brian clegg

No updates for a couple of days. Mostly because I've been working. The weather has been unbelievable in Malaga the last 2 days, but I need to get ready to come home and get ahead of the game a bit with 2 weeks in Austin for SXSW.

So just for the sake of posting something, here's my work setup at my place in Malaga (including views from out the window and on the balcony).

My last 5 Fridays were spent in the following cities: NYC; AGP; GRX; CDZ; BCN
My next 5 Fridays will (likely) be spent in the following: AGP; NYC; AUS; AUS; YYC

I have yet to book the flight home from Austin. There's only one thing I have to discuss with someone which could derail an early trip home, but now that my mind is set on it, I am looking forward to having a Keith's at BTF, being in town for the playoffs & playoff pools, Phil's on Sundays, pho, having a place to go to work, and obviously seeing friends & family.

Aside from the above, what I really want is to be going back to NY. I'll have to figure out how to make that happen on a more permanent basis. Maybe in a year or two or five.

I'm one of the few people leaving Cadiz tonight. People were streaming in from the train/bus station. Carnival is essentially a giant Halloween for adults and then some.

Everyone is in costume but each group has a theme where usually one person is the focal point and the rest support that person (ex: person dressed as an egg and 20 others dressed as penguins chasing him around). Also, each group seems to be prepared with chants, songs, and skits - so there's entertainment that spontaneously starts up all over the city. The more the day went on, the crazier it was getting and it was really entertaining by the time I left, so I imagine I'm going to miss some awesomeness. However, I'm tired and ready to head home.

On the plus side, I refilled my prepaid sim card.

Also a crowd-pleaser. I guess that's cool here.

Just took the bus back to Malaga from Granada, which was a great trip. My new friend Cristina had to visit her family there so we took the bus up together. I walked around El Alhambra for about four hours. Alhambra is an old city & fort that has been passed back and forth between Christians and Muslims for hundreds of years. I was able to get a ton of photos, but they are still in my camera and there are a few hundred to go through. Once I do I will put some up on my Flickr account.

Even though I was exhausted from waking up early Friday for the bus and a day of walking, I decided to stay overnight in Granada - so I got a room in a hostel. I realized that, in the 12 or so years since I went backpacking, my expectations for accommodations have gone up fairly considerably. After securing the hostel and having a conference call for work I was able to go out with Cristine and some of her friends to enjoy the nightlife in Granada. One of the great things is that any time you order an alcoholic beverage in Granada, you get a free tapas plate... and a drink is only about 2-3 euros. So it is very cheap to eat & drink in Granada.

We ended up at this place that reminded me so much of the Palace (before it became Flames Central). I already posted the picture, but it really doesn't do it justice. It was an old style, multi-level movie theatre which had been converted to a nightclub. For some reason it was very surreal to me. The oddest thing about it was the age of the patrons. There were so many older people in the bar (in the 50-70 age range) mixed in with the people that were there in their 20's & 30's. And they were there to party. It was extremely entertaining. I tried getting photos, but it was too dark.

This morning I walked around Granada and it was a great day. The first t-shirt weather day since I've been to Spain. I walked through the Albayzin (which is the part of Granada where the buildings are all white) and went to the Cathedral, which is where they say much of the Spanish Inquisition took place. Walking around a place like Granada definitely gives a person a lot to think about, and after the bus ride home it feels like my brain is going to explode. There is a carnivale tonight in Malaga and I can hear the drums starting up, so I'm going to go check that out.

I grabbed some pics of the Sierra Nevada mountains and more olive tree fields while on the bus home.

My favorite type of weather. Been a long time old friend.

We're all used to the concept of public playgrounds for children - swingsets, monkey bars, teeter-totters, etc. Well check this out: a bunch of outdoor gym equipment along a running path in Malaga. I know the photo is kind of shitty, but I felt like a creep photographing people working out - so deal with it. But the guy behind the bicycle is on a rowing 'machine' and the girl behind him is on some sort of elliptical equipment.

I'm not a runner, so this might exist along all the running paths in Calgary, but it blew my mind. It's a simple concept for staying fit and having fun!