Recent developments

In the spirit of providing updates with some measure of timeliness, I will be, in the near future, going to Spain! With a brief stop in London! And most of this trip will be on the companies dime, so I am stretching it out to milk that expensed airfare for all it is worth!

(Note - I am so excited about this you can actually hear the exclamation marks at the ends of my sentances. Sometimes I even speak in all caps.)

It so happens that our European sales teams will be having some kind of partner wooing conference in Marbella, and it was determined they would let me attend if I did all the planning. This is fantastic, since usually I have to do all the planning anyway and don't get to go to the fun locations and posh hotels. Whether this is their view of a little bonus for me or if this event is actually going to be a way bigger pain in the ass than I've assumed, it matters not. I am going to Spain where I shall dust off my atrociously neglected Spanish skills try touring as an adult and not a hostel staying student!

Actually, I will be travelling first class for most of the trip. The folks have set me up in a 4 star hotel in downtown Madrid for my 5 days of holiday time before I get down to "working". Five days in Madrid! At least one whole day of my time in Madrid is promised to seeing Real Madrid play on their home turf, Bernabeu Stadium, as well as touring the stadium and possibly stalking most of the defensive line (Iker, Fabio, etc). The rest of the week will be spent more on the cultural side with museums and tapas bars. Lots of tapas bars.

I'll polish off my two weeks abroad with a few days in London for no real reason whatsoever. Sure it's one of the most exciting cities in the world with a host of museums I haven't seen yet and new tourist attractions since I last passed through in the late '90s. That is totally why I'm going. There is no way I planned this stop in my trip just for the vague hope of crossing paths with my latest work crush. Sure developing a work crush on the charming sales guy from the UK does impede flirtation options, but it also takes some of the sting out of the fact that evidence suggests this is not a reciprocal relationship. Anyway, I'm guessing every bar in London has cider on tap, so I just might be able to keep myself entertained regardless.

Viva Clúb Sutíl!

Regardless of the motivations for my route, this will be a most excellent holiday. It embraces my recent bout of Anglophilia and relatively new found passion for fúbol, and all I really have to pay for is the hotel in London and my entertainment costs outside of Marbella. Fantastico! Sadly, Ani was unable to join me on the Euro romp, so hopefully I won't get into to much trouble unchaperoned. Ha!