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.

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:"Años", 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.

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