Where am I?

It's been here for sometime.  Maybe older than some of you.  It's got global relevance.  There's current and historical reference.  Okay, I'm not doing very well on the guessing game.  Look at the building on the left.  Can you see the logo on the top?  These tents are made from plates, together they appear to be flowing.  The tower is multi-functional.  Part restaurant, part communications tower.  It's the site of the XX summer Olympiad.  Remember Mark Spitz? Seven gold metals?  Olga Korbut and gymnastics?  Not to mention the unmentionable massacre of the Israel team members?

This is a view from the communications tower.  We ended up having dinner here.  Below you can see the BMW headquarters building and the edge of the BMW museum.

For BMW fans, here's the whole shooting match.  lower left huge building is the new gorgeous BMW museum.   We had no time to visit, but it looks fantastic, and huge.  Behind it, is part of the BMW factory.  Mid right is the BMW headquarters building.  It's called something like the quad tower or something.  Off in the distance, top center is the sports arena, in glowing red and almost looks like it's floating.  The color changes every couple minutes.  Our dining experience rotates.  I think we made 2 or so revolutions. 

I liked this divider light wall, made of wire and lighting embedded in the restaurant.

Of particular interest to me is the Olympic pool, from 1972.  The Germans take pride in the facility and the event altogether.  It was exciting to visit, and swim here.  I actually swam in lane 4, as did Mark Spitz, for a number of his amazing metal flurry.

What does this say?  This is the Spitz lane.

Aerial view of the pool and aquatic area.

Artistic view of the dive pool.  In the background is the 50 meter pool.

This is the official symbol for the XX Olympics.  It's actually a flat weaving, but somehow the photo created this 3D view.  It did not look this way directly.

Our hotel is just across the way from the Olympic center.  This shows a tiny view of some architecture, everywhere around us.

I vaguely remember these concrete dorms, and vividly remember the tiered dorms in the background from the Olympics.  They continuously showed these during the hostage crisis.

So, did you guess?  Yes!  It's Munich.

Jib Jab with Tim
As much as we were on the edge of Munich in this location, we did get a good flavor of some highlights in our short visit.  We actually had two really good meals.  One, a traditional Bavarian meal just on the edge of Munich in a neighborhood area.  The other meal was in the communications tower, and the food was actually quite good!  Who would have thought?!  I really enjoyed our German visit.

I just finished my expense report and found the receipt for an awesome place we ate the first night, called Osterwaldgarten.  It's a great regional beer garden with a very local feel and delicious food.  We had the ox, which was a delicious steak.   We meandered around this area, about 4 stops on the metro from our Olympic village hotel, and only found pizza and beer places.  Finally we stopped a local heading into his apartment, and he pointed us to this place for a local Bavarian favorite.

Here's a photo of the awesome fare.  This is delicious ox, and of course some nice root vegetables.  The steak is on a bed of a noodle type thing, with the crispy delicious onions on top, and the stellar juice/gravy/goodness underneath.  I asked if they had a veggie side, and that's where the wok-cooked bell peppers come in, on the left...kind of the Californian adaptation as it were.  The beer, of course, was delicious, and a highlight here.  Yes, it's a beer garden, but it was way cold and late to be eating outside while we were there.

I wish one of these was my mug.

 It's a fun, Bavarian place inside.

Yes, I'm pretty obnoxious, always taking pictures with the camera.  I wanted a working picture, but didn't want to interrupt, so this is not necessarily an ideal candid moment.  None-the-less, here we are, looking professional.  This is Joerg and Mark, ready to head into our meeting.  As you can see, it turned out to be a nice day in Munich.

Welcome to Barcelona, Park de Montjuic

To catch your attention, this is the MNAC.  The exhibit highlighted is 1,000 years of art.  Wow.

This is Piscines Picornell sports center, home of the 1992 Summer Olympics.  This area is up on a hill, overlooking vast parts of the city.  That said, it's still not that popular of an area it seems.  It's winter.  Apparently there is work going on in the outdoor pool.  The other pool behind where I am standing is not in commission either.  I'm guessing the other pool is some sort of warm up area.  A few features I noticed here, aside from not having water;  The pool is DEEP, compared to what I'm used to.  It has infinity edges to cut waves.  Well, the perspective gives you an idea of what 50 meters looks like.

Although the outdoor pools were shut down, there is also an olympic pool indoors, shown here, with a view to the extraordinary MNAC, or Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya.  The sports center's an impressive center, and is in no way an attraction to tourists.  There is virtually nothing that says 1992 Olympics anywhere.  I was hoping to set a souvenir with the center name or olympic rings or something.  Nada.  They did have a swim shop, and I ended up getting a Catalunya cap, since Barcelona is the center for Catalunyans.  Spain, as I am learning, is comprised of several people, the Catalunyans being one, who would even like to be considered their own nation.

I've got to be careful visiting pools like this, or I won't want to go home.  I would say it's 8 feet deep or so, infinity edges, a ledge to stand on in the water, viewing level below water, and this vantage point is from a cafe overlooking the pool.  Shown, I would guess is around half the length, so maybe 30 lanes or so.  The far side are 2nd story windows of some of the workout rooms, and so on.  Yes, I did actually felt faster in the pool.  I ended up getting 3,000 meters, which felt absolutely great in so many ways.

Jib Jab with Tim

A few things.  As I said, this isn't a major attraction (strange yet fortunate!).  The downside is, there's very little on the web in English on schedules, logistics, etc.  I spent way too much time trying to figure it out, and finally just grabbed suit and goggles, and headed over.  For the next person, here's what I've found so far:

Piscones Piconnell Athletic Center

Open: 6:45am to 11:30pm.  

Cost:  About 5 Euros

What to bring: towel, shampoo/soap, lock for locker

Good news:  If you forget any of the above, you can purchase it there during certain times:

Turbo Store in the lobby:  10am - 1:30pm and 5 - 8 pm

Finding it:  This was a little complicated, but let's keep it simple.  Either get directions to the MNAC, and it's right behind it.  Follow the huge communications tower shown.  It's just in front of it.  To it's left is the main Olympic stadium, which I saw only from a distance.  There's other olympic venues around, not sure about the rest.

Metro:  Take the red line to Espana or Espania.  It's a big city circle area, and at the top of the hill you see the massive MNAC, and it's just behind.

The communications tower behind.  To give you perspective, it's about 100+ meters tall.  Really the most interesting communications towers I've ever seen.  The pool center is that on the right.  I know.  It doesn't look like much from this angle.

Sorry about the awkward angle!  Here's the only Olympic anything I saw.  The torch bearer and pedestal is about 20 feet tall, but sort of hidden along a path.

 This museum is absolutely huge, and a hint of my next post.  Suffice it to say, it's worth a visit.

Why Barcelona you ask?  It's where Mobile World Congress is hosted.  Some 50,000 - 60,000 attendees.

Sometimes it's hard to show size in photos.  This a a great example.  These two towers are about 5-6 stories tall.  In the extreme right lower corner you see the MNAC, a picture of it in the red access sign.

Last highlight for tonight.  Seems like a nothing picture.  Look again.  Two guys, headphones, video games.  Nice lamb cap on one, haircut on the other.  Elder women sitting next to them.  Photographer in the reflection.  This is the Metro.  Runs like clockwork.  Super efficient, very inexpensive.  Okay, final note.  Guy on left has tats on his hands.  See?  Love Hope across his knuckles.