Tuesday, July 22, 2008

ESOF 2008 - Last Day and Departure

The sun is out again, blue sky today. This is the last day of ESOF 2008. I pack my stuff and check out from the hotel, leaving my luggage there in storage for picking it up in the afternoon.

Had not much time yet to see things in Barcelona, due to attendance at the conference. There is another social event in the afternoon, in the Mies-van-der-Rohe pavillion, where the ESOF responsibility is handed over from Barcelona this year to Torino in 2010. I may have a look - maybe I could engage a bit with this community and could participate in one of the sessions as speaker.

A bit walking around in Barcelona, up the hill of Tibidabo with its old-fashioned Luna-Park. There is a real whole airplane hanging on a construction and is "carried around", with passengers in it. Great view from there over the city.

There are also interesting Roman remains in the city: a few columns of a temple, city walls, and gates.

The plane leaves at 19:40. I take again the train, but it is quite a hazzle: have to carry all my luggage around the metro, as there are not everywhere esculators or lifts. At the train station, there are sign for the airport, but it is difficult to find the tracks where the trains leave. The announcement boards are very unclear, no mention of the train to the airport. Finally I see it, at track 10. Many people are on the platform, waiting for the train. It goes only every 30 minutes, clearly to infrequently for the demand. The train is then packed. Arrive well in time, as I have planned with lots of time buffer.

The Jet2 counter is still without personnel, a long line of passengers is already waiting. For one hour I stay in the queue, chat with a nice patent lawyer who is in the queue. Finally, the queue moves, just 1 h 1/2 hours before take-off.

The flight is without any incidents, arrive well in Leeds.

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