Barcelona - update during Day 4

The last time I posted, we were experiencing the early stages of the worst snowstorm Barcelona has had since 1962. Yes, that's right: around 3 inches (max) of accumulation constitutes the worst snowfall in 45+ years. According to our tour guide on Tuesday (not the one from Sunday, who lost her voice after an afternoon with us, nor the one from Monday, who was apparently freaked out by the snow situation and wouldn't come back), 3000+ Barcelonians spent Monday night in emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings because they could not get home in the snow, and the local politicians are pointing fingers at each other about Barcelona's inability to handle the freak storm. As we GBE'ers spent Monday afternoon trapped on a bus driving up and then immediately back down winding, icy roads on Mount Tibidabo, we had the chance to observe what happens in a city where whole generations have never seen snow:
-middle school students scooped snow off of cars stuck in the traffic jam and hurled it at one another;
-every woman in the city who owns a fur coat dug it out of her closet;
-apartment residents crept out onto balconies to take pictures;
-particularly brilliant local residents attempted to remove the accumulating snow from their driveways by dousing them with water from their garden hoses; and
-dozens of scooter owners walked their immobilized vehicles up slippery hills.

While it was fun to see everyone enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime precipitation, it did put a little bit of a damper on our tourist plans for the day. I'll need to head back to the Sagrada Familia to look at the facades without blustery wind whipping snow into my face, and we were all bussed-out by time we got back to the hotel that night. Yesterday, in the aftermath of the storm, we hiked up a very, very icy hill to IESE (again, hosing down ice and snow is not an effective method of removal) and saw all of the wreckage caused by the storm, including numerous downed trees (including on top of a tour bus), abandoned cars, etc. The most funny part of the morning may have been watching a public works crew carrying what looked like a witch's broom (think branch handle and twig bristles) and a cauldron of sand as they set out to conjure up a solution to the snow curse. No joke.

After a classroom session on Tuesday morning, we again boarded our trusty bus to take a tour of Barcelona, including Porto Olimpico and the Olympic stadium for the 1992 summer games, buildings erected for various World's Fairs, and other important sites. We also visited the Picasso Museum and did a walking tour of the old city area, including the Catedral de Barcelona. Last night, we grabbed tapas and wine and walked down Las Ramblas before taking the metro back to the hotel.

Today, we took a break from class for an all-day field trip to Figueras (to see the Dali museum), Girona (to see the Jewish Quarter), and Besalu (to see the old town and Jewish baths). Again, pictures will follow. We are currently on the bus back to Barcelona, where we will rest up before heading out to dinner and to celebrate SS's 30th bday (which was Monday; we delayed celebrating until we could count on sleeping in the next morning). It should be tons of fun.

Tomorrow is our day off, so I'll need to figure out what to do with myself besides returning to Sagrada Familia. Hopefully, the weather will stay sunny!

Live snow update from Barcelona

This is a horrible picture from my BlackBerry camera through a bus window as we travel up a windy, snow-covered mountain...but just to share that it is actually snowing (and accumulating) here in Barcelona. I know I am from New England, but I did NOT pack for this!

Barcelona - update during Day 2

Allegedly, it never (or practically never) snows in Barcelona. Well, today it is snowing. Apparently, my memo to Winter either got delayed in Frankfurt (like one of my GBE-mate's flight here) or lost in the translation to Catalan.

Although there have been some "this is why I didn't bid on the Stockholm GBE" rumblings, I think most, if not all, of us are enjoying the trip so far. We've spent 2-3 hours in class each day discussing design and the applicability of design concepts to business strategy, and then during the afternoon yesterday we visited 2 sites designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, Colonia Guell and Park Guell. (Pictures will follow later when I get home and can connect my camera to my laptop.) This afternoon we will be seeing a few more Gaudi sites, including the Sagrada Familia. Each evening we've been heading out in groups for tapas, paella, and sangria, though I opted for an early bedtime last night to finally beat the jet lag.

We just finished lunch at IESE (where we've been using classroom space), and now it is time to catch the bus. Stay tuned for more updates from Barcelona!

I hereby declare Winter to be over

I'm playing mind games with Winter. Yes, it did snow today in Charlottesville.  Yes, I know that Spring doesn't officially start for almost three more weeks.  But I have decided to throw my parka in the wash, pack up my hats and scarves, stow the big bad snow shovel, and remove all of my winter pictures from my camera and post some of them here.  Therefore, I announce that Winter is over.  Do you hear that, weather gods?  YOU ARE DONE!!!  Mwhahaha!

When I started planning to move to Virginia after 7 years in Providence, RI and Boston, MA (including above-average snow fall each of the last two years...and the average is ~45 inches), everyone said, "Oh, Virginia.  It only snows once or twice a year, and it snows MAYBE five or six inches, MAX.  Plus, it melts right away."  I should have known they were all lying to me when it actually snowed on the day that I came to interview.  But anyway...I was expecting snowfall like this, which we got during the first weekend of exams in December:

See, it was kinda rainy and gross, barely sticking to the roads.

You could still see the grass peeking through in Flagler Courtyard!

There were still living plants!

...and Darden hadn't even removed the flower pots!

Yes, well, snow like that would have been all well and good.  Then we got 2 feet during the weekend before Christmas.  The city, county, and state shut down.  More than 48 hours after the storm ended, I left to drive home to Delaware, and I didn't see a completely clear lane of roadway until I got two counties north on Rt. 29.  I realized then that Virginians have no idea whatsoever how to deal with snow.  OK, maybe that isn't fair.  Virginians who have previously lived in New England have a vague idea of how one should properly deal with snow.  Most Virginians panic, in the "OH MY GOODNESS!!!  It is going to SNOW!!! I have to run to the grocery store immediately and stock up on bread, milk, cat food, snacks, beer, etc., BECAUSE I MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO LEAVE MY HOUSE AGAIN!!!!" sort of way.  Do Virginians do proactive things, like salt or sand roadways?  No.  They do not.  In fact, they wait to start plowing or shoveling or doing anything to deal with the snow until there is more than a foot on the ground.  I want to start some sort of educational program for the local municipalities.  Furthermore, I want to issue a public service announcement to Virginia drivers:

"Attention, Virginia drivers.  Please consider the following tips for traveling in snow.  First, if you do not have 4-wheel drive and there is more than a foot of snow on the road, DO NOT DRIVE.  Second, if you do not know how to drive in snow, DO NOT DRIVE.  Even if you do have 4-wheel drive, do not drive if you are going to go either 5 mph or 80 mph in the snow.  Neither option is particularly safe.  Third, if it snows, please clear the snow off of the top of your car before it hardens into a rock-solid chunk that will go flying off of the back of your vehicle once you start driving, causing considerable consternation to other drivers behind you.  Fourth, if you see that your female neighbor has spent an houring shoveling out her car, including hauling shovelsfull of snow to the opposite end of the parking lot so that it does not block anyone else in, DO NOT MOVE YOUR SNOW-COVERED CAR TO HER CLEAR SPOT, leaving your snow-covered spot to ice over; that's just rude.  Your adherence to these four tips will make snowy winters far more pleasant for all Virginia residents.  Thank you."

Clearly, as a snow-hardened, grizzled New Englander, I was frustrated by the local response.  But again, I thought, "Hey, this must be the odd one-off situation that happens once in a blue moon.  I've dealt with it, and now I should be able to get through the rest of the winter snow-free."  Right?  WRONG.

It seemed to snow every single weekend through late January and February (and only on weekends!).  I had to cancel numerous trips to DC to visit friends, which meant that I felt snowbound every single weekend, and the cabin fever became ridiculous.  My #1 way to spend free time was shoveling out/off my snow-covered car (yeah, with that much snow, those little snow brushes are worthless - see below). 

Grocery stores constantly had 30-40 minute check-out lines as every Charlottesvillian panicked, storm after storm.  (Seriously, if it snows on Tuesday and you go to the grocery store on Monday to prepare for Snowmageddon, do you really need more food on Thursday in preparation for the Friday storm?  How much do you eat?) As my friends and younger sister in DC got day after day off from work, I didn't even get a single stinkin' snow day (the University cancelled classes on one Friday because there was a state of emergency, but Darden had a Reading Day anyway, so there was no incremental benefit to me)!  The outrageousness of it all!

However, during the second 2-foot storm, I decided to take the camera out and get some nice pictures of Darden and the central UVa grounds, because I do actually like snow (but I like it more when there is public transportation, when people know how to deal with it, etc.).  I thought some of you might enjoy!

The Darden sign.

Saunders Hall.

Close-up of Saunders.

The tree-lined driveway to the faculty parking lot.

Kind of hard to sit on the benches, huh?

Our man, Thomas Jefferson. 

Flagler Courtyard and the fountain, looking towards Saunders.

A very, very snowy little courtyard alcove.

I love the contrast of green leaves and snow.

Anyone for lunch outside?

Treacherous stairs.

Abbott Center and Wilkinson Courtyard.

I LOVE snow-covered trees.

Central Grounds, view from Newcomb Hall.

Walking towards the Lawn.

The Rotunda, from the Lawn.

The Episcopal church near the Lawn (St. John's, maybe?).

View of the Rotunda from University Ave.  Clearly the undegrads had been sledding.  I miss "borrowing" dining hall trays to sled down College Hill in Providence.

The University chapel.

See, wasn't that pretty?  Unfortunately, now that I have decreed that winter is over, all we are left with is the big heap of parking lot snow we have dubbed Mt. Barracks:

The Barracks Road Shopping Center people covered it in sand so people would stop sledding.  Killjoys.  Darden students, ever-inventive and very good at monetizing anything they can, have a bet going as to the day that Mt. Barracks finally melts, and if you are actually still reading this blog post, you must have time to kill, and you should check out the Cold Call Chronicle article about climbing Mt. Barracks. 

You know Spring is just around the corner when...

...LACROSSE SEASON STARTS!!!  Yes, I know most people do not get this excited about lacrosse season.  However, I am my father's daughter.  For those of you who do not know my father, he played lacrosse growing up in Baltimore and all throughout high school and college.  He subsequently officiated high school and college games up until having two knee replacement surgeries in the last several years.  When my father officiated, my younger sister and I came along to games.  During our younger years, we were bored out of our little minds.  We used to pray that the high school to which we were dragged also had an affiliated grade school so that there would be a swingset or something to occupy us (shout out to Tatnall, which had by far the most entertaining facilities).  But by the time we were older, we actually enjoyed watching the games.  We also owned pee-wee sized lacrosse sticks as kids.  We played in grade school.  I started playing in high school and then ended up with the world's most evil lacrosse coach (long story, but if I had continued to play for her, I am fairly sure I would have ended up in the hospital and my high school would have had a very unpleasant legal situation on their hands), so I quit, and I think my father and I had the single largest fight we've ever had about my quitting.  I then "managed" the mens' team.  Anyway, my history aside, I like watching lacrosse, and I am particularly excited now that I go to a university with the No. 2 ranked men's lax team and the No. 12 women's team!  It doesn't hurt that the lax stadium is a mere 5 minute walk from Darden. 

As part of my exam procrastination - er, I mean, studying - regimen this weekend, I went to the men's game against Stoneybrook on Saturday.  It was a little chilly, and the fact that there were four-foot mounds of snow surrounding the turf field seemed moderately odd, but it was fun!  It was clearly early in the season, so play was a little bit sloppy, but we won, and hopefully I'll have a chance to attend more games this season.  I'm very sad that I'll be missing the Syracuse game next week, but I think I'll be able to get over it since I'll be in BARCELONA (more to come on that).  In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of my attempts to be a sports photographer (here my father also puts me to shame - since he no longer officiates, he's moved on to photographing high school and college games.  He has a fancy schmancy camera and stands on the sidelines.  I am technologically challenged, so this is the best I could do from up in the stands with a tiny little Nikon Coolpix.):