Check out the pictures from Spain

Police Station at 2am

Police Station at 2am
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Finger prints

Finger prints
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Lamb Head

Lamb Head
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Tuna?

Tuna?
Originally uploaded by krughb.

more meat

more meat
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Goat and Lamb

Goat and Lamb
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Gaudi

Gaudi
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Tapas Bar

Tapas Bar
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Fish Market

Fish Market
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Ox Tail

Ox Tail
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Tapas Bar

Tapas Bar
Originally uploaded by krughb.

PB210067.JPG

PB210067.JPG
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Typical Tapa

Typical Tapa
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Meat Market

Meat Market
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Gutting Monk Fish

Gutting Monk Fish
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Fish Display

Fish Display
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Party for the Dems

img053.jpg
Originally uploaded by krughb.

The best part of helping out is joining the celebration party on election night. Not everyone was glued to the TV so I enjoyed some good conversations and beer.

Voting Calls

Voting Calls
Originally uploaded by krughb.

Before heading to Spain I helped the local Dems make get out to vote calls on election day. It was a bunch of 50 year old crazy conservative hating women and me.

I am glad that I took time out of my day to help encourage others to vote.

Barcelona – Wednesday – Friday

We spent the majority of Wednesday wandering through old town Barcelona and getting lost in the maze of medieval streets while enjoying beer, wine, coffee, food and shopping.

In the afternoon we decided to scout out the central market for our Thanksgiving feast. We found a few vendors who were selling portions of turkey and quickly arranged to pickup a bird on Thursday.

One of the main goals of the trip was to “eat our way” through Northern Spain. To help accomplish this goal in one week we managed to eat 4 meals per day – it’s a great way to live because the Spanish cook wonderful food.

After a late siesta we enjoyed a wonderful dinner adjacent to the port. The food consisted of shrimp, mussels, paella, an assortment of fish, along with roasted lamb and goat. We ate Spanish style and did not finish the meal until 11:30pm. This gave us ample time for 8 hours of rest before the next cup of coffee that powered us through a number of museums on Thursday before having an enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a wonderful blend of new and old friends which enabled everyone to realize the true meaning of the holiday. I personally feel that it’s important to occasionally have Thanksgiving with a few people who don’t know each other. This usually provides a great dynamic and helps to bring out the best in everyone.

Friday was spent walking through the Picasso museum and learning how Picasso stated to win major art contests in Paris before he was 20 years old. The exhibit moved towards his later life and clearly defined his visions for cubism and helped demonstrate where the cubist ideas originated.

After the walking through the streets we ended up wandering into another excellent restaurant for dinner. Friday was one of the most enjoyable meals of the trip and sadly our last meal before departing on a 7am flight.

Bilboa – the home of the new Guggenheim and lambs head

Walking through the museum and learning about the building design was very interesting. The art was a bit modern for my tastes, but still enjoyable. After cruising the museum we found an authentic tapas bar that served a number of local specialties. We ordered ox tail stew, squid, sausage, but we stayed away from the lambs head. The head was split down the middle and broiled with all organs intact. It was interesting, but not appetizing.

At night we jumped back on the overnight train and on Wednesday we watched the sun rise over the Mediterranean as the train pulled into Barcelona.

Guernica

On Tuesday we visited Guernica which was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War by Nazi & Italian troops. Franco turned his head toward this destruction and about 1/3 of the population was killed when the Nazis used this town to test the effectiveness of their new army and weapons.

The town looks much more modern then other small European towns and was an interesting stop during our journey to Bilboa.

Still going...

After a great dinner in Barcelona at crazy, loud, packed and out of this world tapas bars Charlotte and I continued our travels by jumping on an overnight train to San Sebastian. We slept well due to the rocking motion of the train until about 3AM when we were wide awake due to the jet lag.

We ended up walking about 1.5 miles to the hotel to meet Charlotte's parents after jumping off the train because we could not find a cab. Anyway, after the walk the long journey was complete and we sat down for a latte.

San Sebastian is a small town with 2 crescent shaped beaches that is nestled up against the mountains. The weather has been warm and we spent a few days walking along the sunny beach in November.

San Sebastian is know for having excellent food, but unfortunately the top restaurants were closed on Sunday and Monday which were our two nights in the town. We managed to find a few great tapas bars and enjoyed taking in the local culture. Although the tapas bars were much more mellow then in Barcelona.

Benefits of Vacation

10AM PT - 7PM CET

Lounging around drinking vino and getting ready for a late Spanish dinner.

Pounds and Pounds

We landed in London and are enjoying a fine latte and passing the time during our 3 hour layover. It's a trying time because are internal clocks are not adjusted to GMT and it's currently 4am at home.

Everything in London is still expensive. I just tore through 5 pounds/$10 for 2 lattes. Good thing that we will only be here for 3 hours.

On the road again

I just returned from 3 days in Seattle. I spent time working at the office, sitting in traffic while driving to our office in Bellevue, and catching up with friends.

Today, Charlotte and I are jumping on a United flight to Denver for the first leg of a 30 hour trip to Spain. Our travels will follow this schedule:

Jackson - Denver
Denver - London
London - Barcelona
Barcelona - overnight train to San Sebastian

We leave Jackson at 1pm on Saturday and arrive in San Sebastian at 7:45am on Monday. I am not sure what happened to Sunday, but it appears to have vanished.

Please cheer on the Hawks in my absence.

Days 2-3

Days 2-3 on snow were not much more exciting then day 1. On the 3rd day I hiked to Olympic Bowl and skied about 500 vertical of dry powder on top of a rain crust. On almost every turn I sank through to the rain crust.

The pass has become very crowded and last weekend we found one of the last parking spaces. It is very noticeable how the population of Jackson has increased during the last six years. More traffic in town and no parking spots on the pass.

I say it's a good thing because we can't close the door behind us to newcomers. If that was the case then none of us would be here.

1st Day

Today I made my first turns of the year. I snowboarded at Teton Pass on Telemark Bowl which is located just above the top of the pass. The ski run is about 600 vertical feet long and it's a great early season run because the ground is mostly grass. We currently have about 20 inches of heavy snow at the top of the pass which is about the minimum amount required to make some turns. I took 2 runs and only hit 1 rock. I can't complain.

We are supposed to have moisture all week and if the snow levels stay low we should start to build a solid base quickly.

The picture below was taken at the top of Telemark Bowl before my first run.

It was cold when I woke up!

Fw: Temperature
Originally uploaded by krughb.

I think tomorrow will be zero.