The business travel continues unabated.   Last week, I was in Barcelona for the annual 3GSM conference - probably the single biggest mobile / wireless conference on the planet.  The trip was a zoo and, as I frequently remind my not-so-road warrior friends, just cuz the location sounds fun, doesn't mean a biz trip there is all that...   I flew in as late as possible and back as quickly as possible to get home to my beloved friends / family / city.

I had a few moments here and there but generally,  not too much time to explore the city.

A quick pict from the conference.   I don't know the name of the building atop the hill but it was sorta cool.

One highlight of the trip was my hotel room.    I was originally booked in a room which turned out to be ~ 2 hrs away from downtown Barcelona.   So, @ 8pm, while sitting in the train station, I started cold calling hotels that my colleagues were staying at trying to find last minute cancellations that I could snag.   In case I haven't shaken you of the notion that there's glamor here, try picturing jumping off 14 hrs of air travel, being jetlagged, in a non-English country, at night, buying a pre-paid mobile phone, & cold calling hotels to find a place to stay for the evening.

Luckily, I was able to get a recently cancelled room at a hotel just 20 min outside of Barcelona for the price of 360E / night (~$500 a steal given what hotel rooms go for during the conference).   When I arrived at the hotel, the room turned out to be the Presidential Suite (Casa Presidente?) and was gorgeous.   The room was very large (esp. by European standards) and perched atop a hill overlooking the Mediterranean -

The main axis of the room.  Now I know it's probably a bit underwhelming for some ... but, in many parts of the continent, this really is a Prez suite and it's far nicer than the alternative.  

The view to the left side of my private balcony... the graceful waters of the Mediterranean lap upon the beaches below...

View to the right... the hotel was nestled in the green hills of southern Spain

One Presidential amenity - the 7-nozzle shower  ;-)

---