¡Hola!
36 hours of travel, multiple buses that didn't want me, one unexpectedly early morning, a trip to Porto, a lot of GNOME, and an unreasonable amount of coffee. That's GUADEC 2026 for me. For more details, read on!
Usually, I churn these out in about a week after the conference, but this time it took a bit longer due to extreme workload, another conference just after GUADEC, and the travel chaos.
Let's start :)
Unlike last year, I went easy on myself and didn't delve into giving a talk each day of the conference.
My main talk on Open Forms
BoF on GNOME Foundation Internships - Unrecorded 😅
The main talk was on Day 1 of the conference, which was quite exhausting, not due to the talk but because I had to wake up on time. I had the pleasure of sharing my journey developing
open forms
and why it exists.
Attending GUADEC was much easier this year. If you haven't been following my blogs, then last year was quite a rollercoaster with travel and visa issues. You can read last year's rant at https://aryank.in/posts/2025-09-06-guadec-2025-experience/ , but now I finally have a 2-year visa, so no more pain for some time :D
Anyway, let's proceed with the blog :D
The touchdown
Due to a lack of flights to A Coruña, I had to take connecting flights through other cities to reach my destination (as I believe most did as well).
All in all, it was about 36 hours of travel to reach A Coruña. From Bareilly to Delhi, then to Qatar, then to Barcelona, and finally to A Coruña.
Phew, if it wasn't the excitement of attending GUADEC, I might have surrendered midway.
In Qatar, I found two of my good friends waiting for their connecting flights as well. Turns out, we had the same layover and connecting flights onwards. Seeing the struggles Aaditya went through for previous additions of GUADEC in securing his visa, I was insanely happy that he succeeded this time!
Having the company of Aaditya and Sailesh, we made a quick exit at Barcelona to visit La Sagrada Familia before catching our connecting flight to A Coruña.
It was a super short visit, and we couldn't even go inside the basilica. Nevertheless, seeing it from the outside was still breathtaking. Can you say you travelled to Spain and didn't see La Sagrada Familia?
The pre-conference party
I was looking forward to attending it, but the long journey, combined with the exhaustion from travel, made it quite challenging to muster the energy for the party. Also, my hotel was way too far from the venue, making it even more inconvenient to attend.
Not to mention, I was famished, and any longer without food and I would have turned into a hangry mess.
So unfortunately, I had to skip the pre-conference party and head straight to find some food.
But but but, even though the hotel was far, it was at the perfect spot possible. Close to the attractions, the market, the beach, everything. Thanks, Canonical!
The first day of the conference
My first day is always a shocker. And my journey with the bus in the EU has always given me pain at least once, haha. When I boarded, just like last year, I was again denied entry, as on the UDC line you can't tap your bank card, which wasn't the case with the airport bus, and the only bills I had were 100 EUR (Thanks to my chosen forex service :( ).
Thankfully, a student paid for my bus fare even without asking (kindness is still alive, people).
As soon as I boarded, I downloaded the A Coruña public transport app so that I could pay myself for future rides.
This actually portrays how poor my planning was this year. Every year, I spend at least a month knowing everything about the city, this year, I hardly spent a day, didn't even check what to visit :) Lesson learned for next time! Kudos to the GUADEC team, as the website clearly mentioned the public transport and other logistics, which I overlooked.
After reaching the venue, I spent 10 minutes wondering where the conference was. The map link on the website was for the university, but not the exact building. Eventually, I found another attendee who guided me to the right location.
Upon entering, I met Anisa, Kristi, Asmit, Deepesha and so many more familiar faces. I had a fun time asking everyone to guess my name to figure out who actually cares :) Joking on that part, I'm terrible with names and faces myself, but it's always fun to make things awkward lol.
We started with the conference welcome session, where, of course, I didn't hear any of it properly, being too busy catching up with everyone around.
I then had to quickly rush for Aaditya's session. Which was full of energy and insights, as always. GNOME Nepal has been doing amazing!
Following his session was mine! Again, the first talk I hadn't prepared at least 100 times. But I believe it was one of my finest yet! Lesson learned again, too much preparation sometimes makes the talk boring, uncertainty makes it lively and engaging.
Following which, was Sailesh's session, which was equally engaging and informative.
The day went on with multitudes of sessions and amazing talks as GUADEC usually does.
Then, Felipe asked me, if I'd like to join him for the community update at the end of the first day, and of course I said yes.
From being an intern in 2022 to now being a part of the Internship committee and presenting at the community update, it has been an incredible journey. The growth, learning, and experiences I've had along the way are truly priceless.
If you want to watch -
the community update
The second day of the conference
While staying at the conference, we rarely get the time for sightseeing, so I did what my brain can not fathom... I woke up early :) And that was so worth it, went on a super early morning trip to the Tower of Hercules. Thankfully, I did a bit of searching on the bus and learned that you can go to the top, and so I did! And no pictures, no stories or whatever I say can justify the visual bliss I received. I just fell in love with A Coruña right there. But I had a conference waiting for me, so on we go.
The highlight talks for me were "When Porting Isn't Enough: Rewriting a Python GTK2 Application for GTK4", "GNOME Internationalization: accessibility for all over the world!" and "Session Save/Restore"
The one that particularly piqued my interest was the Internationalisation talk. It was fascinating to see how GNOME is making efforts to ensure accessibility and usability for people all over the world, and how what phrases we think are simple or sufficient in our context can be completely different in other languages and cultures. Always insightful and eye-opening!
Then, just before the lightning talks, we had "The Future of Boxes" session by Felipe. Having discussed it with him in the past, and having had the pleasure of being one of the people who got to test it before the official release (and annoy Felipe with nitpicks), it was fascinating to see the improvements and new features being showcased.
Boxes looks really promising with the new features and improvements, and I can't wait for the stable release.
Then we had the intern lightning talks, where several interns shared their projects and experiences. It was inspiring to see the fresh perspectives and innovative ideas brought forward by the new members of the community.
The third day of the conference
As you can guess by now, it was great as well!
The highlights? Those were the super longggggg AGM, but also the engaging discussions and the sense of community that made it all worthwhile.
Followed by State of the Shell, a must-watch ALWAYS!
And we ended the day with a great conference dinner.
Instead of taking the bus to the dinner venue, I walked. This is something I learned at last year's GUADEC: if you really want to experience the city and its atmosphere, walking is the best way to do it. You find monuments not listed anywhere, hidden gems in the streets, and get a true feel of the local life.
The food was amazing, the company was great, and the atmosphere was just perfect.
The highlight? Drinking Queimada. The traditional Galician drink was both fun to watch being made and delicious to taste. The funniest bit was seeing people who have experience with alcohol still being afraid just from the extremely potent smell. It felt like I could get intoxicated just via that aroma alone.
But the taste? It was pretty amazing! Although I was offered another glass, I had to refuse. Remember, kids (me being one too) drink responsibly!
I thought that this was it, that's the end of the day, but it wasn't. Me, Felipe, Alan, Tobias, Jakub Steiner, and a few others decided to walk to Maria Pita Square to watch football. Now, I was an imposter there, as I had no clue what was going on in the match. But the vibe is what made it fun!
We then had a good discussion on Indian currency notes, where I handed Felipe some to take back home. I never thought my own country’s currency could spark such interest and conversation among international friends. For me, they are pretty boring hehe.
The BoFs
Being a GNOME GSoC'22 Intern, and now a part of the GNOME Internship Committee, I had my third and final talk (kind of), the GNOME Internship Committee Meetup, where we discussed the future of the program, the challenges we face, and how we can improve it.
As it was Sunday, the bus service was heavily disrupted, a bus denied me again, citing that they won't drop me in the city, only at the airport. So, I had to walk to the venue, my legs gave out after it, and I was partially drowning in sweat by the time I reached (not a great sight). But I had to be there! Thanks to a pizza party earlier that day, sessions were delayed, and I could relax somewhat before the discussions began.
I was continuously on chat with Felipe, ranting about the bus situation and my struggle to reach the venue on time.
Thanks, Felipe, for organising it and inviting me to be a part of it. It was great to see the progress we have made and the plans we have for the future.
The same day, we also made plans to watch the World Cup Final at Maria Pita Square. Due to bad network and an insanely packed area, we couldn't find each other, but man, what a time to organise GUADEC. Even though I was again an imposter there, I was there more for the vibe.
When the match went into overtime with the score still being 0-0, I left for my hotel, as I had no clue who could win, and a city with disappointed fans packed in one area is not something I would vibe with :)
But I'm so gladddd that Spain won! I was in my room when my college friend Shreyash motivated me to go out again and not waste it, so I did. And I have to say, that was soooo gooodddddd, all the crazy fans, the vibe, the sounds, people using horns to play songs and rhythms. IT WAS BLISS IN NOISE.
The Final BoF Day
After attending the BoFs, as per Emmanuel's recommendation, I went and visited the Aquarium, making sure to go at the time when they offer food to the Seals.
Thank you, Emmanuel, for the inspiration, as otherwise, an aquarium would have been pretty down the list. Watching the Arctic shore, the spectacular underground water tank and a real warship I spotted in the Arctic would make it forever memorable (the Aquarium was on the shore, so you could see the ocean).
The Porto tour
As this year the day trip was self-organised, I took a detour and went to Porto. It was a short trip at best, and quite draining for my wallet, but totally worth it for the experience and the memories made.
I absolutely loved and hated their topography. The steep hills and narrow streets made each spot a marvel to click pictures, explore and absorb, but navigating those same hills made my legs ache and my stamina tested.
Coffee Conference
I am going to call GUADEC the "Coffee Conference" because of all the amazing coffee experiences I get there. Last year, after discussions with Federico, I learned a lot and bought a Bialetti Moka Pot. And, it was such an amazing investment. Not only that, I asked him jokingly to bring me beans from his area next year.
This year, Federico actually brought me some beans, and it was such a treat. The aroma, the taste, everything was just perfect. It felt like a little piece of Mexico had come to my home.
Just like last year, this year's splurge was a grinder. Federico recommended multiple times that grinding at home is a completely different experience. So, I went ahead and bought one. Although it was a heavy splurge, it was totally worth it for the experience and the quality of coffee it produces.
I used to get pre-ground, as there isn't any grinding facility nearby, and as they were in bean form, that was sufficient reason for me to finally drop the hammer.
Meeting people
At last, I met many new people and got to learn a lot. Made new friends, got to meet people I look up to and many more.
And I really missed Aarti and Sri :( I wish they both were there.
The Return
During return, I again got to meet Sailesh, Aaditya and Federico :D I wanted to bring some good white wine to India, as Spain had some really nice one, so I took Federico's help in picking one from Duty Free, and I'm gald I did, got to learn so much about picking the right one, and it was all so much.
Btw, it tasted awesome, so thanks again :)
Another special thing that happened was that just a day after I landed back in India, I had my college graduation. I got to regroup with my old friends, receive my degree, and, well... clicked a lot of pictures :P
But this was one of those moments that will keep it memorable for me.
The End
When I attended GNOME Asia Summit as a GSoC intern in 2022, I never imagined I'd return a few years later as part of the Internship Committee and present at the community update. Looking back, that's probably what I'll remember most about GUADEC 2026, not any particular session, but how much this community has changed my life.
Thanks to all the people for making the event so great. I would also like to thank Ubuntu CDA for sponsoring the trip :)
I hope I used it to the fullest and made the most of it. :D
