Liz Fleming invited me over to ‘Venture Day Madrid‘ last week.

Liz runs the Venture Lab Team and put on this amazing one day show for Spain’s IE Business school . Liz is an amazing talent and ambassador for Spanish entrepreneurship. Naturally, she’s Irish.

I turned the event into a 10 day sightseeing event and tried to relax a bit and get a feel for things.

Paris I have no feel for because I refuse to do it cheaply. In fact, I stayed at the Four Seasons to catch up on how the global one percent may live. Good news, they are living well.

They pay $60 for sandwiches and the staff treat them most excellently, even American shmucks like me.

They will email you back quickly when you think you have lost your iPhone. For example, Ellen thought she lost hers and here was their feedback (CLICK TO ENLARGE – YOU WILL LAUGH):

I have not decided if I want the shirt back.

Paris is for walking and we did that as much as we could.

Next off was Barcelona. I have never been. It’s an incredible city. The history, the passion, the weather, the food, the energy all great. Make sure you visit.

In Barcelona, I lost my Credit Card. As luck would have it, I got this email:

The PS is priceless:

Next up was Madrid (we took the awesome speed train) where we stayed by the IE School in a wonderful part of the city. The climate is spectacular in May. The sounds and the energy of the city are just so different than anywhere I have ever been. It is our second time in Madrid. They take their smoking, coffee, Siesta’s, soccer, mobile phones and late night dining very seriously. The mid-day lunchathons and drinking put them at a serious long-term business disadvantage but hey, I did not say I wanted to start a business there.

The start-up spirit is in full gear in Madrid. While not as evolved a community, they have their roadmaps and I have no doubt Madrid will be a major technology hub in the decades to come.

So, what have we learned?

1. Luck matters.

2. You get treated better if you pay ridiculous prices in Paris.

3. If you lose a credit card in Europe, hope a Dutchmen finds it.

4. The iPhone, Samsung, Android, Gmail, Google Maps and Whatsapp, Bread and Water are all a human needs to travel the world, but it helps to have local friends.

5. Like the US – The Telco’s scare me and few trust them. Google and Facebook are leading the global end around and it is amazing to witness their amazing inroads.

Idle reminder: recorded music is not a very big industry. pic.twitter.com/FEQjJPb96Z

— Benedict Evans (@BenedictEvans) May 10, 2014

6. Nobody cares about Bitcoins or Tesla’s or what I like to say #SiestasoverTelas

7. I would live 3 months a year in Barcelona/Madrid if I were to live in Europe.