Barcelona, Spain (06/13/2018 - 06/17/2018)

This was the first time visiting Spain as an adult, having briefly lived there as a baby.  A conference brought us to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, and the city of Gaudi. A surprisingly livable city - clean, good climate (except summer), amazing food, warm people, and low cost of living.

While our immediate desire was to try tapas of every shape and form, what really left an impact for me were the few works of Gaudi I had a chance to see. I would have seen more and spent more time were it not for being really sick during this leg of our trip.

I was moderately aware of who Gaudi was but never have I seen his works in person, and they've left an impression on me I can't forget.  The first place I visited was Casa Batlló, which was quite surreal - it looked like the house had been carved out of a giant gnarled tree, with not a sharp corner to be found inside or out... but was left me speechless was the Sagrada Família.

Oh the Sagrada Família - I had never seen such a magnificent building in my life. It is so startlingly beautiful yet so alien - it felt like it was grown not constructed, moreso than any other of Gaudi's landmarks.  The attention to detail was stunning, hidden messages and treasures to be found on every surface. The branching concrete pillars, meant to symbolise trees, were genius.  It is no surprise that the church is still under construction, and has been for 137 years.

Israel (06/06/2018 - 06/13/2018)

It's been 19 years since the first and last time that I was in Israel. I was visiting family and a few friends from the demoscene. It was a different time - while never truly peaceful, Israel was in between the First and Second Intifada, and it 'seemed' like this were more or less normalised. It was even considered generally safe to go across the Green Line (which I did to visit another friend).  There were visible growing pains from the assimilation of nearly a million post-Soviet Jews who neither spoke Hebrew or had adopted local customs.

While I came back for business reasons, I made sure there was enough time to re-familiarize myself with a country I barely knew to begin with.  We started in Beersheba, then went to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and back to Tel Aviv (including Herzliya and Ra'anana).

Tel Aviv felt like a livelier version of a Mediterranean city (like Barcelona) - cafes at every corner, many parks, beaches, and lots of outdoor gatherings & activities - it could also be because we showed up in Tel Aviv during their annual Gay Pride parade, which had an estimated 250,000 people. I've heard it said that it's one of the most liberal cities in the world (which you can interpret whichever way you like).

Jerusalem, however, was a stark contrast. It oozed deep history, and you could definitely feel the tension in the air, especially within certain parts of the Old City. It was crowded, at times loud, at other times oddly silent, but never really at peace.  It was strange, to be at the heart of all three major monotheistic religions, and one of the most fought over cities in history. Every time you dig a hole, you risk stumbling across yet another forgotten story sometimes waiting thousands of years to be told.  It was my first time under the Western Wall, and I didn't realise it extended so far, and so deep - what we see above the surface is only ~60 meters, vs. the entire original ~550 meters you can see underground.  There's an understand water channel, and pool, as well as the largest stone ever lifted by human/animal power - weighing 520 tonnes.


Beersheba / בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע‬

Tel Aviv / תֵּל אָבִיב‬

Jerusalem / יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‬