Tuesday, February 23, 2010

One Month Later.....


I have now been in Barcelona for just over a month. Well, maybe not Barcelona, more like Europe. In the first three weeks I was traveling to Brussels on a weekly basis for business purposes. Thankfully, that has now come to an end and I can settle into our new apartment. Mind you, the selection of beers in Belgium certainly has no equal. I tried my best to taste as many as possible. Sometimes to my downfall, or is that fall down? I can't quite remember......

I moved into our apartment a week and a half ago. A very bare apartment. Even the light fittings had been removed. I believe this is common practice in Spain? The first thing to be done is to organized furniture. I am currently sleeping on a blow-up mattress, sitting in camping chairs, have a cardboard box as a coffee table and a cooler box as a fridge. Shit! I sound like a squatter! This weekend's task is to have our apartment filled with all the essential bits and pieces to make life a lot more comfortable. A shopping extravaganza is about to take place!

My Spanish lessons started last night. This is going to be one interesting experience. So far it has been a lot of fun with a good few laughs while the three of us in the class come to grips with the Spanish pronunciation. This can be tricky at times. Did you know, that if pronounced incorrectly, the word:"AƱos", meaning years, has a very different meaning. I'll leave that one to the imagination!

Enough for now. I'll write some more later.

Cheers.

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Very Beginning


Hi All,

Let me start be by thanking everyone who were able to make it to my birthday and our farewell bash at the end of last year. It was great to see so many friends and family together in one location. This is something that very rarely takes place. To those that couldn't make it, you missed a damn good party. I think the last of the party animals left at 2.30 in the morning!

I would also like to thank those who gave gifts. You weren't supposed too! But thank you. You caused much packing and unpacking of my suitcase at the airport while I tried to lower the weight of my luggage!

Now then, most of you have already heard the great news, but for those of you who haven’t: "Josie and I were married earlier this year (14 January 2010)." We quietly went off and tied the knot with very little fuss and without anyone else knowing about it.

When we announced this a few days later to close family and friends there was the most stunned silence I have ever heard from this particular group of family. This was followed by tears of joy and the most overwhelming sense of excitement and well-being that I have ever been party too.
Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I had to jet off back to Barcelona that same day, leaving my beautiful new wife behind. I believe plans for a proper wedding are already afoot!

I am now settling into the hustle and bustle of the city of Barcelona. It is said that this is a city that never sleeps. I am beginning to believe that. On Friday I signed the lease agreement for an apartment in an area called Sant Cugat del Valles. It is a small village about 20km north of the main city centre. It has a similar ambiance and look to it as a place such as Stellenbosch. I will be able to start moving into the apartment sometime this week.

If all goes well with the visa application, Josie will be in Barcelona in early March. We are really looking forward to finally starting our new married life together in Barcelona.

Our new address in Barcelona:
CALLE COMAS I SOLA , 24, 2-1
08173 SANT CUGAT DEL VALLES
BARCELONA
SPAIN

GPS location:
41°28'2.77"N
02° 3'55.25"E


My mobile number: +34 64 894 7491
Skype name: sean.mccartan

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Cheers for now,
Sean