Marco... Polo.

Funny enough the name of this famous and incredibly renowned Venician not only lends his name to the Venice aiport, but it is also a pool game kids in Spain (I've only ever played it in Spain... But I may be totally wrong here!) in which the person who is "it" has to tag the others in the pool. No fun you think? Well, the reference to the famous explorer arise due to the fact that the person who is it has his eyes closed and shouts out "marco". The rest of the lot shout back "polo", and with that back and forth one is meant to chase after people in the pool. It's actually very fun...

In any event, and rather lame anecdotes aside, I did not manage to see the Marco Polo airport as I got into Shakespeare's beloved and Casanova's own Venice by train. Venice Santa Lucia. Beautiful name for a train station. I managed to get into town at c. 9pm last night, which was roughly 17 hours after I had gotten up in Madrid. Kind of getting used to it by now so no biggie at all... After a few hours in Milan during which I managed to enjoy the company of my good friends and former colleagues from Merrill, Giulio Torregrossa and Silvia Botto, I got on a "regional" train which took c. 5 hours to cover just under 300 kilometers (if at all!). See, here's the beauty of the interrail. With one's all-inclusive rail pass (valid in over 30 countries across Europe), one can only travel 2nd class (fair enough) and in the worst trains possible. I.e. One can't travel on a direct train between the two cities, as otherwise a ridiculous supplement (they wanted to charge me c. 15eur for it!) needs to be paid... Just a bit silly. Mind you, getting on these 1950's trains not only makes the experience exactly what I was aiming for, but it also gives me plenty of time to read, read, read and POST! ;) at the moment reading Jack Kerouac's "On the road", as some of you may have figures from the last post, but at this pace will surely be done in a few days. Also brought with me Malcolm X's autobiography... Looking forward to it! Let's not get distracted... So after getting into Venice, took a "vaporetto" (the boat-bus) to get to my hostel (which by the way was fantastic... Thumbs up, every time, to Hostelling International!). The first ride on the vaporetto was quite long (c. 45 minutes) and it was pretty damn cold... Over 30 minutes! But the views were absolutely stunning. For some odd reason, I was forced to stay on the deck (allegedly because I had too many bags!). But was glad... Must have taken about 100 pictures - got super excited. The check in at the hostel was pretty uneventful and it was a rather early night (c. 11pm). Woke up at 7am (well, more like 7:20am) after snoozing for a bit (those who know me and have ever endured my "snoozing habits"... I am sorry!) and got ready to hit the road. Was actually a great idea to have such an early start because when I got to Piazza San Marco, it was so "tourist-less" that I could not even believe I was there. Literally empty! And I even managed to sit in a bit on the 9am service (we must have been c. 10 in total) at the Basilica di San Marco (where I later had to stand in line for 15 minutes to get in). After that spent the entire day wandering around (anf even getting lost a few times) this maze of a venician urban design. Even with a map it's extremely complicated to find one's sense of direction! Again, for those of you who know me well, I've always had a special "feel" for maps and geographic orientation. Oh boy... Not today. Had a panino (yeah, these are good!) For lunch and walked some more, until I was so exhausted that I had to sit down for a breather! Overall, the city is beautiful.... Cuturally rich like no other (btw, spent some time by the Bienalle - think of La Mostra di Venezia) and rightly so did Shakespeare fall in love with the city. Nevertheless, the abundace (in fact it's more a plague...) of tourists is really a pain. Nonetheless, a must for all those couples and not-couples and even singles. Try to find a sunny day to come, I'm sure it's a lot nicer (yes... Was cloudy the whole day)!

And now over to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Didn't I say it was an Eastern European trip? ;) Fdun dfact of the day... Did you know that in Tito's Yugoslavia, Slovenia accounted for c. 20% of GDP, while only accounting for c. 8% of the total population? Talk about a regional divergence...

Stay tuned for more updates!

pv

on the road.

"Then came spring, the great time of travelling, and everybody in the scattered gang was getting ready to take one trip or another. I was busily at work on my novel and when I came to the halfway mark, after a trip down South with my aunt to visit my brother Rocco, I got ready to travel West for the very first time... And this was really the way my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell."

Jack Kerouac - On the Road, 1951

Unlike Kerouac's, my journey first takes me East... to the oriental part of the European continent. Like his though, I am hoping the experience will be filled of experiences too fantastic not to be told. It is currently 1.30am and I am due to take off at c. 7am for Milan, Italy. First hint... that will be one flight out of only two I will take in the coming 3 weeks. For this trip, I will use a rather more old-fashioned and conventional means of transportation. You guessed it right, that British invention which was amongst many other factors one of the backbones of the Industrial Revolution in the isles - audience, meet train... train, meet audience. Although the Interrail initiative began in 1972, one can argue that it did not really take off as a trip alternative until the mid/late 1980's with the increasing political and economic integration of Europe, mostly Western up to that point. To me, the Interrail (http://www.interrailnet.com/) became know back when I was about 16. I remember I was in my penultimate year of high school and some friends from my class got themselves a "rail pass" which would enable them to travel on an unlimited number of trains during a total of three weeks across a number of European countries. They opted for France and Benelux. I never actually got to go on one of these trips, as back in the day my summers (a whopping 10 weeks in total) would be entirely devoted to that place called Camp Otterdale, in Ontario, Canada, that I so fondly remember. What a place that was... Nevertheless, that calls for another story, so back to the point. My choice has been Eastern Europe. Starting in Milan, over to Venice, crossing the border to Slovenia (with a must stop in Trieste... Mr. Gray if you are reading this out there, thanks for making me remember Orlando and the Treaty of Rapallo of 1920 - what a great History teacher that guy was!), down to Croatia, a tour of the Balkans (ex Albania), over to Bulgaria and Romania, up towards Hungary and Slovakia, pit stop in Vienna (which by the way is so close to Bratislava, that these are the two national capitals which are closest together - http://vienna-bratislava.blogspot.com/2005/11/closest-capital-cities.html), and finish in Poland... after what I am hoping will be a thrilling 3 weeks of memorable moments, unforgettable experiences and tonnes (!) of pictures, some of which I will share with you periodically.

As a sneak peak, below is a picture of my packing "process". No worries though, I am not packing live at 2am. Please note the slight lag in uploading the audiovisual material. ;)

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for more updates.

Ciao bella Italia!

pv

veritas.

In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue. It was believed that she hid in the bottom of a holy well because she was so elusive. Her image is shown as a young virgin dressed in white.

Thank you Wikipedia for the above... what would we do without you? Doomed. Also happens to be the Harvard University motto.

So, next stop: Boston. Long time, no see. Must have been a good 4 years since I was last here. City of contrasts, city of Ireland, city of Europe... Spent just under 48 hours in the city, primarily visiting a "potential" school, HBS. Also managed to spend some quality time with my good friend Rahul Parikh, and enjoy a delicious 14 February dinner prepared with much love by all his friends. We'll see when I swing by next. Hopefully soon.

Given that the primary purpose of my trip was to explore the school where many past, present and future world leaders are educated, I will share my impressions of what is considered by many as the top business school in the world and which is known across the globe due to its imperishable brand name. An interesting feeling invaded me as I crossed the Charles river for the first time on my way to the HBS campus from the Harvard Sq. "T" station... It was almost as if one was entering a bubble, a world of its own - isolated not only from the rest of Harvard University, but also from the rest of the city... and from the rest of the world. For when one steps foot on campus, one can tell the place is different. One realises there is a different mentality, a different attitude... a different approach. As the audience may be aware, HBS is not only renowned for its leading publishing unit, best-in-class academics and unique case-method approach to business education. It is also viewed as the cradle of modern global economic, political and business leadership.... but exactly why? When walking around campus, talking to current students and attending classes, one feels the place is different. Most importantly, people there feel they are different. HBS might not currently be the #1 school for business education but there is something about being called Harvard that seems to be more powerful than that. Who cares if were are #2, #3 or #5? Do you know how amazing it is to have Harvard on your resume for tge rest of your life? . . . Is it really? I was very interested to obtain a first hand read on students' motivation to attend the school. Drilling down on the thought process they had gone through to select HBS as their school of choice would certainly help me in my own decision process. Why HBS and not Booth? Why HBS and not Wharton? Why HBS? Why HBS? Everyone I talked to could only give me one honest answer... "It's Harvard, one can't say no to Harvard". And yet most people were aware of the shortfalls of the program, the rigidity of the curriculum and the limited "on the ground" experience of certain faculty members. Yet everyone I talked to was thrilled to be there, whether because the 2-year MBA was seen as the launchpad to a bigger and better career or simply because it provided a "break" after a hectic career start for some young professionals who had been on the verge of burning out at their previous jobs. I also managed to attend a few classes in the couple of days I was there (4 in total, to be precise. 3 first-year classes and 1 second-year class). I was totally impressed by the intellectual proficiency of some of the individuals I was sharing the classroom with. Yet, I couldn't help but wonder what my role would be in the not so distant future... How would I interact within that context? Would certainly be unique to eventually sit in that hemicycle. Smart, yes. Talented, yes. Motivated, yes. Passionate, yes. But what about all the unrealised potential? Is there any benefit in having a rigid graduate education where the curriculum is fixed and where all my peers will develop the same profile as me? Why should I sit in on a finance class covering the Miller-Modigliani Propositions? Why go through the motions of reviewing covered ground? USD100,000 for that? Really? Most students will argue that it's not about "what" you learn, but rather "how" you learn. Content vs. form. Students are not educated to have the answer to a particular problem, but rather to develop the skills set which will help them reach out to the right person or ask the right questions in a given situation. Thinking rather than doing... I just don't buy into that. Don't get me wrong, HBS is an outstanding place, but for some reason certain aspects seem outdated. The underlying motivation of providing a homogeneous "quality-controlled" development for the successive generations of MBAs is a concept I am not aligned with. What am I expecting out of an MBA education? For starters, much more than a USD100k stamp with the Harvard logo. Time will tell... Tick Tack.

For a closer look at HBS, its culture, its people and its overall role in today's business and political world, click on the link below. Cool CNBC video which should provide further insights.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/59462/cnbc-originals-the-money-chase-inside-harvard-business-school

A presto.

pv

hello there windy city.

although many of the spots on the web 2.0 world will have a fancy post title referencing the (in)famous saint after which 14 february is named... i refuse to... still making an indirect reference in spite of my personal feelings towards today... can only hope it helps the audience frame the post in the space-time continuum... that is all

After a killer three days in Chicago, I currently find myself in Boston, MA. Got here yesterday afternoon after what I can only describe as a "rough" few days getting more info than I could handle at Booth, going on 3 hours of sleep per night and litres of coffee, enjoying my visit and the totally underrated Chicago nightlife. Thanks again Alejandro Velasco, his buddies, the Booth Spanish community and all the people I met during these three days for making my stay to top-notch.

I came out of those three days with a very very positive impression of the school. I won't bore the audience with the "nitty gritty" but can only say that I was, in general, totally impressed by the school, its environment and the life surrounding every aspect of booth. Still trying to make up my mind here folks but the impression I got out of this visit only made things harder. the school is c. 30 minutes south of downtown chicago and although most of the surroundings, and in reality the whole campus, were snowed under (found out when I got there that as recently as last week, chicago endured the toughest blizzard in 44 years... scary stuff ein?!) could get a sense of what makes the place so special. this was reinforced by everyone continuously telling me how beautiful campus is when the 6 feet of snow disappear to make way for 20+ degree temperatures (celcius here guys... for farenheit need to multiply by 9 divide by 5 and add 32... rule of thumb this humble man learnt back in the day. comes in handy only in canada and in the US but it has stuck with me since c. 1996) and sun-filled days where everyone seems to host barbecues and pool parties, particularly in the summer. but are people really around in the summer?? thought internships were more important to the average boothie than working on their tans and sipping coors light (or miller or bud) by the pool... anyhow.... will believe it for now! was also told chicago has plenty of things to offer in the summer, particularly related to the music scene. millenium park, think of the "bean" and right in the middle of downtown, houses the world famous lollapalooza festival in august (http://www.lollapalooza.com/). check out the lineup for this summer and think whether it is worthy of a thumbs up... i most definitely think so! booth +1. that being said, also attended numerous events organised within the context of the booth admit weekend. overall, could really tell a lot of effort went into organising the weekend. really impressive. only problem that days were so activity-packed and nights were so alcohol-packed that I had little (to no) time to go around the city. subzero temperatures certainly didn't help much... that's my only consolation :o

next stop... Boston. so far so good. first and foremost, big thank you to my friend Rahul Parikh for letting me stay with him for a couple of days. although i got into the city yesterday, was so wrecked after the 3 days in Chicago that I ended up crashing at 10pm, so in reality can only treat today as my first "real" day. early morning start... visiting hbs, attending classes and speaking with current students. on a break at the moment so for the full download stay tuned... more to come in the next few days.

pv

Revitalise.

11:15am CET

Currently waiting to board my flight to Philly (yes... Having quit my job does imply that I must be conscious of my expenses as I am back on a student budget). After what I can only expect will be an infamous connection I will get on another plane which will take me to O'Hare. C. 12 hours later I will hopefully land in Chicago, where I will be staying until Sunday morning. My good buddy, and former colleague at ML, Alejandro has been kind enough to offer me a place to crash. Cyber round of applause ;) first night in Chicago with an overdose of jetlag and I am due to attend something called TNDC (or, for the ones unable to decypher the acronym - as I myself was until a couple of days ago... Thursday Night Drinking Club). Fully spelled out should give no wrong impressions. One can only think of it as being "it is what it is" (as we would say in anglosaxon inv banking jargon). Great excuse and opportunity to enjoy a night out, meet new people and hopefully not get too wasted. Remember, the purpose of this trip is "educational" / "academic" as I am hoping it will help me come to terms with what's bestest and greatest from all the choices out there in the wild. To follow a couple of action-packed days (or so it says on the "brochure"...as this admit weekend is a true marketing phenomenon) in which all prospective students will be running around trying to get the most out the 48hours we are on the ground. Class visits, social activities, mingling (is that how it's spelled??) Here and there. Should be fun. Coming back to the marketing point... My first impression of the inner ropes of the b-school machinery is that the "form" of these institutions is more similar to a private entity than to an academic one... The resemblance to, say, an investment bank are not that far fetched, particularly in terms of recruiting. First and foremost, both are extremely competitive to get into from the outside. Then, and more astonishingly, both carry out an amazing display of marketing tools and perks once you are almost there but not quite and when the final call is in your hands. They will do all they can to retain you and to turn an offer into an acceptance... For if not, the law of statistics in this particular field dictates that if the "conversion ratio" of offers to enrollments diminishes, so will too the rating and prestige of the institution... Interesting enough. First impressions though don't necessarily need to stand true. That's what the next few days are for. Gotta board in a few minutes so have to end this prematurely and cut my whole line of thought. All thanks to these ridiculous security measures of having to board the flight 1 hour ahead of take off. Not to mention the 5 passport and boarding pass checks before getting to the gate. Oh well... Again, it is what it is I guess...

Bring on America!

pv

kiss kiss bang bang

don't get me wrong... title of the post only refers to a not-so-recent movie i watched recent and which i really liked. it's directed by shane black and it stars robert downey jr. and michelle monaghan (whom i had not seen in a movie before and by which, i have to admit, i was very impressed). for further info for those of you who feel like a spin around the imdb world: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/

turning to another matter, apologies for not dropping by sooner. always making promises about posting more frequently... and even now that I have all (well... not really all... but a lot) time in my hands, i still manage to fail miserably. the last few weeks have been quite hectic... after i quit my job, i still had a few... actually a bunch of things to take care of in london. i finally moved out last week and brought all my stuff back to madrid, where i am hoping to spend a few weeks, resting up with my family and friends. well... turns out that after only two days in town i headed to the alps for some insane skiing action. spent thursday to sunday in st anton (austria) and had an amazing time! thanks to nacho, andres, sof, kike, maria and all the gang for the great skiing, fun times and huuuuge apres ski... would have never thought that skiing 400m down a hill in a not so "sober" state would have been such a crazy idea. who would have thought right? lol. I leave you with a few pics from the trip (one of which is stolen... thanks maria!) so you can get a feel for the experience. particularly fond memories of the great car we managed to rent. surely will still befull of pringles, peanuts and that infamous austrian salami we bought.

and now what??? a couple more days in madrid and off to the US for the chicago booth admit weekend. will be in the US for about a week as i am also due to swing by boston. very much looking forward to that. can't wait actually. will share my impressions when i am on the ground. important step as i am likely to spend the next 2 years (from september) there! exciting indeed!!

what comes next is a surprise so stay tuned...

pv

All done

After nearly three years at BofA Merrill Lynch (formerly known as Merrill Lynch - or the wall street firm where ex ceo johnny thain spent millions on refurbishing his world financial centre office but where no attention was paid to junk credit products while they were being marketed)... This monday was my last day. Upon receiving an acceptance letter from a US b-school i decided that my time had come and that i was surely on to something else... Something new, something different, something more challenging. And so, i am hoping that in the months to come this blog and i will become close friends, maybe more than that... As it will be my companion in this journey that i will soon be commencing. A few weeks of rest and "re adaptation" to the real world that stands outside of my cubicle and off to spain for a few weeks. After sorting out some admin / personal chores, that's where all the fun will begin. Ad infinitum... Now that i have regained my freedom, my posts will become much more frequent and, hopefully for the audience, much more interesting and entertaining. Stay tuned folks...

pv