It’s been more than a year since the last time I wrote a post of this kind. More precisely, since April 2008, but I think it’s a nice idea to take them back, as it’s a great way for me to keep track on how my life is evolving and what things I’m doing.

So, July for me began in Bratislava (Slovakia) where I was, exactly as last year in those same dates (June 28 – July 11), in a BEST Summer Course at the Slovak University of Technology, although this time it was on urban planning instead of robotics, and I was an organizer instead of an student (I love you all, LBG Bratislava :D ). And of course, It was a really crazy event, like every BEST event :D

After such a hard work in Bratislava, I spent 4 days relaxing in Vienna (Austria), visiting the city with some of the participants from the course (Olga, Camilla, Karin and Greg!) and visiting an Austrian participant (Markus!) from my BEST Spring Course in Madrid (Spain).

Then, 4 days gathering energies at home, and then 8 consecutive days of work mixed with partying (amazing birthday, Pablo :) ). It was also a sad week, as I began to say farewell to some colleagues from Overon (the company I work for) I won’t see again before moving to Stockholm (Sweden).

But after some much suffering, a great reward, which consisted on ending the month with a week enjoying Budapest and Nagykovácsi (Hungary) and the marvelous Hungarian people with the help of Olga! :D

As a preview for August’s report… well, there will be my last working shift and moving to Stockholm! So, stay tuned for more!

I haven’t written about TV series for a really long time, but I’m going to take advantage of this post to say that I really love How I Met Your Mother :D

Original title: The Bro Code.
Author: “Barney Stinson” with Matt Kuhn.
Year: 2008.
Genre: Comedy.
Language: English.
Read in: English.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc. – Fireside.
Pages: 196.
ISBN: 978-1-4391-1000-3.

Plot outline
This book is the famous Bro Code to which Barney Stinson, one of the characters of the TV series How I Met Your Mother, is making reference all the time.

Comment without Spoilers
This book collects 150 articles, as well as some amendments to the Bro Code, stating the behavior that Bros must have in relation with their Bros as well as in other common circumstances of the daily life.

The mentioned articles are quite funny (the book has been written with that purpose) and, aside from being short, most of them have illustrative pictures as well as tables, and other complementary stuff.

The binding is not very good as it’s too weak and can be broken easily. Despite that, the quality of the pages and the printing is good, and the effect given to the paper to look old is a nice detail.

A very recommendable book if you’re a fan of the series or even just of the role that Barney plays. But if not, I wouldn’t really recommend it, as there are many jokes that come directly from the show and can be misunderstood.

Related links:

• Wikipedia: How I Met Your Mother.

And now, for all of you to feel a little bit how is a New Year’s Eve in Milan , I recorded this video:

The video was recorded in Piazza Duomo , the heart of the city. And well, it was recorded in two parts, the first one being after the second one, but I liked it more this way.

Enjoy it! :P

P.S.: CH, after this video do you still think that I’m scary? :D

Milan Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Milan: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: New Year’s Eve in Milano.

Last update: 2009-08-14

Finally, with this post I finish with the trips I did during 2008, and at the same time, begin with the ones I’m doing in 2009. How can that be? Well, because I went to Milan , Italy, with the sole purpose of celebrating New Year’s Eve in there!

Milan is in the north of Italy. It’s the second most populated city of Italy, with about 1,300,000 inhabitants; but it’s metropolitan area is by far the largest in the country, with approximately 7,400,000 inhabitants. Also, it’s known as one of the world capitals of design and fashion.

The first settlement to appear in the area of Milan was around 400 BC, and under the Roman regime it got the name of Mediolanum. Since then it has been under control of other countries like Spain, France and Austria between others, before becoming definitely Italian again.

The downtown of Milan is a nice example of Gothic architecture, but that area is very small. For the rest of the city, the predominant architecture you can find is tall and grey concrete buildings. The streets are usually wide, but unfortunately, I don’t really know why, I feel them dirty.

The climate is very constant, and in December is really cold and wet. It rains a lot and it’s not strange to find snow covering parks and streets. But the snow makes a beautiful view for places like Sforza Castle

I find the people from Milan a little bit weird sometimes. Usually they are open and talkative, but sometimes during the night (and the parties) it’s hard to see them in an open mood. I remember being with my friends shouting “Buon anno” (Happy New Year) and greeting everyone on the streets, and people were really reluctant to say anything back.

Nightlife in Milan is good, but maybe too expensive. For me it is complicated to imagine myself partying regularly in pubs or discos in there. Or at least buying all the drinks in there.

I enjoyed my time in there, but there’s not really much to see in Milan, and in just one day you can calmly visit everything. I’ve already been there twice, and I don’t really think I would go back there if I have the chance to visit other places.

I would like to post pictures, but right now I’m away on a trip. I wrote this picture before leaving, but I forgot to upload the pictures, so… you’ll have them when I get back to Madrid.

Update 2009-08-14: Finally, I managed to upload the pictures :D

Milan Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Milan: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: New Year’s Eve in Milano.

Related links:

• Wikipedia: Milan.
• Official site: Milano.

Last year (yes, this trip is still from 2008… you see how lazy I’m becoming about writing in here!) on the second time I visited Macedonia, I decided to make a short stop in Sofia (София) , Bulgaria.

Sofia is located in the West of Bulgaria, just near Mount Vitosha, and it’s the heart of the country in many aspects, such as administration, cultural, economy, and education. It has a population of almost 1,500,000 inhabitants, being the 12th largest city by population in the European Union.

It’s one of the oldest cities in Europe, and its origins can be traced back about 7000 years, and before being known as Sofia, it had other names such as Serdica and Sredets. Due to its location, during history it has been conquered by several empires, such as the Roman, the Byzantine or the Ottoman.

I don’t know why, but to tell the truth, while I was in Sofia, it reminded me a lot of Madrid . Maybe it was because of the mixture in its architecture, and how the downtown is distributed, but I can’t say it for sure.

During the time I was there, and taking into account that it was in November, the weather was a little bit cold, wet and foggy; but never to the level of being uncomfortable. So, nothing strange given the dates and the location of Sofia.

I can’t really say much about the nightlife, as my only experience in that was waiting for the bus at the central bus station. And neither about the people, as I didn’t really spoke with any natives aside from for buying things.

So, for the little time I spent in Sofia (just 8 hours), I can say that I liked the city, and I would really like to go back to be able to enjoy it more. Also… come on, they use the Cyrillic alphabet (like in Macedonia, although in here it’s a slightly different version), which of course, gives the city some nice extra points, at least for me :D

Related links:

• Wikipedia: Sofia.
• Official site: Sofia.