Hi, I'm new to Fodors. I am a professional clown. I am restarting my travel after a long hiatus. I will be attending a master class with Jango Edwards at Nouveau Clown Institute in Granolliers, Spain in March. I have never been to Spain. I will be there for six weeks.

E-mail is essential for me. I need it to get my bookings. I also need a cell phone. I generally use skype for overseas calls. I also edit video on the side between gigs and would like to do a video blog on the class.

Should I travel with my mac book pro? If so what are the better converters for the machine in spain? I know my Iphone won't work on the Spain as a phone. Will it work with the wifi? Is there a way to rent a mac in Spain? Is there a way to rent a cell or buy one cheap for use there?

Please feel free to contact me by e-mail as well [email protected].

Thanks

Mandy

hi, my sister was a clown, but only part-time.

I thought your post was interesting but I really don't know the answer -- just FYI, you marked this post as a trip report for some reason (which is why it shows with a book icon), which it is not, so some folks might not read it. Then again, given the title, I thought I was going to get a report on going to clown school in Spain, which sounded interesting.

I believe your laptop is dual voltage (check the markings on the power cord) and all you will need is a plug adapter, not a voltage converter.

There are many posts here that discuss different options for cellphones in Europe. Many say to just get a cheap one once you arrive there. I'm not a cellphone person, so hopefully others can advise. Also, do a search for "cellphone" in the Europe forums. For example:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-in-spain.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-countries.cfm

I am a professional clown.

We all are in one way or another.

I am sure your clown porfessor will show you Avinguda del Portal de l'Àngel and the street around the Cathedral where buskers abound. I even once a piano player on Portel de l'angel.

I am a professional clown.>>>>>>>>

Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

I have traveled to the UK with my MacBook (not a Pro, but I can't imagine they'd be different), and all I needed was a plug adapter - the converter is in the white box on your cord. For six weeks, I would probably take my laptop, especially for what you describe.

hi, my sister was a clown, but only part-time.>>>

You have no idea how happy this sentence has made me.

A friend who came to visit Spain had international service on her Iphone. Not cheap, but very convenient.

You can buy a very cheap "PACK" when you get here for about 19 euros that has phone (not latest flashy model, of course)a SIM card with 15-25 euros on it.

Forgot to add.. advantage to having a "local phone" is incoming calls are always free if you are in the country where the SIM card is registered. Outging calls are very expensive, though.

Many thanks everyone. Sorry that this was marked as a trip report. Don't know how I managed to do that, but chalk it up to newbie mistake. I will of course submit quite a few trip reports when I am there. :0)

For anyone in the area in March, the students at the institute will perform each saturday night at Cabaret Cabron. Here are some links for those who are interested:

The institute:

http://www.clownfish.es/nci/gb/intro.htm

The Building Complex where the Institute is held:
http://www.rocaumbert.cat/ie6/home.php

Master Clown Jango Edwards (God Bless America)
http://jangoedwards.net/

Other fun links:
http://www.clownfish.es/gb/presentgb.htm

http://www.clownfish.es/gb/foolsm/fools.htm

Are you studying to be a Noveau Clown or are you part of the Alfred Marchant School?

I just returned from 3 weeks in Europe with my MacBook and it was fabulous to have it (although much heavier than a more compact Netbook). I purchased a simple adapter on Ebags (you can get then many places even WalMart). Macs have dual voltage so that isn't a problem. A salesperson at the Apple store tried to convince me that I needed their adapter for $40.00 so beware if you ask them - you really don't. I purchased an unlocked phone on EBay for $35.00 and then a SIMS card. It worked really well as it was easy to add money to the SIMS card online. I have never seen so many IPhones as I did in Europe - I started having IPhone envy! !Have fun and I too am looking forward to your trip report.

RE Alfred Marchant. I am ignorant about that. Educate me please. Thanks!

Call Apple and find out if the computer has a built in adapter. Ours is a PC and three years old has one, so no adapter was necessary.

A transformer is one thing.. an adapter is for the plug.. so you can plug it into the different European sockets.

Hello Mandy from one of your teachers!

As others have pointed out, the Mac laptop will handle the voltage, but in my experience it still tends to overheat, which is why using a 220 > 110 converter at least part of the time makes some sense — especially if you don't have Apple Care! Plus you should own a converter for other uses as well (hair dryer? battery charger?).

I don't have an iPhone, but what a lot of people do abroad is to turn off the phone line and just use the data plan, and then go on the internet to Skype to make their international calls. Dirt cheap!

Hope to see you in March!

—John Towsen

John!

I am really excited and honored to have you as a teacher. I am really looking forward to the whole experience. Because this is the first time I will be traveling to Europe since the data revolution, it's been helpful to have the advice. If you can think of anything else that I should bring, not bring for this, I'd appreciate hearing about it!

mandy, welcome and don't let Cholmondley_Warner worry or confuse you. He's actually quite droll as long as you understand the Q's English!

My camera charger and travel hair dryer are also dual. Adaptor only needed (except that with dryer one had to use a dime to switch from 220 to 110). If they have straight prongs, that's a good sign that only an adaptor will be needed.

You MUST do some pix of your class!

--Tdudette

I presume it would be the same for my video camera's as well--only an adapter necessary. Also, another question--Many consumer cameras have switched to hard drives or memory sticks. My prefered format is mini dv tape. Is it hard to find mini dv tape there these days?

(I hope to do pictures and some video.) Jango just posted a video of the school if anyone is interested.

http://www.votv.cat/videos/programa/...s-pallassos-01