ChuckDoherty.com

I put a new SIM card in my cell phone so that I have a local Barcelona phone number to use while here. The number is 637 915 628. If calling from the states, precede this with 01134. I have no idea how to use the voice mail on this thing yet, and will not have access to the US-based voicemail while I have this SIM card in place.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, there are also two telephones in the room here which appear to the world as though they were US numbers located in Baltimore. The numbers are 410-785-6071 and 6072.

Most every Sunday afternoon, the locals here in Poblenou set up tables and chairs along the little Rambla (boulevard) running through this neighborhood and play a variation of Bingo for a few hours. Their version is more like Keno, whereby numbers from 1 ? 100 are chosen randomly and called out until someone gets the required number of matches in a row. At that point, the winner shouts out “BINGO!” and the game stops. The top prize is only about 1-Euro, or about $1.25.

As the bingo caller was doing his thing, two young boys who were walking down the street started yelling “BINGO” every time he read a number. This caused the caller to stop and look around for the winner, and gave everyone a good laugh. Egged on by the crowd response (it really WAS funny) the boys kept it up, leaving the bingo caller increasingly flustered. He made some sort of announcement to the effect of “there will be no shouting BINGO unless you have the numbers!” which got the two boys even MORE determined to continue. Eventually, the boys were joined by several other kids, all laughing and shouting BINGO! in unison after each number. The crowd was having a great time, the kids were loving the attention that their shenanigans were causing, and the bingo caller was getting beet red and completely unhinged (also to the crowd’s delight). It was like a scene out of Cinema Paradisio.

Earlier today, I took one of those hop-on-hop-off double-decker bus tours around the city. Man, is there ever a lot to see. I really need to do this several more times to see anywhere near what there is here, but I did get quite an eyeful today. I took in several of Gaudi’s most famous creations including the beautiful Park Guell high over the city.

Here are some photos if you are interested in having a look.

There were a number of festivals going on last week in Barcelona as part of their Independence Day celebrations. Putting aside – as they seem to do – the fact that Catalunya actually lost the battle for independence with the rest of Spain, the holiday is still cause for much celebration and many street festivals, one of which was taking place all week next to my hotel.

One night I was having dinner at a nearby café, seated at an outdoor table, when a sizable group of bikers pulled up on their very-serious looking European motorcycles. These were mostly big Ducattis and similar makes, and they all looked like no-nonsense bikers. But the image that really stuck with me about this group was that when the light turned green they all pulled away quietly, showing a level of respect for others that you would rarely see from a group of bikers back home. No revved engines, no burnouts, just a group of people out to enjoy the evening and letting others enjoy theirs as well.

Without trying to sound like Vince Vega, it really is the little things here that you notice. A few examples: You never see someone using water from a hose to clean or rinse something off. Back home, the site of someone spraying down the sidewalk in front of a store or business is pretty common, but here you will see people sweeping the sidewalk or using a mop and a little bucket of water to clean things. Water is not just pissed away like we do it in the states. I’m not sure if it costs a lot more, but because of an ongoing drought here it is sure treated as though it were of a finite quantity.

The whole concept of take-out is almost non-existent. There are some examples of it (almost all recent imports), but for the most part a restaurant is where you go to have food, not to get food. I have seen only one or two people sipping coffee or soda from a takeout cup since I have been here. However, I did recently see this completely out-of-place and very unpleasant scene outside of a local Starbucks. No wonder people around the world object to having American companies come into their world. As an American, I was embarrassed.

Frugality is evident in almost every part of the day here. Aside from water, electricity is closely controlled. In the hotel, you only have electricity, lights, and a/c in the room while you are actually in the room. This is controlled by requiring that you place the room key in a little holder near the door when you come in. When you leave the room, you take the key out again and the lights go out after a few minutes. I have learned that you can cheat and use ANY hotel key card in there, and sometimes do that when I go out but want to leave the computer charging. If I end up in the slammer here, that will probably be why.

I am discovering that the rain in Spain is not restricted to the plain as it rains in nothing short of a Wrath O’God fashion here this afternoon. Speaking of God’s wrath and weather, this is what some fine Christians have to say about God and hurricane Katrina.

This morning I realized that the real problem with America today is that there are not enough pretty girls wearing skirts riding scooters. I came to this conclusion while riding in a cab to the office, as we passed numerous examples of this lovely sight. I challenge any healthy male to not have his day brightened by the sight of a pretty gal, wearing a skirt, in heels, riding a scooter on her way to some fun appointment. Imagine young Mary Richards at her spunkiest, zipping down the street on a little powder-blue Vespa, cheeks ruddy from the brisk fall air, and tell me that image doesn’t bring a smile.

I am convinced that somewhere in Rhode Island there is a psychiatric facility at which the inmates are requlalry instructed; “why not go out to the bike path and ride a bicycle; it will be good for you.” The last few times I have ridden the nearby bicycle path, (see July 25th entry) I have passed the same oddly-dressed man who for some reason has it in his head that; a) the cops are out to get him, and b) I am a cop. Two days ago, he shouted something at me to the effect of; “All it takes is ONE lousy cop to ruin things, just one lousy cop.” Today, as he passed me while riding in the opposite direction, he shouted, “Hey ? why don’t you go catch some speeders? There’s some guy back there speeding on a bicycle ? go after him.” I have no idea why this lunatic has decided that I am a cop, but there is most definitely a bee in his bonnet on this subject.

I am off again to Barcelona later this morning and expect to be there until the 23rd or so. This time I hope to to take in some of the museums and other fun stuff that I didn’t have time to check out during my first trip. Call 508-635-4410 if you want to reach me – that will connect to my computer if it is on, and to voice mail if I am not online at the time.

Some years back, I received a beautiful Tumi computer case as a gift. It is something that I probably never would have bought for myself, and I really love it. Tumi products are very well-made and sturdy. That’s why I was surprised to find the handle on my bag tearing loose and hanging on by just a few threads recently. I plodded through Tumi’s website in search of repair information and finally emailed their customer service department and asked what to do. Two days later they got back to me with instructions to pack the bag up and send it out to some location in Chicago where they would “evaluate the bag and give me an estimate.”

Good thing for me that I brought the bag to North Providence Shoe & Luggage Repair in the meantime, where I had it fixed better than new, the same day, for $12. That’s less than it would have cost me to pack and ship the bag out for an estimate, and a whole lot less than it would have cost to get it repaired via the official route, not to mention probably waiting weeks to get it back. The repair work at the local shop was beautifully and professionally done. What a treat it was to deal with a business that was so good at what they do. People in Chicago should be sending their bags to Providence, not the other way around.

Another great company is Webber, the charcoal/gas grill people. I just picked up an accessory kit for my grill which replaces the original handle with one equipped with lights for nighttime grilling. It was easy to install and looks great. In fact, every part of this grill is first-rate and built to last, right down to the documentation and product packaging. A gas grill is one of those products that can be made quite cheaply, but there is nothing in the least bit cheap about a Webber.

And while I am giving out kudos for good customer service, believe me when I say that A&I Transportation in Leonia NJ is the best car service in the NYC area. I hadn’t used this company in at least 5 years, but when I called them for a ride recently they not only recognized me immediately but also remembered my previous address in New Jersey from years ago. These guys know their stuff and are great to deal with.

One last one; Spike’s Junkyard Dogs in Providence and Cranston RI. Great food, and perhaps the nicest and most efficient staff you could ask for.

This is Andrew Sachs, the actor who portrayed Manuel the waiter on the BBC comedy show Fawlty Towers.  The character was a bit of a bumbling klutz, with limited command of English. His boss, Mr. Fawlty, excused Manuel to the guests by saying; “Don’t mind him, he’s from Barcelona.” As you can imagine, that particular joke does not play quite as well when the show is broadcast here in Barcelona.  Instead, Manuel’s stupidity is dismissed here with; “Don’t mind him, he’s from Italy.”