....... Divertimento

Monday, 27 June 2011

Do it now 馬上開始(马上开始)

Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO (born 12 July 1939) is an Australian broadcaster, film producer, writer, social commentator, satirist and left-wing pundit. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live, four nights a week on the ABC, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. Adams is (or was) on the Advisory Board of Wikileaks. He has written or edited over 20 books.

Here are two quotes from him:

When people say to me: “how do you do so many things?” I often answer them, without meaning to be cruel: “how do you do so little?”

And

It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.
Know anyone who should read this? Feel free to pass it on!

Have a fruitful day everyone.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

Barcelona

Well, I have been in Barcelona since Monday June 20. Before coming, I was full of trepidation - about the E. coli situation and the pickpockets and thieves who prey on tourists. Both are true. The E. coli situation still rages on but seemingly not in Barcelona. You see lots of people chomping on salads - the vegetarian eatery I walk past every day is doing a roaring trade.

We were so not in the mood to wait 45 minutes for a table at Hard Rock Cafe on Friday night, instead we opted for instant gratififcation at the "all you can eat" Italian buffet nearby. I must admit though, after the first plateful of salad, judgement got the better of me and I decided that we should have no more, so it was pasta and pizza the rest of the meal. It was rather a dampener though, wondering if I had tempted fate and being a bad parent by allowing us to have salads. Never mind, we are all well and healthy. Not even a tummy rumble.

About the pickpockets. Well, I don´t want to jinx it, I have two days yet in Barcelona. But we have been very vigilant and so far so good. Maybe it is pure luck. It is stressful though, having to constantly be on the look out, looking over our shoulders to see if anyone is tailing us, not being able to put my handbag down on the seat when we eat etc. etc. We either walk or take public transport every where - the Metro (underground train), furnicular train, cable car and the ocassional taxi. We are not tour group people. In the Metro, there are constant reminders of pickpockets. There are uniformed Metro staff patrolling the platforms with or without dogs. Yesterday, my son was putting away his wallet and a Metro staff shouted from the opposite platform to watch out for pickpockets. Passengers walk past and tell you to watch out for the pickpocket on the platform you are heading to. When we asked for directions to change train lines, the Metro staff also reminded us to watch out for pickpockets along the 3 minute walk.

Looking forward to another good day in Barcelona. Heading for Parc Guell today.