The Rain in Spain...
Whew! Back from the Celsius 232 Fantasy Festival in Aviles, Spain - a truly wonderful gathering and unlike any other convention I've been to. Other than the fact that everyone around me was speaking Spanish most of the time - though the Festival's amazing organizers, Jorge, Diego, Lu, Tomas and many others provided me with translators, and a lot of people spoke English - THANK YOU, ALL! But, whereas most conventions in the US take place in hotels and convention centers, Celsius has panels, presentations, and workshops in a dozen venues all around the small area of the city's Renaissance-era center. That picture is of the hotel they put me up in, a 17th century nobleman's palace now doing business as the Palacio Hotel. (I felt like I was visiting Don Simon Ysidro at home). The window looked down on the town square, with a view of an old church and the sound of the town hall bells ringing the hours. Large events took place in the city cultural center's auditorium,