Sabiduría de los mayores

Hace unos días leí la historia de este vídeo, que llevaba guardado en una estantería cinco años. Lo que empezó como un documental fallido sobre un escritor soriano cuyo nombre casi nadie recuerda se ha convertido en una lección de economía de primer orden.

Lo que quiero destacar aquí es que la lección no nos la da un doctor en Economía ni un catedrático de Universidad ni un Presidente de un banco ni alguien con un profundo conocimiento del sector financiero. No, es una lección que nos enseñan dos pastores castellanos (que bien podrían pasar por ablanqueños), ya entrados en años, que tienen algo que escasea: sentido común y dos dedos de frente. Estos dos pastores han pasado por todo tipo de dificultades y penurias en su vida y saben apreciar el verdadero valor de las cosas, algo que parece que hemos olvidado demasiado pronto y que es, sin embargo, un concepto básico en la economía.

Podría destacar muchas frases de las que dicen, pero me quedo con tres: i) la lección de economía: si ganas cinco y gastas seis,...; ii) de lo malo a lo bueno se va muy bien, pero de lo bueno a lo malo...; y iii) si no lo tengo (el dinero) no lo compro. Nuestro Ministro de Economía lo único que tiene que hacer es extrapolar esto al conjunto de la economía nacional y aplicarlo.

¡Cuánta sabiduría tiene la gente mayor de los pueblos castellanos!

Radsport war eine grosse Lüge

Jetzt ist es klar geworden, dass die Jahren nach Indurain im Radsport wirklich katastrophal waren. Bjarne Riis, Jan Ulrich und Lance Armstrong haben die Tour de France gewonnen und danach zugegeben, gedopt zu haben. Das Buch von Tyler Hamilton "The secret race" beschreibt diese Jahren von Lügen, Drogen und Korruption.

Wenn man das Buch liest, entdeckt, dass der Radsport eine grosse Lüge war. Alle wollten siegen, ohne sich zu kümmern, um die Methoden. Das Doping war weit verbreitet und die UCI konnte (oder wollte) nicht dagegen machen. Der Festina Skandal endete mit dem mannschaft-organisiert Doping, das danach mehr individuell wurde. Jede Radfahrer sollte für sich selbst sein Doping organisiert und zweifelhafte Ärzte wie Ferrari oder Fuentes wurden sehr beschäftigt.

Tyler Hamilton erklärt auch wie das Doping drinnen funktionierte (hoffentlich sollte ich hier die Vergangenheit benutzen). Er erklärt wie er wollte unbedingt nichts mit Doping zu tun aber wie nach drei Jahren ohne Erfolg hat er angefangen, zu dopen. Er nennt ohne Doping zu fahren "paniagua" (Brot und Wasser, auf Spanisch). Es ist nicht einfach zu akzeptieren, "paniagua" zu fahren und dann keine Möglichkeit im Rennen zu sehen. Tyler Hamilton definiert die Grenze um 1000 Tagen, ungefähr drei Jahren: erste Jahr ist man illusionsvoll, zweite Jahr erreicht man die Realität und dritte Jahr muss man zwischen Abschied zu Traume oder Doping entscheiden. Er, und alle Anderen, war keinen Monster aber auch nicht unschuldig.

Es ist mir klar, dass das Buch von Tyler Hamilton nicht einen Literaturwunder ist, aber es öffnet die Augen. Ich wunsch es, dass was Tyler Hamilton beschreibt gehört nur zur Vergangenheit und nicht zur Gegenwart. Radsport is zu schön um dieser Fluch zu verdienen.

November in London

Following the stay the previous week in Paris, this week I had to travel (twice) to London, for business reasons. As the purpose of the trip was work, I did not take any picture so this post will remain pictureless, I am afraid.

My general impression about London is that there are more and more foreigners there. It seems now clear to me that London has become some kind of capital of the world and everybody important wants to be there. That explains the rise in the price of property and the abuses by some hotels (Doubletree by Hilton Westend is an example). On the other hand, I can confirm my preference for NH Harrington Halls (http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/united-kingdom/london/nh-harrington-hall.html), a very nice hotel, with big rooms, situated in a wonderful area of London and with a nice price.

London also showed me the new style of life, where everybody is absent with earphones and does not care about what happens in metre in front of him but is in close contact with somebody thousands of kilometres away. While I was walking near Holborn, the man in front of me (5 metres) fell down and none of the two people close to him said a single word to him. I was the third one and the only one who asked him whether he was fine... Is this the world we are going to have? I really hope that not.

The underground is an example of the abuse in prices, but it is also an example of the new tendences. Everybody there was reading their tablet (iPads and similar), something which will be exported to the rest of Europe in the next two years. This time, I have not found the underground so crowded and it was quite reliable in terms of timelines, although it is remarkable the absolute lack of facilities for disabled persons.

Finally, I did not want to finish this post without a mention to British Airways. Whereas the flights on Tuesday and Wednesday went smoothly and with no delays, the flights on Thursday and Friday were both cancelled. In the first case, I could be easily rebooked and the inconveniences were not large, but on the second one I had to book a trip on Saturday morning and... go to Heathrow from London City Airport. Thus, I spend my Friday evening in the public transport of London, trying to reach Heathrow from the other corner of the city.

To sum up, as you can see, my November days in London have not been so easy as the November days in Paris...

November in Paris

Last week, we decided to spend some days in Paris, trying to run away from the start of the winter season. I must say that, after almost three years of living in Germany, I appreciate the milder weather of Paris, when compared with other regions of Europe beyond the Rhin. In this occasion, although our days in Paris were not what I would call sunny, I was happy because it did not rain and it was not cold.

Prices in Paris are exaggerated, starting by the accommodation itself. In many other cities in the world, hotel prices are more reasonable, but you are not in Paris, that is true... Just as an example, the first day we decided to go to a café and we paid 36 € for just an austere refreshment (believe me, as Castilian, I know what is austerity). The second day, we walked around the Opera area and we visited Galeries Laffayette, where we could experience the obscenity of luxury. I start to think that Paris is becoming a huge amusement park of luxury, like Disneyworld, or something similar.

One important feature of Paris is the amount of museums that we find everywhere. Beyond the culture itself, they are also perfect for a short visit to the toilets, since public toilets are sometimes not an example of cleanness. In our case, we visited the pyramid of Louvre Museum although we had no intention at all of visiting some of its exhibitions.

There are also other examples of the dirty side of Paris, like the underground, which sometimes looks like in desperate need of some water. I must admit though that this time I was less negatively impressed by the underground than in previous visits.

All in all, although this entry may sound very critical with Paris, I must say that going for a walk in Champs Elysées, Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triomphe,... is delicious. There are many cities which cannot simply compete with Paris, Frankfurt and, it is hard to admit, Guadalajara, included. I am starting to appreciate more and more the southern shore of Seine, with special mention to the area around Invalides. It feels more real and not so crowded with tourists. Additionally, for real good shopping, one can walk along Bulevard de Saint Germain, where prices are sometimes more down to Earth.

Paris may be becoming a huge amusement park but it is still lovely...