Campione!

Hola Blogers,

Well we are all very excited over here because the world cup Pitch and Putt is taking place. Now, that probably doesn't sound that exciting to you guys but for us it isvery special because Jose's younger brother is playing int he tema representing Catalunya! Not only is he in the team and playing at a world cup .....after today's play he is second on the leaders board - out of all the teams from all over the world (including England). Pretty impressive hey! I am going to watch tomorrow with his other brother. Jose will be working and David (the brother playing) is only allowing Javier (his other brother) and me to go. His parents and girlfriend are banned from going. He has played so well today that he doesn't want the sight of the faces of his parents or girlfriend to put him off his game tomorrow. He knows they will be too hysterical but that me and Javier will be calm. So, wish him luck everyone.

My entertainment for today has mostly revolved around my new snazzy printer, fax, scanner, copier jobby. I have been setting that up and playing about printing photos off and putting some into frames. The new printer also inspired a complete clear out, clean and move around of the studio. I now have a much pleasanter work area - all I need now is some work! No, joking aside, I have enough work on my hands. I single handedly keep the world of internet commerce afloat with all the things I source for the wedding. Its a joke how much there is to do you know. I have recently had a few contacts pushing for me to ring them and discuss working as a lawyer out here. However, I am inclined to declare that that phase is behind me now. Its amazing how easily you can adapt to a new you. I don't see myself as a lawyer now. Jose is possibly going to open a new branch of his partnership in Valencia and so I think I will have plenty to do helping him (after the wedding) if this all goes ahead. It will mean moving down there which will be a new change and a new challenge - for both of us!

Those of you familiar with Juanita Banana will be pleased to hear that her visa situation has been finally resolved. She has been granted a ten year visa that allows her to live in the USA for 6 months every year! So her constantly yoyoing life can legitimately cary on! The yoyoing is not a permanent lifestyle choice by the way, more of a temporay thing. Once a suitable husband has been found I am sure she will stick in one place for more than a month or two. Suitors may apply through me.

S xx

Springtime

Hola Blogers,

Well its springtime here. The cherry blosoms are blosoming and the layers of clothes are coming off. I must admit it is still very changeable and so the weather can not be guaranteed upon just yet - but last Thursday it was 20 degrees and I was walking about in just a t- shirt (like the true Brit that I am!).

The most exciting thing I have done recently was to go to the Barca v Chelsea match at the Camp Nou. We all know the result by now - and it wasn't any big surprise was it. Barca are amazing at the moment and deserved to win. It was interesting to see the top three players in the world on the pitch at the same time (we ahve two of them every week of course!).

I have just enjoyed a couple of days int eh company of Adrian Joyce (for those of you who know him). Olswangs had a jolly in Barcelona and he stayed ona few days to entertain me. For those of you have never been to Barcelona but have been to New York - Adrian is adamant that they are very similar - well just the part where I live and God only knows which part of New York. I can't see it myself but he said it at least three times each day.

Little Lourdes is still waiting to here about her future. She has been put on the reserve list for a place at the boarding school in England and has another two weeks to go to find out if any of the girls offered a secure place turn it down. I think she has done well to get on the reserve list because plenty have been given a straight no - and she is doing all of this in a foreign language! So, well done to her.

I've got a few intersting trips coming up - so this blog might start to get more interesting again! I'm going to Peru in May with my Dad. We are going to climb Machu Pichu together - as we promised each other last year when I went to South America ......but I never actually got to Peru. This time its a definite. Flight booked and everything.

Hopefully, Jose and I will be going out to South America again in late September -to Colombia this time. He has been invited to speak at a conference in Cartagena de las Indias and so he says we had better make a holiday out of it. Sounds good to me! What with the honeymoon flights now booked too, it is looking like I am going to be travelling a fair bit this year. The honeymoon has been set for a few days in Athens and a couple fo weeks in Santorini - a small and beautiful Greek island that is coming highly recommend by many travellers and travel web sites alike. I am having trouble choosing the accomodation .....because the choice is too good. There is a plethora of small, boutique, original buildings carved into the rock face with views of the volcanoe and the islands popping up every where which are left overs from the eruptions. What with infinity pools and world reknowned sun sets its becoming just far too exciting to sensibly settle on anything.

Other than travel arrangements, I seem to be knee deep in cake, flower and car choices for the wedding. On this front, I am full of ideas but seem to have very expensive taste - which I am trying my hardest to curb. Only 18.5 weeks to go!

S xx

Up to date

Hola Blogers,

I haven't really been keeping up to date with this 'ere blog - which is surprising because I have been glued to my new lap top since Christmas. I have been emailing and organising the wedding rather than blogging. I will try and keep up to it more regularly though - I promise.

The wedding plans are coming along really well. Lots of things have been "jobbed off" as my Mum says. There are no flies on me (as I taught Jose last night - he loves learning random English phrases!).

We went to my apartment down in Murcia at the begining of January and met up with the lovely Shameer and Karen. The photo above was taken in an amazing park in Alicante town centre, leading up to the castle. It really was impressive and worth a visit. They have built a very modern pathway from sea level, all the way through the really old little alleyways and houses, up to the castle (which is set pretty high up above the city - as Castles are!). At the foot of the last little mount that houses the castle you will find the park - which really is something special. We were all very impressed. Its very modern and full of features but works so well with the backdrop of the castle.

Other than lots of walking around, we seemed to constantly eat in Murcia/ Alicante. We combined the Spanish and English traditions just as I like to. The Spanish have their main 3 course meal at lunch time, but we Brits have that at night time. So, in a mixed group you can quite easily fall into having two three course meals every day - which I just love!

The week after Murcia I ate in Goudi's old house in the centre of Barcelona. Jose attended a conference which was followed by an industy dinner, which, being for architects, was of course in Goudi's old house. Nice food, ok building (bit too way out for me) not that great an atmosphere. I think English lawyers are much more party animals than Spanish architects (but then it is a fact that solicitors drink the most alcohol out of all of the professions, top that with being British and you end up being very drunk!).

Last week I was back in England for a business trip (get me!). As you know, I have been teaching English to some sisters. Well the youngest one was working towards taking entrance exams for an English boarding school. So, I accompanied her and her family to London to drop her off for the exams. It was nice to go to a typically English school - it reminded me of my school days. I must say that I was quite embarrassed as to how plain and ugly English girls look at the age of 12. Lourdes (my Spanish pupil) just looked gorgeous at the side of the mousey haired, spotty, clumsy looking giants that we encountered. Was I like that? Lourdes is beautiful - as most girls here in Spain are at that age. I'm always looking at them in the streets and imagining what a child of mine might look like with half a set of Spanish genes. Mind you Lourdes' Mum is stunning so Lourdes does have a head start. Actually that was funny as well - how Lourdes' mum looked at the side of the other mums. All the Brits were in the twin set, barber and pearls and Lourdes' mum was like Elizabeth Hurley or somebody equally as elegantly fashionable and beautiful.

I'm sorry if I didn't manage to see you in London but I purposefully didn't announce that I was going to be in town - due to time pressures. As soon as my committment with the Spanish family was over I trained it up North to do some wedding things with my Mum and see my little niece (photo attached - how cute is she!). Speaking of babies, I did get chance to meet Debbie Heywood's second child, Toby, and I must just say how sweet he is. He's so happy and content - he's adorable!

My niece, Isabella, entertained us all with her bath time routine - which is to turn inot a champion back stroke swimmer for ten minutes. Its amzing to see. She goes mental in the bath and just swims up and down the length of the bath with her Dad holding her head out of the water. I've never seen anything like it!

S xx

As you can see we have been skiing again. This time we went to Baquiera (in Spain) and we took Jo along (who turned out to be hilarious on a pair of skis!).

Jo couldn't remember how to stop, or ski for that matter, so she just threw herself on the floor when she needed to stop, casuing much injury and much laughter. After nearly collapsing with hysterics, Jose kindly began to teach her and I did a few runs on my own (its so nice to be able to do that now). I am so hooked on skiing now.

Two major things happend on the Saturday. The first was Jo flying into a ski lift telegraph pole thing (which luckily for her had been enveloped in a kind of mattress thing) and loosing one ski - which comically remained sticking out of the telegraph pole somehow.

The second was at the end of the day. Jose suddenly realised that they were closing the ski lift that we needed to take to get to the other mountain where our car was. He started having a panic and telling us to get down the slope really quickly. Well, Jo couldn't go so fast (without falling every 20 metres and ploughing into things). We told him it was no big deal (as we knew there would be somebody around to give us a lift in a car) but he was getting panicky. Jose's idea was for me to ski down the slope as fast as I could and then wait at the bottom, and for him to get Jo down. So, off I went - with no idea of how he was going to get Jo down.

I waited patiently at the bottom of the slope and then all of a sudden I saw them hurtling down the slope - Jose with Jo on his back like a piggy back! He seemed to be expertly skiing down. Thing is, he then saw me and so tried to stop close by to me - but misjudged the stopping distance required (due to the extra weight on his back) and kamakazied into me and sent me up in the air........only to land on his knees! He screamed blue murder, I scrambled to get off him and it was all rather scary!

A few hours later he couldn't walk. The next morning we went to the hospital and they strapped him up and told him he had done somthing to his ligament. The precise extent of the damage couldn't be confirmed until he had an electro resonance thing done a week later. Whoops ! Needless to say that he didn't ski on Sunday. It was his own fault though - as he well knows.

Its now about three weeks later and he still hasn't been for the resonance thing doing. He reckons its ok now. I hope so! Oh and of course there was plenty of poeple around willing to give lifts to the other mountain - so it was all a panic about nothing (as we well knew!)

S xx