The Big Day!

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The day got off to a good start for me as I was awaken to the smell of freshly baked croissants and butter rolls.

A picture of the kitchenette in the dining hall of the Hotel Margarit, notice in far center the oven where the fresh croissants and rolls are made, ahhhhh........

A shot of the medieval city Girona in the morning on the way towards the exhibition/contest halls.

I must say right from the start, the show was very well organized.(Possibly the best I've ever attended). Though the expected long wait in the queue for registration, it was however made enjoyable by the wonderful company of friends whom I've not met for a long time. And despite a fee of 30 Euros, every participant was entitled to an environmentally friendly shopping bag, a discount voucher from Corte Inglés (a nice touch to keep the wives and girlfriends busy ) and a voucher to redeem a souvenir item commemorating the show. I picked the Raul Latorre figure as I did not want to cough out another 20 euros for the fantasy piece. Goodies aside, because most of the registration was done via the internet, upon arrival at the registration station, all contestants received an envelope containing the show pass (with the flag of their representing countries), a printed list of their contest entries accompanied by two sets of bar-coded stickers ; one attached to the contest entry and the other retained by the contestant for retrieval purposes towards the end of the show.

The show pass and envelope with my registration number and entry particulars.

The contingent from Singapore and Malaysia at the entrance of the show.

Lunch buffet at a Chinese diner 5 minutes walk away from the convention center.

Friends from today's show:

Together with Quang and Anemie from Pilipili Miniatures

Marijn Van Gils

Here are some of my favorite picks from part of the judges' display:

Bill Horan

The Cannone Brothers

Diego Ruina

Adrian Bay

Gianfranco Speranza

Marijn van Gils

Mike Blank

Pepe Gallardo

The show closed at 8pm and as we left the convention halls, we made plans with Bernard Lutsig and a couple of other guys to meet again later for dinner and drinks somewhere in the town center.

Hasta Mañana,

Calvin