After several year I have attended a conference. I have been working at
the university since 2001 but in last 7 year I have been more a manager
than a scientist or teacher. And one of side effect of this development
was that I have had no time for conferences. Fortunately, this year it
was possible for me to (well, partially) returnt to more normal work. I
was able to finish some textbooks and also to do some research and to
present the results on a conference. So I visited the Barcelona and the
Sitges (where the conference venue was).
I flown from Prague to Sitges with the Vueling. I used them before few
years and now I noticed some changes, both positive and negative: one
can check-in online and actually select a seat. There is no run for the
best seats now, which is nice. They still sell places near emergency
exits as a better (more expensive) ones because there is more space.
And there still are people who are surprised for what they paid the
extra price. Well, I intentionally got this seat because it also means
priority boarding (and because there really is a bit more space for my
long legs). On other side, drop-off of bags in Barcelona now requires
operations with a strange machine which automatically prints label for
the bag. In the Prague there was normal, human, crew for this task and
I think that it was faster and less annoying. Anyway, if I will have to
use low-cost in future then I will prefer the Vueling.
In Sitges I selected a hotel which was close to the railway station and
not so far from the conference venue. It was not too expensive but also
not cheap. After I was there, I opened the google and started to study
why it has just 2,5 stars from 5 possible. People were unsatisfied with
the fact that they want payment during check-in and that they require
payment in cash (I see no problem with that), that there is a bad TV (I
had a quite big flat-screen one), that there is bat or no air
conditioning (it worked perfectly for me but I found it unnecessary)
and many people found the lift terrible (yes, it was a bit older and a
small, just for 3 people, but it worked perfectly). In other hand,
their bed was perfect. I normally have problem to sleep on a bed which
has different stiffness than my own but there the bed was just ideal.
And the room was a dedicated large terrace with seats and a large
parasol. To be short: I cannot select a better hotel for me. Are my
needs so different from needs of other travelers?
For the Barcelona itself: I had little time to explore it. But it looks
like a nice city. Many interesting buildings. I personally don't like
Gaudi works but its church is magnificent. And for older ones, I have
found the most interesting the remains of the old Roman defenses.
Public transport is OK, and they offer a 1,2 or 3-day (and for 5 days
too, I think) tourist ticket for fair price so moving inside city is
easy.
Now I'm writing this text in the night train from Prague to Ostrava.
Surprisingly, both electricity and WiFi are available here. Is it
because it is the first class couch?