Madrid

So, I know that I have been a bit quiet lately, but I've had exams, so had to be diligent and study a lot. I wrote 4 exams over 3 weeks, and I had to go to Madrid for them. Write at the embassy! What a pain in travelling, not to mention the expense, and being away from my boy! But, it's over for now, so I am glad for that.

While I was there, I did take some pictures, as I walked around a lot in between exam writing and studying! Here are a few:
This is where I stayed...

Arc de Triomphe (seems like there's one in every town)

Painting and playing in the Jardine del Retiro

More park...

And just for Kai, because I thought of him at the time!

Oh, and this is where I really stayed, third floor, room in the corner, shared with another 13 people!

So, because there is NO studying this weekend, we have decided to do absolutely NOTHING! Pure awesomeness! We are going to go up the coast tomorrow though, and put our feet in the Med. Looking forward to that!

Till next time.

Out and about in Sant Cugat

We went out last night for a quiet evening, to the town hall for the wecoming of EU people to Sant Cugat by the mayor, dinner afterwards with Steve and Rachel. Nothing over the top was planned...
During dinner Rachel asked where there would be a Salsa club in Sant Cugat. Well, we were told that there is a karaoke bar! Because that's the same thing!!! So off we went...

Sean and Rachel having some fun along the way

After much searching, we finally found this karaoke place, which had a different decor theme going on.

We sat down to watch the others sing in Spanish. It was entertaining, until they asked us to choose a song!!! By this stage we had had 2 bottles of red wine, and we were on our third drink of the night, so we chose a song!!!

We chose a song for the boys too, but Steve chickened out!!!

All in all, I think a good night was had by everyone. It's not often anymore that I only get to bed at 3am!!!

Sometimes we go to France...

One of the reasons that we are excited to be living in Barcelona is the proximity to Europe. This past weekend was our first trip out of the country! We booked a car, Sean took Friday off work, and Thursday evening we were on our way to visit Lynne and Jeff in France! Left Barcelona at 19:30, and by 22:30 we were sitting round their table enjoying a glass of wine. Good times!

Lynne and Jeff have a farm in a town called St Paul de Fenouillet, near Perpignan, south France. A gorgeous flat attached to the cellar, and a beautiful vineyard just 5 minutes drive away...

Seriously lovely there. Anyway, St Paul is a really small town, the most popular place being this...

Sean and I laughed everytime, but Lynne and Jeff are used to it by now! The whole family of Pousses, would be great if they moved to SA!

Lynne took Sean and I up Gorge de Galamus on Friday morning. It's a church built into the rock. Worth it, for sure. We took the road along the Gorge back from dinner on Saturday night, narrow and winding, only two metres wide in places where the rock overhangs just above the car, it's quite something. Unfortuntely, I didn't get any pics of that, but we will have to go back sometime so that we can.

We drove around the area a lot, and saw a lot of small villages, which were lovely. This one was interesting, named Maury. It was raining, but the murals were fantastic.

There were a few odd attachments to some doors that we saw.

Also, there were Poppies everywhere...

And then there were picnics...

Where we had the delicious Domaine Grier bubbly!!! Looking forward to more of that sometime. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, with great company! I look forward to many more! Thanks so much Lynne and Jeff.

A bit of our village...

Adjusting to this time is different. We might be on the same timeline as home, but it's 20:30 here, and Sean's not even home yet. OK, tonight is different, he goes to Spanish classes on a Monday, but the other days he get's home about 19:30/20:00. Still light though. This is a pic I took from our balcony at 20:30 the other night.

I'm really starting to enjoy it here, and getting into a routine. It's awesome. For serious.Our little village of Sant Cugat del Valles it so beautiful and we are living in such a gorgeous area that it's all worth it. This is a lovely sculpture coming into the village from our flat.

 Sean and I took a cycle into the village the other day and passed under this bridge:

Well, I thought it was pretty! On the way home it was dark, cos we stopped for a drink, as we do, and the path was lit up by the street light.

Well, I finally took the time yesterday evening to update our digital photoframe. Thanks Paverds! I think Sean's been looking at pictures of Chris for the last 3 months! I added a few (read: 400) of our holidays, diving pics and such. Nice to have our friends pop up every now and again!

Anyway, being the housewife that I am now, which is so weird, best I go prepare dinner for my hard-working husband! Chat to you all soon.

Sean & Josie together again

So, it's been a few days, but I arrived on Wednesday morning, FINALLY, after a very long time of waiting! Apologies for not updating earlier, but we've been busy...

Sean met me at the airport and brought me home. Weird walking into a place and not knowing where everything is. Didnt' take long though, cos Sean and I think a lot alike!

A few pics of our place:

And I thought this was quite awesome: the drying rack above the sink!

He was working Thursday and Friday, so entertained myself by going into the little village on Thursday about ten minutes walk away. It's really pretty! Friday I studied. What a good girl I am!!

Then yesterday, we went into Barcelona! Really lovely. Lots of tourists though, mostly Americans and Brits!

Probably a good time to put in a pic of us!

Saw a lot of sculptures and things that I thought were quite awesome.

Shoo, did we walk. EVERYWHERE! I've got some blisters going on! It was worth it though. Walked along the beach and had a drink every now and again. As we do!

Saw some really fantastic yachts. I could definately spend some time on them!

The really nice ones at the back I didn't get any pics of, unfortunately!

We made our way home and after going to the shop had a lovely dinner of Nachos and Mojitos!!! Good times!

We slept really well after drinking a few of those!!!

Till next time...

Spanish Chaos.

On Monday I experienced Spanish CHAOS! This was the first time in over ten years that snow had actually fallen in the city of Barcelona. There had been the occasional snow flake to hit the ground in the last few years, but never snow like this.
 
My day started off pretty normally. The alarm went off at 7am. I hit the snooze button at five or six times before crawling out of bed to start yet another busy week. On my way to the kitchen and to a much needed cup of coffee I noticed a rather strange looking rain passing the window. Thinking it was left-over "sleep" in my eyes; I gave them a good rub and moved closer to the window. WTF!! It's snowing! I had heard that if it were to be snow in Barcelona, Sant Cugat would be the place to get it. After taking a few photos I made my way off to work. Everything was running smoothly and by the time I reached work, there was no longer any sign of snow.
 
Monday progressed at its usual sluggish pace. At around noon the first hints of snowfall was evident. By 3pm this had developed into a full blown blizzard (by Barcelona standards anyway). By 4.30pm most of the staff had headed for home and by 5pm, those attempting to drive uphill were only sliding back down. I finally left the office at 7pm after Spanish classes and headed for the Metro.

 
By now I had received a call from Steve to inform me that the train home had been cancelled until further notice and that all roads to Sant Cugat were closed. (Steve had decided against driving home earlier in the day)

There was nothing else one could do but to find a warm pub and wait until further notice. After a good few warm-up drinks and a bite to eat we found our way back to the station. The trains were scheduled to depart for Sant Cugat at midnight - another half hour away. We boarded the train and waited for departure as the train slowly filled up. Midnight came and went. At about 1am one of the train personnel informed us that the trains to Sant Cugat had now been cancelled for the night. We were told to catch a train to another station, Sarria, and from there we would be taken by bus to Sant Cugat.

Off we went on our merry way to Sarria. We arrived at Sarria station at 1.30am and joined the other 400 odd people waiting for a bus to Sant Cugat, and the other 300 or so waiting for a bus going elsewhere. After waiting around for a good hour (and 4 bus loads of passengers) we boarded a bus to Sant Cugat, finally arriving home at 3am, tired, but glad to have finally made it home!

 

By Tuesday morning, things had not improved much. The trains between Sant Cugat and Barcelona were still not functional. 

A quick call to the office, and I spent the rest of the day working from home. 

It is quite amazing what a little snow can do to a city when not prepared for such an event. 

Things have now returned to normal. The only remaining evidence of the chaos are the broken trees scattered around the place. 
I’m sure this day will be spoken about for some time to come.

Until, next time.