The sun came up on another morning and guided me out of bed, which had a particularly strong hold on me. The morning was cool, but the bus ride to Tekniker was cooler :). 

     In what was arguably the strongest tour we have been on so far, Tekniker and its facilities impressed me. Up on top of the Eiber mountains, Tekniker reminded me of a lab right outside a Marvel movie. The facility was massive, with dozens of labs, interconnected offices, and research rooms. Tekniker specializes in designing and manufacturing specialized surfaces, materials, and digitization. In other words, they can do it all, and their scale reflects this versatility. After a brief presentation, we began our formal tour of the facilities. It was a fast-paced but informative tour. Some of the highlights included the new electronic devices that the company is designing that use different boards based on where the device will need to go. For example, a regular PCB for robotic components and a flexible plastic board for prosthetic components. I was struck by the large office room with over 250 desks, where employees readily worked on the country’s newest innovations. Appealing to the boy in me, the in-office gym and climbing wall were awesome! I would definitely use that every day if I worked there!

     After the tour, we headed to the painted forest and Guernica. It was 3km up the mountain and another 3km down the mountain. Despite a treacherous walk through the mud, we finally arrived and admired the intricately painted trees that varied in color and size. By aligning yourself with a marker on the ground, the paintings on the trees would make out different images, such as a kiss, zig-zags, and even people. Each told its own story. It was a fun group activity and yielded some solid pictures. Next, we arrived in Guernica, the town famous for its initial destruction in the bombings of the Spanish Civil War. Although it has a tragic past, its modern-day vibrancy and determined culture were clearly shown on our visit. School kids played football happily in front of the school yard. We all watched as a kid completely maneuvered the football and faked out his friend in a red shirt (sorry, kid in the red shirt). We all laughed! Mangel led us to the stone painting replication of the Picasso painting, Guernica, which represented the pains of war. It was all in black and white and towered over the street. I can only imagine how large the real one is in Madrid! One day left!