Trip 1: From Daniel J. Alarc
Daniel J. Alarcón International Airport, 25th May, 8:45 a.m.
I was parked in my place when a bunch of people came off the main terminal. One of the "big" planes had arrived some minutes ago and now all its passengers are going outside to pick a taxi or smoking a cigarrette.
A big fat man wearing a creased suit, near 40 years old; makes me the typical signals to stop.
Without saying a word, I take his baggage and place it in the trunk, then, we both hop in the taxi.
"Where do we go, sir?" I ask in English, along with Catalan, Alarconia's official languages.
"Sol Meliá Alarconia Hotel, please" he answers, with a little German accent.
"Here we go!" I say, while starting the taxi.
When I take the access to the Autopista, as we call it; I ask my customer:
"Have you had a nice flight?"
"I'm a little bit tired..." answered him.
"Do you come from the States? I've seen the United Airlines flight landing from JFK."
"Yes, I come from New York, but because I've done the connection there."
"It's my first time here in Alarconia" he continued.
"Why are you here?" I asked, with curiosity.
"I have to give a lecture in the American College tomorrow".
"Can I know what is it about?"
"Well... suming up... new techniques for colon cancer diagnosis".
"Sounds interesting" I said, admiring him. People like this man were the ones who had to cure cancer.
"What a weird building..." said my customer.
"Do you mean this at our right hand? It's Madrid Building".
"Why is it called Madrid?" he asked a little confused.
"Because there's an identical one in Madrid, Spain. Both are for luxury residences, this one was built as a gift of the city of Madrid when we were conmemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of Spanish Civil War. Artists and scientists had to emigrate due the dictatorship, and a lot of them came to Alarconia. They came to a democratic country and helped to have our Golden Ages in literature and painting."
[EDIT: sorry for the pixelated building]
We continued travelling down to the Autopista, one of our three motorways and the only one that passes through the city. My customer looked through the windows as we were coming into one of the most populous districts. We were now in Barri Trencat / Broken Quarter. Lots of residencial hi-rises were built here in the 50s, when this place was the edge of Alarconia City.
"Wow, what a skyscraper!" said my customer, looking to the blue monster in front of us.
"This is Alarconia Savings Bank Tower, the third highest skyscraper in the country. You know, we cannot grow flat anymore, so we have to grow vertical!".
While we were speaking, the morning radio discussion program gets more rude and I have to lower the volume. Politics are a very passionate topic here in Alarconia, and President's last actions have been very critisized by opposition parties.
We were entering now in Districte del Comerç / Commerce District, our downtown, when I announced that we were reaching the hotel. I pointed a blue building dwarfed by a bunch of skyscrapers. This part of the city is a hell for the driver, I try to avoid it as I can driving in the Autopista. We will go to this hell in the next exit.
"Ugghh... what a disgusting building..." said him.
"You're right... This condominium has been abandoned for ages, but the lot is too small to build a big skyscraper so contractors don't want to demolish it." I said, while taking the hotel's street. "OK, we're here."
I parked in front of the main entrance and stopped the taximeter (34.90 AL$, Alarconian Dollars); hoped off, to take the baggage from the trunk and took the money the man offered me. He gave me a 50 AL$ bill and I seeked for the change. As a tip, he gave me 5.10 dollars while asking:
"I have to give the lecture in the American College tomorrow. Could you carry me?"
"Yes, of course. What time?"
"The lecture begins at 10 o'clock in the morning, so... take me at... 8:30".
"Perfect..." I said.
"See you tomorrow, though". he said, carrying his bag.
"Bye, happy stay!" I answered, getting into the taxi.
Now, the first coffee cup of today...
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