Sevilla ¡qué maravilla! Day 2

At 9.00 started the so called "Symposium", the official reason why we went on this business trip. I attended to four interesting lectures: SOA, Business Intelligence 2.0, Usability, and finally Efficient Teams. I think I got a good mix, trying to combine business with pleasure. At 13.30 ended the symposio and we were "free" to do what ever we wanted until 18.00. I walked in to the city center with some colleagues and had some tapas. After that I left the group and went to "El Corte Inglés" to buy some gifts to my loving nieces Matilda and Julia. I took a taxi back to the hotel and managed to rest for 45 minutes.

At 18.00 eleven buses took us to "El Rancho el Rocío" 20 minutes outside Seville. I had a very nice chat with a Spanish hostess , Ángela, during the journey. She had dated a Swedish guy before. We talked about "el machismo" that (still) seems to be very strong in Andalusia. She was obviously not from the south but from the north (Valladolid).

We came to a real "cortijo" with bulls and horses. We were not so lucky with the weather but for me it didn't matter. I was in a surge of joy. I hadn't really understood how much I miss Spain and for me coming back was wonderful. After a half an hour the crowd moved over to a nearby building where they gave us an OUTSTANDING horse show. I know nothing about horses but I understood that what we saw was something very special.

The dinner was served in a huge lounge and everything seemed to be perfect. But then came the first negative part of the trip: the food. It looked and tasted more like food they serve at school. Since everything else was perfect and didn't let it bother me. After the dinner we had "barra libre" free alcohol until 1.30 when the eleven buses took us back to the hotel. Some of us continued the night at a nearby disco called "El caramelo". It was great to be back in a Spanish bar and hear Spanish music. Unfortunately the DJ switched to eurodisco and at 4.00 I decided that the evening had ended for me. I walked back to the hotel and was determined NOT to join the team activities that waited us un Sunday morning.