In search of sun, scenery and fun..!!

Hello - hope you are all well !!

Well, summer is unbelievably upon us, and it's certainly getting hotter and sunnier here in Barca !! We've had a busy few months what with Will working hard and playing hard on his MBA, and Me - the desperate housewife! - doing an intensive teaching course as well as trying to improve my Spanish !

Gracia has proved to be absolutely the right choice of location for us - it's got a great community feel despite being so central and we are surrounded by local veg markets, bakers, butchers, delis, cafes and gorgeous boutique shops. The old lady next door has lived here for 68 years so we get great chat from her too !

As well as Gracia, and despite Will's heavy workload, we've been doing our best to also ensure that we explore the beautiful mountains and beaches of the Pyrenees and Costa Brava too. We had a fab weekend white water rafting in Ribgorza and have made a few trips to some lovely beaches up the coast, not least last weekend to celebrate Midsummer's night (Sant Joan's Eve) with lots of fireworks and enough booze to keep the bonfire going indefinitely ! The MBA lot are certainly keeping us entertained and there's no shortage of laughs ; )

Now we're just getting ready for all the local fiestas, El Grec which starts this week in Barcelona and continues for the whole of July, then Gracia's own August festival when the barrio is decorated by everyone and there's lots of traditional Catalan celebrations. The Spanish sure know how to socialise... !

CRIKEY IT'S EASTER ALREADY!!!! I have absolutely no idea where all the time has gone but it's been a blast... After almost 2,000 miles of road, tasting the delights of Chateau Mouton in the Haut Medoc, a few nights in our very own chateau with peacocks and swans (B&B francais), torturous moments handling our heavy cargo including getting stuck in an underground car park in San Sebastian, a week of skiing powder, slush, ice and rock in Andorra... we finally arrived in Barca to a hotel full of adolescent Italians - surely the loudest and rudest kids on earth - however, life in Barca has proved immensely exciting and incredibly occupying hence a terrible neglect of our website and hardly any chat from this end... Anyway, we have a fantastic two bed flat in Gracia, a stone's throw from the designer stores of Paseo de Gracia in a great barrio full of pedestrian streets with lots of hidden gems and no shortage of places to stop and pass the time over a beer, rioja or plate of patatas bravas. So perhaps a calendar would be in order so as to allow some on-line booking! Be sure to come enjoy the atmosphere and hopefully sunshine since it's been nothing but cold and wet thus far... pics will be loaded and the blog will now be honestly maintained as there's going to be plenty to say about our time here - the whole mba experience has been exceptional....

Friday 13 April - you're forgiven if you think we've forgotten about you so soon after our farewells in early March. It's been wonderfully hectic ever since and although there is somewhat of a meeting of minds on this mba course I'm still struggling with technology! All the same I feel it's my duty to at least tell a story or two even if it does fall on deaf ears, the journey so far has been full of adventures...

EASTER WEEK - a great week for enjoying life, a bad week for getting things done! (blog in progress...)

MBA / MOVE - on 24 March we moved into Gracia, a central barrio full of charm, character, boutique shops, bars, restaurants and above all - atmosphere... the flat has shutters, two bedrooms, a large living room and separate study. Downside? 8 flights of stairs and no lift! 15 trips later I was very glad to have got to know a certain rugby playing South African with a very generous spirit ;) The following week was a major change of gear as ESADE threw the book at us and pushed us ultra hard in order to give us a taste of what's to come. it proved a major hit with all of us as we engaged in hearty discussions on competition and strategy. The socialising took a back seat for most of the week but was soon capped off with a visit to Bodegas Torres - that's right a vineyard - in nearby Penedes. The sun even shined which had sadly been missing until then! As Semana Santa arrived we made plans bid farewell and reflected on an awesome 10 days of getting to know one another, partners and much much more...

BARCELONA - we arrived with tanned goggle eyed faces very glad to have finished our gypsy life after over 1800 miles... Michelle drove us into a dead end and numerous drivers protested as we took 15 minutes to extract ourselves.. once the hotel was found another logistical problem faced us with trying to fit a trailer, car with rooftop and bike rack, into the hotel garage. A tanned wealthy porsche driving local waited impatiently as we extracted the rooftop belongings and sent Michelle into the box to unscrew the fittings. Thankfully this was all achieved without any material damage after our lesson in San Sebastian! The hotel that we had exhaustively searched for while in Andorra turned out to be a bargain because it was undergoing refurb work and was full of adolescents. Most of whom seemed to be on our corridor and Italian - some of the rudest kids I've ever seen - this led to little sleep and much distress but thankfully the management sympathised and moved us to the top floor and gave us free parking for some time after, well and trully forgiven! Our flat hunt started the next day in earnest and having misjudged the weather I found myself freezing my proverbials as we trapsed round Barca. 10 flats and 2 days later we had decided and then proceeded the frenzy to locate funds and facilitate a move for Saturday. In the meantime, yours trully had the small matter of the MBA induction. This proved to be a huge hit as we discovered what a diverse bunch ESADE had brought together - 29 people, 17 internationalities and everyone with a fascinating and unique story to tell. The induction involved some team bonding exercises part of which included building human towers and freezing on a catamaran as well as an obvious thirst for beer & wine! Further details will be willingly divulged over refreshments....

SUNDAY 11th MARCH - Andorra for a week, this was a great idea. Not the Alps but not bad either. Yes, it has been one of the worst winters on record for snow but this conspired to mean relatively few people and for two people just getting to know the place there was plenty of pisted runs to discover and enjoy. Video analysis was employed to discuss technique over cocktails and after a few dreadful meal experiences we re-discovered the joys of a pack lunch and enjoyed some great value Argentinian, French and Spanish delights. Plus it snowed giving us two powder days where I did my best to ruin my skis and Michelle discovered powder turns... much more challenging and a veritable playground for the locals and those lucky souls some 3 hours away in Barcelona - wait would that be us now!?

TUESDAY 6th MARCH - we woke up to a ferocious westerly gale and rough seas which led to much bemusement on the ferry as kids and adults meandered through the decks like dodgems at a fair. OnCe on dry land we began our acquaintance with French roads and our heavy load which soon turned out to be a huge drag. That's to say fuel efficiency was suddenly about 2/3 of the usual given an estimated luggage weight of 200 kilos! It continued to rain all the way to Andorra but we did manage to enjoy the French food, accommodation and wine en route. The first night was spent in La Rochelle, a very pretty medieval fortified port town on the Atlantic coast. As we explored the area and having rediscovered an appetite for booze we decided to head for the Haut-Medoc and a chateaux B&B that supposedly offered fantastic value. We soon settled into the culture of eating foie gras, moules, fromage, veaux and many more healthy dishes. This was accompanied by visits to St Estephe (Chateau Mouton), Pauillac and Margaux, followed by the best tour of the lot at premier grand cru Chateau Belair in St. Emilion. €500 later, and that was just the wine, we were setting off for a view of Biarritz and a stay in beautiful San Sebastian (Spanish Basque Country). As we cross the border the speed and agressiveness of the drivers was suddenly noticeable as I had to fight for position on the road! Driving and San Sebastian was soon to leave an indelible mark.... after a magical night we woke to make our way round the Pyrenees after a late morning stroll along the shore. This was sadly disrupted for almost 2 hours as we grappled with a 70 kilo rooftop box that had conspired to get us stuck at the entrance to a town centre underground car park, DOH!! A burnt clutch, scratched roof, snapped aerial and bruised ego later, we sheepishly got the hell out of there and took the quickest, safest route to Pau in Southern France. Here we discovered a fantastic fondue restaurant and some beautiful mountain scenery - did you know the British (society) used to holiday here in their droves in the late 19th and are the reason for its golf courses, spas and reputation for outdoor activities... until then the locals were quite happy growing grapes and making cheese!

SUNDAY 4th MARCH - on this fine wet dreary day we were due to have said our goodbyes and thirstily pack our things into our trailer and vehicle with a casual 'hasta pronto' to London on our way down to the coast to catch our ferry and begin our journey to the promised land of mbas. As it turned out, I had possibly had one or ten too many, could barely stand up straight because my head was pounding, and inspite of taking various wonder cures I was still incapable of functioning at all. The thought of lifting boxes left me stranded on the sofa in the garage hiding from the numerous tasks at hand and with a guilty look about me I promptly snuck off back to bed. Mid-day, lunch and afternoon passed before I finally made a belated effort to get us on the road but as darkness approached I soon abandoned the task for a dvd and take away. Perhaps this is a lesson in managing expectations as it was clearly impossible to leave the country the day after the night before... So, Monday morning came and went, our ferry left on time in clear weather, we prepared and eventually trundled our way down the M20 to Dover and then Sandwich. On route we discovered that we were meant to have put a licence plate on our trailer (woops!), kindly informed by an off duty wpc, and then promptly spent an hour trying to sweet talk Halfords into issuing one without any documentation. Cleary they felt sorry for us and caved in so after a few more purchases to ready the car for European roads we were in position to set sail. Except of course for P&O's delight at two tardy customers as they robbed us blind for both trailer and late arrival...!

Thursday 1st March - Well we're back in London now until Sunday 4 March and then starts a long leisurely drive down to Barca taking in the delights of Bordeaux and the Pyrenees before reaching our destination on Sunday 18th.... Hope we get to see you before we go.

EARLY MARCH: Well Buenos Aires has been and gone. It was a fantastic experience and a great way to finish our trip which has at times felt like a marathon but well worth it!! Now landed in Glasgow and back on the chilly shores of the UK. Speaking of Chile, our photos are now uploaded and can be perused at your leisure. We hope you've enjoyed this window on our travels and I can only apologise for the lack of inspired content, however, we were so busy seeing the sights it was hard to justify sitting in front of a computer typing! Hope to see you all very soon.... N.B. Our leaving bash is at ARBITER on North End Road from 7.30 this Saturday (i.e. 3rd March)

More Santiago... well it's 1st Feb and I've been busy organising our travel plans while Michelle busies herself with learning Spanish. The volunteer work, once it was organised, has been a real joy and surprisingly rewarding. We've been going to a home for children and young adults with severe and profound disabilities. Whilst it is a chilling experience they can be incredibly good company and a lot of fun, it also helps you communicate in Spanish better and has hopefully entertained them and helped them forget about the apparent monotony of their lives. Santiago has plenty going for it, the weather has been fantastic and our homestay couple have looked after us incredibly well. It helps when the husband is a chef and proud of the meals he gives you! We visited the coast on the weekend and loved Valparaiso which is full of character with bars on most streets playing live tango, musica tipica or modern beats. Had a very random and entertaining Saturday night there. Also loved Pablo Neruda's house on the coast... As of Saturday we're off to Temuco and doing a tour of the Lake District and then the fiords and forests of Northern Patagonia. After that it'll be a complete change of scenery with a flight to the north and the Atacama desert, staying in San Pedro and Bahia Inglesa. Then it'll be time for some down time in Buenos Aires... hasta pronto chicos...

WE WROTE EARLIER: Well, while GB and Europe are getting battered by storms we've crossed the Pacific and landed in Santiago. Finished our campervan experience in Auckland where we caught up with some old friends and enjoyed life's little luxuries. Covered 4,200 kms in 15 days and saw some fantastic places, so much diversity and some great wine! (You can see our favourite pictures on the 'Pics' page).
The cricket continued to get a lot of coverage and I barely recognised our one day team but at least we beat the Kiwis to stop them having too much of a dig, otherwise, Jade Goody seems to be all over the papers/news - can't escape trashy BB even this far from the UK!
We kick off our language and voluntary work tomorrow although ended up checking into a hotel instead of our homestay since the school failed to give us an address other than Pedro & Gloria, Santiago... I do love the Latinos!!
By the way, in case you're wondering it's 30 C and blue skies.. bummer
After 2 weeks in Santiago we head for the great outdoors with a flight south to Temuco, then onto Puerto Montt and then north to Antofogasta and the Atacama desert. We leave on 18 Feb for our final fling in Buenos Aires, heading home on 22 Feb.
Missing you all enormously but happily the same still doesn't apply to commuting or winter!

Santiago... just had the best flight ever, slept soundly, wonderful service and very comfortable, can heartily recommend LAN Chile. Surprisingly busy flight but the only route to South America from Asia and Australasia is this one! Looking forward to being in one place for a little while and brushing up on the lingo. Had a fantastic trip round NZ with plenty of highlights and a few lowlights such as Michelle's map reading and sand flies...! Take a look at our 'pics' page to get a taster. Had fairly average weather by Kiwi summer standards but enough sun for Miche to fry herself, however, it was worth it as we were digging a hot water pool on the beach next to the surf and toasting our last day in the camper. One of New Zealand's many unusual experiences.

21st Jan - en la tarde - just finished our NZ trip with a flourish, after 4 days of wine tasting we polished off 8 bottles in one sitting on Saurday night accompanied by a delicious eye fillet bbq (chateaubriand) courtesy of some old friends Jarrod & Christine who put us up in Auckland, or should I say North Shore as they live 100 metres from the beach... following on from the last entry, after spending a day whale watching and dolphin swimming in Kaikoura, South Island, we ventured north to Marlborough wine country and then crossed over to North Island. Stayed in Martinborough which is great for Pinot and Syrah, managed a game of golf in Wellington and then off to art deco Napier for more wine (hic!). After 4 days of getting sozzled we worked it off in Taupo and did the Tongariro crossing + climbed the volcano (aka Mt Doom). That pretty much finished us so we spent the last couple of days taking it easy, luckily the weather improved and we found some great hot springs to ease the bones... Now landed in Chile and really looking forward to our stay here...

12th Jan midday - well we have now had a week of living out of a campervan and touring the wonderfully scenic roads of South Island, New Zealand. The weather has been warm, sunny, cold, windy, wet and everything in between so Michelle is feeling very much at home! There has been so much to see and so much distance to cover that it's hard remembering what to do next or what we've just done... The highlights have been all the stunning coastlines, valleys, fiords, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and the sense of having the whole place to yourself at times. In addition we've had some great thrills canyoning, swimming with dolphins and soaking in a Japanese bathhouse by a natural hot spring. Which leads me onto the major lowlight - SAND FLIES!! I never thought there was something worse than mosquitoes, I was wrong ;) .. Hope to follow with bigger update soon.

3rd Jan midday - just a quick note to say (again) we had fabulous New Years Eve which is very lucky considering we had no ready made plans . Caught up with a very old uni friend of Michelle and he was with a group who were great fun. Also managed to catch up with Nick & Liz from the hockey club who seem to be very happy and settled in the short time they've had here as well as Matt & Misi who are looking very tanned and living the Bondi life to the max. Aiming to quickly update the site without losing too much of our last day in Sydney. Take a look around and see what's new!

Latest entry... So far we've had 10 delightful days in Bangkok and are making the most of a short 4 day stint in Sydney where we've met some local immigrants (aka old friends) who for some extraordinary reason are jealous of us moving to Barcelona!! Been to Bondi, Watson Bay, the centre and generally tried to avoid Parramatta where we're staying. Had some eventful late night trips back including getting soaked - the weather has been warm but average, can't have it all I guess ;)

23 Dec 6pm ish - Well I'll keep it brief for now but suffice to say that it's been eventful already. Wan (Dad's Thai wife) has bought a hairy chi-wa-wa that resembles an ewok and has a thing for Michelle's ankles/legs. Dad's dancing has got worse and even more embarrassing, especially after a bottle of Sang Som whisky. The girls have gone shopping every day and I'm playing golf every other day!! Mosquitoes are as vicious as ever but the best bit is the weather is spot on, not too hot (about 27C), perfect sunshine, and plenty of breeze, a real joy. You should hear us speaking though as we are all adopting Thai English speak to be understood by Wan and other Thai friends of Dad, however, the damn pigeon english is so easy to slip into we all end up talking in it to ourselves such as last night when just the four of us from home were out! We end up sounding like a bunch of half breeds, perhaps not too far off the mark ;)

Earlier log... Arrived in Bangkok safe and sound after a 2 hour check in and security bore at Heathrow and then a 3 hour delay on the flight. However, the weather, food and company has soon made up for that. Mainly shopping and golfing in Bangkok with a short trip to the coast, south of Pattaya between 26th and 28th. Christmas in Bangkok at a friend's party down by the river.. Enjoy your turkey and stuffing!!