pictures 5 – 9 are from a random weekend night in Gracia. One of the greatest things about Barcelona is that you go out and you never know what you’re going to run into. Gracia is a great neighborhood that sits more or less in between downtown and where I live in Sarriá. Way back when, it used to be its own little village before it got swallowed up by Barcelona. However, it still has retained a unique atmosphere and has lots of cool restaurants and bars. On this particular night Carina (U.S.), Gonzalo (Argentina), Victor (Netherlands) and I were on our way to get some Lebanese food when we ran into the fireworks in the middle of the street. In my seven months here I’ve learned a couple of things: 1) Fireworks are all good any night of the year… why restrict yourself to Christmas and New Years; 2) for a country that is 96% Catholic, they sure like to dress up like devils (look closely). After dinner we also ran into the “plaza” bonfire that you see in the pictures… basically they were having a neighborhood BBQ in one of the squares and for 4 Euros you got some bread, sausage and a glass of wine. Needless to say, we were a little disappointed we’d eaten already.
Next are the pictures from the Sitges Carnival (10 – 14). Sitges is a small beach town about a half hour south of Barcelona. It is a world-renowned gay travel destination and as such they take their partying seriously! Although during the winter it is a relatively sleepy beach town, for a week culminating in “Fat Tuesday” it reverts to its summer form. Ignoring the fact that we had to be at school at 8:30 the next morning, we drove down and joined the two busloads of IESE students (mostly second years) for a midweek night of drinking and fun. As you can see I decided to skip the costume (save it for next year), but was very glad I dressed warm as at about 2 am the rain that had been threatening all day couldn’t wait any longer. There were a lot of soggy drag queens, but it didn’t dampen people’s spirits much (pun intended). However, we decided to call it a night and after an epic traffic jam, we got home at about 4 am. The next day was a strict liquid diet of Espresso to make it through class without nodding off!
In the quarter system, midterms always arrive too quickly, and as usual, they were no fun. At least I had the yearly IESE ski trip to the Pyrenees to look forward to the weekend after the exams. This year the trip was to Soldeu (15 – 19), a ski resort in the Principality of Andorra (same concept as Monaco, but it’s in the Pyrenees and they speak Catalan). We skied two days and had fantastic sunny weather all weekend. I decided to snowboard again and I don’t know if it was the European snow or what, but I spent a lot of time on my ass! The trip was also a really good opportunity to get to know my fellow classmates better and in a context other than class or a bar. A couple of weekends later, I got to see snow again (20 & 21), except this time I didn’t even have to leave my apartment. A freak winter “snow storm” rolled through Barcelona coating the hills in white. It wasn’t cold enough to accumulate on the pavement, but on the hills it lasted until mid-morning the next day. Apparently, this happens once every five years, so the locals weren’t entirely surprised although the kids loved it! Our operations course ended up being one of my favorites simply for the reason that several times during the quarter we took the learning outside of the classroom. It felt a bit like being back in elementary school going on the class field trip (22 – 25). The big difference is that this trip was to Codorniu’s Cava “Caves” and each of us walked away with a very nice bottle of Cava. In Catalunya and surrounding areas, Cava is the equivalent of Champagne or sparkling wine and Codorniu is the main competitor of Freixenet (the daughter of the owners goes to IESE).
Before I knew it, final exams had arrived! When we finished on Wednesday last week we decided to celebrate in style with dinner at one of Barcelona’s hot spots, Carpe Diem Lounge Club (CDLC). The place is decorated in an eastern, Buddhist motif and it is right on the beach (26 – 28). As you can see you get to sit on these mats and pillows cross legged and they serve the food in trays. Apparently it’s owned by a Barcelona FC player, Patrick Kluivert. I think the concept would work really well in LA! After that we headed to the BOW (Bar Of the Week) where I took the last couple of pictures (29 – 30)
On April 3 I fly back to California for my Spring/Easter Break. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen everyone and I am really looking forward to the trip! If you are in California I hope we get to catch up with you sometime during the week. I will get myself a prepaid cell phone number, so that will be the easiest way to get a hold of me (I’ll send an e-mail with my number!)
If you have gotten this far then let me put in a plug for my job search. I’m still looking… concentrating on Europe though, so if you know of anything or anyone, send them to my website: http://www.charlesvignoles.com
Hope this e-mail finds you well and if you have a moment to write back and let me know how you are doing I would love to hear from you. Take care, Charles
During the Christmas break, Prachee and I decided to take advantage of the fact we were in Europe and do a Giro d’ Italia. We flew to Milan the morning after the Christmas party (still with a hangover), and spent a couple of days with some family friends. Since we had rented a car we headed towards the western coast and went to Portofino, Santa Marguerita and had a late lunch of ciabatta, parma ham and fresh pesto on a park bench in Rapallo. We stopped for the night in La Spezia which we made into our base to explore the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately, the next day it rained, so we were only able to see Monterosso and Vernazza, both very quaint little towns of the Cinque Terre that we’ll probably have to come back to during warm weather. However, the absolute highlight of our time in La Spezia had to be that we found a restaurant that served Faina (flat fried “dough” made out of garbanzo flour that I love and had only had in Uruguay). We ate there for dinner both nights we were in town. Next we drove to San Gimigiano, a walled town in the Tuscan countryside, and then on to Siena where we stayed the night. We nearly had to spend the night in the car after driving around looking for the hotel through the old city’s cobbled maze-like streets. A very cold and windy day in Siena meant that we spent it hurrying from coffee shop to restaurant in order to stay warm.
We finally arrived in Rome on the 24th and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas walking around the city. All shops were closed and so were most of the tourist sites. On the 26th we were joined by Craig and his wife Grace; I worked with Craig during my last year at Product Planning in Toyota. We started out at the Vatican, but the line was so ridiculously long for the Museum and Sistine Chapel that we had to decide to leave it for the next trip. At St. Peter’s we climbed the stairs all the way up to the top of the Dome which has a fantastic view of all of Rome. In the afternoon we also went to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and ended up at a fantastic restaurant called Gusto that had been recommended by an Italian classmate at IESE. On the 28th we were on the road again heading north to Florence and decided to stop at a town called Orvieto which was a short detour off the Autostrade (toll highway). Much to our surprise, they were having a Jazz Festival sponsored by Alfa Romeo and so had on display many brand new and classic Alfa’s. We also had lunch at a fantastic little wine bar that one of the girls at the Alfa stand had recommended! On Monday morning we were ready to see Florence, but discovered that the museums are not open on Mondays. We decided we’d come back to the Uffizi first thing Tuesday morning so we made the most of a rainy day in Florence by wandering the streets and walking to a nearby lookout for panoramic views of the city. On Tuesday after the Uffizi we headed north again toward Bergamo, stopping briefly in Modena to see one more church!
On the 31st we flew back to Barcelona arriving in mid-afternoon. We joined my friend Kate and her family and friends visiting from the U.S. for dinner at her house and then headed to the Ramblas after midnight to get the Barcelonian’s perspective on New Year’s Eve. On the 1st, Craig and Grace left for Bilbao and San Sebastian while Prachee and I recuperated from our vacation and Prachee did some last minute shopping! When Craig and Grace returned from the Basque region, we showed them the sights around Barcelona. Unfortunately, Prachee left to go back to LA to finish her MBA on the 5th (hopefully she’ll be back soon!) and Craig and Grace headed back on the 6th! Everyone leaving was a bit depressing so it was fortunate that I had booked a cheap flight to Sevilla to visit some family friends, party Andalucia style and to finally get to see more of Spain besides Catalunya. Sevilla is a wonderful city and I even had the opportunity to make day trips to Carmona and Cordoba.
For the F1 fans in the group: This morning I flew back from Sevilla to Barcelona with some of the techs and mechanics for the Ferrari Formula 1 Team. They had just finished testing at the Jerez circuit and were heading back home. They looked very impressive; all dressed exactly alike with khaki’s, black parkas and bright Ferrari red bags. The vacation is over and school starts tomorrow, but I think I can honestly say that I made the most of it.
Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007)
Hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Keep in touch! Charles
Here is the second installment of the e-mail series. I know I promised to be in touch “regularly”, but with the workload they pile on me at IESE this is about as regular as I get. So, let me first wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and at the rate I’m going, it is probably in order to wish you Happy Easter as well! Next let me get the one business item out of the way. Although I quit Toyota only in August, and my MBA runs through May 2005, I am already starting to look for new employment. In particular, I am looking for an internship for this summer of about 8 – 12 weeks. My interests are in the high technology and the automotive sectors, and it can be anywhere in the world. If you have a project for this summer or you know of someone hiring MBA’s for internships please go to my website by clicking on the link below. You can find out more about me and download my Curriculum Vitae (Resume). http:www.charlesvignoles.com
The first quarter was definitely tougher than I expected. I guess that after 5 years working, one forgets what it’s like to be a 24 hr a day, 7 day a week student. Sitting in class trying to actually learn something takes a much higher level of concentration than would normally be needed for a sales meeting. And getting home and still having six hours of work to do for the next day definitely takes some getting used to. Other than the workload, school has been great. The student body is very diverse, both culturally and professionally and everyone has a very international outlook. For example, the guy that sits next to me in class is a Brazilian from Rio and so I get a constant side commentary in Portuguese of what he thinks of the professor, the day’s topic and our fellow classmates. He also insists on showing me pictures of Carnaval; it’s great for a laugh and to practice my Portuguese. One of the American girls decided to take it upon herself to organize a Thanksgiving for all the North Americans in the class. On Thanksgiving Thursday, we had 3 fried turkeys with stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the rest of the trimmings. I just never thought I would have to come all the way to Barcelona to finally try fried turkey! Although it has only been one quarter, as a group we’ve already grown very close, I think you’ll know what I mean if you see the Christmas Ball pictures (click link below – the open bar might have sped up the bonding that night). Imagestation has gone under so I uploaded the photos to my gallery, however, note that while I tried my best, the order of the photos might no longer match that of the description below (Editors Note: Nov 30, 2007)
Once school started, I managed to escape Barcelona only once. The weekend after midterms I met up with Prachee and some of her foreign exchange friends in Amsterdam. We spent a couple of cold, but relaxing days in Amsterdam and we even got to see a wind mill with its vanes actually turning! Food was also an integral part of the trip. No surprise to those of you who know Prachee, but in particular we were after spicy ethnic food, which has so far been difficult to find variety in Barcelona.
Just to briefly keep you up to date on my laundry trials and tribulations. I decided that I could no longer have my clothes smelling like Paella, so I tied a rope across our spare bedroom and now hang my clothes inside. Needless to say, my apartment now resembles a gypsy camp, but at least the clothes smell clean and fresh. For those of you who graciously wrote me singing the praises of fabric softener, thank you; I’ve been using it, but let’s just say it’s no magic potion.
I’ve also had a fun time with Telefonica, Spain’s telephone monopolist. Thanks to them it took 3 months and countless calls to “customer service” to set up my DSL. I finally set up the service on January 1, so you might find me online on MSN Messenger more often from now on. For audio conversations I’ve started using this great new program called Skype, check it out at http://www.skype.com. Don’t forget to add me to your MSN Messenger and let me know if you download Skype and want to try it out.
Fortunately, most of the hurdles of the past quarter have all but faded from memory, and all that remains are the good times and achievements. I hope this e-mail finds you all well and that you’ve had a wonderful start to 2004. If you have a moment, I would love to hear about what you’re up to.
