The Launch of MacGenius.es - Apple Consultant Genius Bar ACN Xserve Spain EU

Announcing the launch of MacGenius.es, a Mac Strategic Consulting
Agency, based in Madrid, Spain, and serving all of the EU (European
Union).

Let us help you implement solutions for the 21st century, leveraging
our experience from Silicon Valley and San Francisco, CA, to leapfrog
your business to efficient and cost-effective Mac based solutions.

Embrace Apple, Inc. solutions and conquer your competition.

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Google Calendar CalDAV support - Calendar Help Center

Google Calendar CalDAV support - Calendar Help Center

This is a good page, and if you use iCal and Google, you can use this to tie it all together.

We Expats need stuff like this.

We passed the TTMadrid TEFL Exam

Pretty Good School. Check it out and as for Tem.

Yay, we are teachers now!?!?!?

--
Andrew y Nicci

Our Addresses in España

This is our home address, and we can receive letters here:

Calle Santa Polonia, 8, 2-C
Madrid, 28014
Spain

http://maps.google.es/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=Calle+de+Santa+Polonia,+8,+28014,+Madrid,+Spain&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr

EDIT: Zip code changed to 28014



We can receive packages here:

Address:
C/o TTMadrid
Calle General Yagüe, 70 1A,
28020
Madrid
España

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Calle+General+Yague,+70,+Madrid,+Spain&sll=40.458295,-3.700955&sspn=0.007298,0.014462&ie=UTF8&om=1&s=AARTsJq-wiV4oHl0m3usGtIs9-9kB4m-8g&view=map&ll=40.457462,-3.700933&spn=0.034548,0.072956&z=14&iwloc=addr

Thanks, more soon!
Andy

Living in Spain: Graffiti everywhere

There is a lot of graffiti in Madrid. It is everywhere. Spraycans, big
ink pens and actual paint and brush are used. Graffiti is on almost
all the walls, all the over passes, in the Metro system, scratched
into the windows of the train cars (like you'll see on BART sometimes)

The ground has stickers on them (some are ads, and some are like the
Obey the Giant ads).

To be fair, some places are very clean, and we've seen certain
shopkeepers and others handwashing the sidewalk in front of their
store, their steps, or mopping outside their business.

I suspect it is less that Madrid has more graffiti than any other big
city, I just think that they have made the decision not to fight it.
There seems to be no abatement program, nor a longterm plan (or funds)
to systematically clean it up. They do have street sweepers (to pick
up the loose junk on the ground)

I've not lived in New York. I believe that one thing that Rudy
Guiliani did was fight the small crime first (vandalism, broken
windows, and graffiti) with the intent to not let neighborhoods
visually fall into dispair, possibly leading to bigger issues.

Madrid seems like a pretty safe city. To our eyes, we've not really
found places that are any sketchier than say parts of the Mission (and
we wouldn't even go into Hunters Point). Avoiding the pimps and their
employees, and keeping a wary eye about seems to help make you a
harder target for those that target tourists.

I am a proud American, but if I become the LOUD AMERICAN TOURIST that
is so common, I will start as a target, and end as a victim.

I don't prefer that, and to circle back, I think Madrid should
consider the image they are projecting by not cleaning up after their
residents.

Hasta proxima!

Staying at the Hotel Ateneo on Calle Montera, Madrid Spain

Picking up the thread of our trip.

We got to our hotel, collapsed a bit and hit the streets. This is the
same hotel we stayed at last time we were here. Our room this time was
MUCH SMALLER. I think this was my fault, as I wrote them before we
arrived to ensure we are on the side street and not on the main street.

In case you hadn't heard the Spanish enjoy to party and drink and
smoke. The streets ring with el ruido late into the night, and poor
timechange suffering American's can take issue with those people en la
calle.

So, we showed up with our Three Bags (not 5) unpacked a bit, and did
the quick walk around town. I was still limbering up my lengua (or
tongue) as Nicci isn't very helpful in Spanish yet. I told the guy
downstairs to expect my bags the next day, and he seemed to think this
happened all the time. That encouraged me.

Bueno.

We went to the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol and started to figure
out the streets. I was armed with my map, my Moleskine. For dinner
that night, we went to the Irish bar for some Irish Breakfast for
Nicci and some fish and chips for me. Last time we were in this bar,
Nicci was deathly sick and we were at the end of our trip. Oh, and
someone puked on the floor that time, so we needed a better memory.

It was good, and on the way back to the Hotel, we got some Chocolate
con Churros (really thick chocolate in a cup, and fried dough sticks)
Yummy. Que delicioso!!

We slept and did ok. Our room was a bit hot, the bed a bit hard and
the pillows long and thin.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Petronius

Eating out in Madrid:

Our first few days in Madrid were different than the last time we were here about 5 years ago. I will say, I looked at the city very differently this time knowing that I was going to live here for about a year instead of just being on vacation for a couple of weeks. It's a very different ball game. The biggest question is could I survive and could Andy survive trying to support me. I know that even by the average American standards, I am on the healthy side. For most of you who know me, you know that I am daily worrying about my water intake, exercise, protein, fruit/vegetable consumption, etc. In the Bay area, it was very, very easy to be healthy. Excellent produce everywhere, no smoking, very vegetarian friendly, lots of activity options (yoga, dance, pilates, running , biking, you know - everything). Eating out was not usually a challenge - certain establishments were always avoided (e.g. seafood restaurants, steakhouses), but I always had vegetarian options whereever I went and at the very least, could always ask for vegetarian options and the chefs were always willing to accomodate.


My life has drastically changed. I can't tell you how difficult it is to be vegetarian here - and this is supposedly not as bad as some other European countries. It's astounding. Not only are there very, very few vegetarian friendly restaurants, going into a 'normal' restaurant here is an absolute nightmare. I can eat tortilla espanol and olives - and that's about it. That's okay if I'm on vacation for a couple of weeks, but those being my only options for lunch and dinner every day for a year? I don't think so. Supposedly, lentils are common (haven't seen that yet) but they're always cooked with sausage, so still no dice. I can get cheese sandwiches occasionally - but still I can only eat so many cheese sandwiches in a day.


Early on I perked up a bit when we were here a couple of days and were eating at a place that actually had an ensalada mixta!! I could hardly believe it - we ordered that in hopes for even iceburg lettuce. But much to my disappointment, I found out the hard way that even the basic salads come with tuna on them. If vegetables are served anywhere, they are just another avenue for putting meat into their bodies. It's disgusting. I used to think walking around Chinatown in SF was offensive. That's almost nothing to here. So many animal limbs hanging on display everywhere - if they could exchange air for meat - they would. I would also not be so irked if I knew I had an endless source of ethnic restaurants to choose from as an alternative. Um, it seems that those are also rare. We went to a Japanese place one night and were told there were probably 10-20 Japanese retaurants in ALL of Madrid - a huge city of millions of people. We had 10 Japanese places in Alameda alone. Not bueno. We've seen a couple of Chinese restaurants - since they are in Madrid, they are not veggie friendly at all (it's like they've never heard of tofu and they are Chinese!!!!)- not to mention super sketchy. If they are anything like the Chinese place we tried in Salamanca last time we were here - talk about bad Chinese food. We're still in search fo Thai. We came across a couple of Indian restuarants today. Who knows about anything else.


I know to not expect tons of variety when I go to small towns in the states or back to the south or the midwest, but silly me, I just thought that most cities of millions of people in a European country would have decent selections of ethnic food. Well, let me tell you not in Madrid. You have to aggressively search for the few that exist. Andy and I have spent hours upon hours searching for eating establishments that have anything I can eat - forget the requirement of it even being healthy!!

All in all, it seems that the locals eat meat/animals as their occupation and smoke as their hobby. There are also many pastelerias around, which are their bakeries - were they sell baked goods/sweets, etc. I would defintely say that the Spanish have amazing sweet tooths also. These are more eating options for vegetarians, but I just don't know many vegetarians who would be okay with living on nothing but tortilla espanol and pastries for months on end for every meal of their day. Eventually, some protein and vitamins are required. I honestly have no idea how the Spanish have survived. Between the chain smoking by all who are above the age of 12 and the unvaried consumption of sweets, bread, and animals (often fried) - I can't imagine what their health situation is like. True they don't have nearly the obesity problem that we have in the states - which is probably largely due to the walking/strolling lifestyle they have (which is a good thing), but still - no amount of strolling can save your lungs from a pack of cigarettes a day or your colon from eating nothing but animal flesh and sugar.


In the end, it seems that the non-smokers are probably as rare and discriminated against as the vegetarians. It doesn't seem to be an active or hostile discrimination, but moreover it is a complete lack of accomodation (most restaurants serve the same food as the ones down the street) in regular restaurants and the inability to conceive of a person who would not rejoice in eating animals every meal and smoking all day everyday. Being healthy or vegetarian or having variety here are concepts so rare and foreign as men having babies or bunnies flying. There is no way a vegan could survive!!!


I truly miss the Bay Area. Those of you living there, please enjoy the variety and healthiness for me while I'm in lung cancer land searching for veggies!!!!!!


Hasta luego!

Hello World - SFO to Frankfurt to Madrid, óle!

And so begins the journey!!

Nicci and I arrived Thursday the 28th at 4:30 (it is now Saturday night). What a long and kinda strange trip it was. For the most part it was uneventful, which is great, especially since the total time door (hotel near SFO) to puerta (hotel near Puerta del Sol, Madrid) was 22 hours.

We flew through frankfurt, and similar to the last trip to Europe, we upgraded to Economy Plus on the day of the trip. This gives us 5 more inches of legroom. Both Nicci and I like this, as I have them longs legs and Nicci likes to be able to twist hers under her, stretch them out and generally have full range of motion.

Another great thing about the trip to frankfurt on United was that it was VERY EMPTY. This means we each had 3 full seats to ourselves. We sat front and back on one side of a 747. Nicci could lay down, and I could make a good effort of getting comfortable. There were several movies, a few hours of iPod music and a total space out for about 2 hours, and we finally landed in Frankfurt.

Ahh, Germany. What a big airport. We couldn't see the city at all, but the airport was pretty big. We landed out in the penalty box (no real gate) and had to take an Autobus to the terminal. Once in, we hit the transfer counter (confirming that all FIVE of our checked bags would be sent to Madrid) and walked through customs with our carry on bags. WHAM went the stamp and we were officially in the EU.

We picked up some of the play money they call Euro's at an ATM and got some weird shaped bottles of Coke and water. It was about 11:30 local time, but our circadian clocks were screaming by this time. We zoned on the benches until they called us to jump on the shuttle down to Madrid (Barajas Airport). We crammed into this flight, and while I pulled out my spanish version of Cryptonomicon (note to Mike) Nicci immediately conked out. She was asleep before takeoff, and perhaps before pull back. I don't know what my issue was but I thought reading would be better than sleeping, but after 2 pages, I realized my error, and I zoned out as well.

I managed to wake up during the descent (nicci still out cold) and saw some of the neat features of the land north of Madrid (hilly, with a bunch of Bedroom communities). We finally landed, de-boarded, and found ourselves back in the sala de equipajes (where we'd get our baggage). As an aside, this is where, when on my first trip to salamance whilst at Wake Forest, the scary guards asked me "De Donde Es!!!" , and I totally freaked out. I now know this is "Where you from" and had a nice moment this time as I was ready for that zinger.

The bags rolled through. We got numbers 1 and 2 quickly, and then 3 showed up. A bunch more went by and suddenly a lady came up, stopped the belt, took off the extra bags, and started to walk away. Alas, where were bags 4 and 5? I asked her, in my rusty spanish (como se dice, "Where is my frigging bags?" en español) She pointed me to the people specifically there for this international madady and I (and two other americans from SF who also were missing a bag) quickly limbered up my spanish tounge and had to explain what occurred and where to send our bags when / if they showed up. By this time Nicci was fully awake and beginning to fret. No te preocupes Nicci!

Ok, so official Lufthansa form in hand, we get ready to run the customs guantlet (which we've been dreading since this idea sparked months ago). We walk up to the slide glass door, walk out and prepare for the nth degree. The next room (near the taxi's) is totally deserted. Like compeletely. Like there is no customs at all. That stamp in Frankfurt? That was it.

Hmm, maybe this is going to be easier than we think. I change some money (USA and Canadian) and get pointed towards to metro. A 15 minute walk (with only 3 rolling bags and two carryons) gets us to Barajas Metro station. Thankfully a nice person is there to explain it is only two transfers on their very detailed metro system, and the tickets are only 2 Euro each. ($3). Nice. Last time we were here, I was paranoid, and we took a taxi (to our sweet 2 star hostel) and paid like 45 Euros.

This was the last hard thing of the day (hour 20) and so we hit the metro, managed to wrestle the bags in the proper direction, and made it to Gran Via Metro Stop. Our hotel, (Ateneo Hotel) was just down the street (Calle de la Montera) and we checked in.

Bueno.

The picture is from right after this.

First Post

Is this thing on?