Christmas in Valencia

I have spent Christmas Eve and some more days in Valencia, where I have some family. I always enjoy these stays in Valencia, because, among other important reasons, my aunt is such a good cook, je, je, je. But the city itself has also changed a lot in the last five or ten years.

This time, though, I have not seen the sea!!!!! That's horrible!!!!! Yes, but I did not have much free time, to be honest. I have visited the new market (Mercat Central), which has been restored as it once looked like in the XIX century, I have walked around the Town Hall and the commercial streets (which have a lot of historial buildings, like the Central Post Office in the picture below), I have drunk something with my father and my uncle in Hotel Hilton, I have gone shopping,...
A visit to Santa Catalina, where an amazing hot chocolate is served, and to the cathedral, where the Holy Grial is kept (and Indiana Jones stupidly looking for it in Jordan, je, je, je), are a must. (Un)fortunately, the chapel where Holy Grial is kept was closed but not Santa Catalina.

Nevertheless, one of the most amazing parts of Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences. It contains a number of modern buildings and constructions, which make you feel like in a sci-fi film. The project is still not finished, but currently only a garden is under construction, so one can say that it is almost "finished". This time, I could admire, as novelty from the previous visit, a bridge by Santiago Calatrava (see picture on the right). I am not an expert in architecture and engineering, and therefore I cannot write much about it in English, but the general idea is that I like it.

The development of the City of Arts and Sciencies has needed several years, but nowadays, with the surrounding houses and buildings, I think it is one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in Europe. The only pending issue is filling the museums and the other buildings with something, since they are a bit empty now.

To sum up, Valencia has changed so much in the last years that now it has become one of the most amazing places to visit in Europe: it has a beautiful historical centre (and the Holy Grial, don't forget it), wonderful beaches and very nice areas to walk. Thus, I just feel good for having some family in such a nice place.

Unechte Ökologen

Die lezte Gipfelkonferenz in Kopenhagen über Umwelt hat uns eine neue Klasse von Menschen gezeigt: der unechte Ökologe. Ich versuche ein Profil von ihm hier schreiben.

Der unechete Ökologe protestiert gegen alles (CO2 Emissionen, Kernenergie, Kapitalismus, usw), ohne Lösungen zu präsentieren und, sehr oft, mit Gewalt. Manche seiner Ideen sind irrational. Zum Beispiel, über Kernenergie kann er nicht hören, aber er mag weder Kohlen noch Öl; aber zu Hause hat er elektronische Geräte und er will nicht einen hohen Preis für Energie bezahlen. Was denn? Man braucht etwas Zauberei um alles zu schaffen.

Kapitalismus ist eines den wichtigsten Feinden des unechten Ökologe. Er ist gegen 30-Jahre-Alt, er hat studiert seit er 18 war, und er ist arbeitlos, weil er keinen Lust hat, um eine Arbeit zu suchen. Er will nicht am kapitalistischen System teilnehmen und das muss respektiert werden. Nur eine Frage: wie isst er jeden Tag? Wie kann er nach Kopenhagen reisen? Vielleicht helfen ihm die Eltern (die noch arbeiten dürfen) oder ist er Beamter (arbeiten bei der Staat?) oder bekommt er Subventionen oder etwas ähnliches...

Ich gebe zu, dass Kapitalismus viele Fehler hat: es ist überhaupt nicht perfekt, wir sind einverstanden damit. Aber wenn man es kritisiert, muss er zusammenhängend mit die Kritik in seinem Leben bleiben und Vorschlage mitteilen. Im Übrigen riskiert er lächerlich, altmodisch und irrelevant zu werden.

De nuevo en Fráncfort

Estos días he estado de vuelta en Fráncfort por motivos profesionales, en una incursión que ha durado apenas dos días pero que ha estado llena de incidentes. Aterricé en Fráncfort el jueves por la tarde, con retraso pero menor de lo previsto ante la huelga de celo de los controladores de Aena (bravo por la lucha sindical de estos obreros, que no tienen ni la valentía de declararse en huelga con tal de seguir cobrando). Una vez deshecha la maleta me fui al mercadillo de Navidad, a comprar algunos regalos y a comprobar si el amor de los alemanes por el Glühwein (un vino caliente con canela totalmente horroroso) seguía intacto: confirmado, sigue intacto.

A las ocho de la tarde y después de haber comido un bocadillo en Barajas a las doce del mediodía, mi estómago se plantó y me metí a un restaurante americano "de carnaza" a cenar algo. Como siempre pasa en estos casos y cumpliendo a rajatabla la ley de Murphy correspondiente, nada más ponerme el plato en la mesa, me llama una amiga para quedar a cenar... De todos modos, tenía tiempo, así que me acabé mi cena, y, como iba algo apurado de tiempo y no conocía muy bien la zona donde habíamos quedado, decidí coger un taxi.

Y al llegar a un cruce, el taxi casi se choca con otro coche, a cuyo conductor el taxista (totalmente alemán, aquí no se pueden hacer comentarios racistas hacia los taxistas turcos o griegos de Fráncfort) definió con la expresión "Du, Arschloch" (no, no voy a traducirla) y ahí se lió todo. Bajó el otro conductor del coche y, junto al taxista, se pusieron a chillarse e insultarse con ambas caras a un centímetro una de la otra. El otro conductor invitó al taxista a bajarse del coche a pegarse, pero, visto que no tenía la respuesta deseada, se volvió a subir a su coche. Una vez en el coche de nuevo, el taxista le dedicó unos gestos refiriéndose a lo que le gusta que le hagan sexo oral y, por fin, ambos coches continuaron su camino. Verdaderamente, fue una experiencia asquerosa y me tendría que haber bajado del taxi inmediatemente, pero, en esos momentos, no conseguía encontrar las palabras adecuadas, de verdad. Eso sí, llegué (tarde) al sitio acordado de la cena y luego, en vez de coger otro taxi de vuelta al hotel, volví andando.

Al día siguiente, tenía tiempo por la mañana y me fui al Starbucks que hay en Börseplatz a leer unos papeles de trabajo tranquilamente. Pero, cuando levanto la vista de los papeles, me encuentro con que unos ecologistas han forrado de plástico al oso que hay en la plaza y están posando para numerosos medios de comunicación. Me llamó la atención, por encima de todo, ver que no había apenas ecologistas: eran apenas 5 contra más de 20 fotógrafos y periodistas.

El viernes no tuvo mucha más historia, más allá del obligado codillo en Wagner's y su posterior digestión pesada y dificultosa.

El sábado fui al centro a hacer algunas compras y casi me atropella un BMW en un cruce. Fue la típica situación en la que el conductor acelera para pasar el semáforo en ámbar y no se da cuenta de que puede haber gente cruzando la calle en ese momento. Por fortuna, la sangre no llegó al río. En el mercadillo de los sábados de Sachsenhausen, junto a lavadoras, bicicletas de dudoso origen, teléfonos móviles de hace diez años, zapatos de segunda mano, etc, me compré un informe sobre Fráncfort publicado en el New York Times en 1966, hace 43 años.

Posteriormente, comí la futura cónsul en Fráncfort (je, je, je), y me dirigí al aeropuerto, en tren y poniendo mil ojos en los cruces, por lo que pudiera pasar.

Basketball may be no good for you

Some days ago I was talking with a friend about the NBA season. We do not meet very often and every opportunity we find is used for a quick interchange of views on players, teams,... However, this time, we were talking about some NBA players with weird behaviour, what can make you think that, after all, basketball is not so good for your health.

Let's start by the latest. Ron Artest made public this week that he used to drink French cognac in the locker room... He added that he played drunk some games. Ron Artest is the same player who, when he was playing for Indiana Pacers, took part in the big fight in Detroit (see picture below), even fighting with some spectators. Remembering this event, he said that every time he meets Ben Wallace (he played for Detroit Pistons and was the one who started everything), he wants to punch him, regardless of the consequences of this behaviour.Portland Trail Blazers were known for a time as "Jail Blazers", since its best players were continously having problems with the law. One of them (I am not sure about his name, so let's keep him anonymous) is responsible of one of the best sentences ever pronounced in front of a police officer. He was driving one night in a "strange" way, so he was stopped by the police, which started digging in his car looking for drugs. He replayed the policeman: "Don't look for marijuana, I've smoked it all".

Allen Iverson has had a brilliant carreer at NBA and a turbulent life outside NBA. One episode which seems to have happened some years ago involved a naked woman leaving his house running while he was after her with a gun in his hands... It has also been said that a big group of people (more than 30) lives in his house, with the his being the only income there. Can you imagine now why he is still playing?

I would like to finish this post with the most funny stories. Derrick Rose was picked in position 1 in 2008 Draft by Chicago Bulls. This fact was not a surprise for anybody since his university years had been really brilliant. However, he missed an important game (probably in the NCAA Final Four) because he had an indigestion of sweets the night before. Afterwards, once playing in the NBA, he missed some games because he was accidentaly injured in his shoulder by a knife forgotten on his bed. Yes, the big question is how on Earth can anybody forget a knife on his bed?

These are just four examples of the strange behaviour shown by some NBA players from time to time. Many of them did not have much opportunities in their youth and it has not been easy getting a place in the NBA. The change is so huge that some of them just cannot swallow it properly.

Il fine della musica

Questa settimana alcuni musicisti spagnoli hanno protestato contro le scariche illegali di musica in Internet, dicendo che se non si fa niente, sarà il fine della musica. Hanno detto, anche, che molti lavorano nella industria della musica e che i loro lavori sono in pericolo.

Mi dispiace, però, non essere d'accordo con loro: non sarà il fine della musica, sarà il fine di una situazione dove alcuni hanno diventati richi in due anni con due canzoni. Per esempio, David Bisbal è andato a vivere in una mansione a Miami dopo tre o quattro anni di lavoro, quando mio padre (e tanti altri) ha lavorato quarant'anni e mai ha guadgnato così soldi. Anche le ditte guadagnano molti, molti soldi con la musica, vendendo CD, molto di più che la Ford, la Nokia, la Siemens ed altri ditte molto importanti nel mondo. Non è giusto, un musicista e la sua ditta dovrebbero guadgnare soldi ma forse non tantissimo, credo io.

Ma nessuno dice niente su ridurre i prezzi dei CD e sul fatto che per comprare una canzoni devi comprare tutto il CD con dieci canzoni che non ti interessano nulla. Nessuno sembra di essersi reso conto che il loro negozio ha cambiato con Internet e che devono rinovarsi o moriri. Non, preferiscono domandare ai governi che lui permettono continuare con il suo negozio perfetto. Nel fondo sono tutti avari.