Chill Out Space

Am scribbling to you this afternoon from the balcony of my hotel room in Barcelona, looking out on what is now a clear blue sky after a morning and midday full of clouds and cold rain. A short, peaceful prelude to the frenzied fortnight to come.

The flight over was as easy as an eight-and-a-half-hour flight can be, I’d say, a mostly serene careening over the Atlantic and to the east coast of Spain. That to the left is from just before landing as we veered to the left into the Barcelona-El Prat Airport.

The seats were only around half-full, if that, meaning I was able to find my own row for added comfort. I might have taken advantage of the chance to stretch out and sleep, but instead managed to stay awake nearly the whole way watching first The Day the Earth Stood Still, then Mean Streets, then Caddyshack.

My ride was waiting for me and I had a fun conversation with my Spanish driver mostly about languages and the various challenges they present us. Arrived at my home-away-from-home for the next two weeks around eight a.m., which meant I was checking in around six hours ahead of the time my room would be ready.

As I mentioned, it was a gray day, and there was a steady rain outside dissuading me from doing too much walking about out of doors. I ended up having breakfast at the hotel, made a short saunter over to the casino during which I didn’t get too terribly soaked, then returned to the hotel and found a comfortable corner in a room designated the “Chill Out Space,” i.e., a business office with lots of couches and pillows where I managed to almost-relax for the remainder.

At last got into my room early afternoon, power napped for a couple of hours, and now am having an early room service dinner before I trot back over to the Casino Barcelona for this Neymar Jr Charity Tournament happening this evening. Check the PokerStars blog for a bit on that tonight, and keep it over there for full-blown coverage of the many side events including the Estrellas Main Event starting tomorrow.