Carnaval

Now that the weather is brightening up it's starting to feel more like a holiday once again. Having said that, there have been a few weather related hiccups recently but it's no biggy. And, as usual, I've been making the most of this weather and venturing out to...(surprise surprise) Barcelona! 

There were plans to go to Sitges, which is a lovely little seaside town south of Barcelona. However, due to 120kmph winds, there was a problem with the trains and so that was a big fat no go. We replaced this with a trip to Mcdonalds and the cinema. Not a bad replacement after all. 

The last trip to Barcelona was probably the most jam packed day in Barcelona I've had to date, and it was spent in 'fabulous' company. Emily and I took Pierre (our year abroad bear who is slowly making his way around Europe) around some of the sights of the greatest city on Earth. We took the cable car up to Montjuic where we went around the Olympic Stadium. The views from the cable car were spectacular although it's definitely not for the faint hearted as the cars are fairly small and rickety. We then ventured down through Placa Espanya and to the metro to head over to the other side of the city. We were briefly separated in a moment of panic, but we all saw the funny side, including the delightful onlookers on the metro, some of whom thought it was hilarious. 
Anyway, once reunited we headed over to Parc Guell which is another of Antoní Gaudí's wonderful creations. It's was so warm up there, but that may have been because of the million steps that you have to climb to get up there! Nonetheless, it was certainly worth it and Pierre thought it was great. The day ended on a romantic stroll down the beach followed by some lovely cocktails in the sunset before heading back to Vic for another week of school.

This week at school has been rather...different. This is because we were celebrating Carnival (Carnaval). I'm not entirely sure what this is or why exactly but I'll give explaining it a go. Basically it's our equivalent to Pancake day(!) whereby it's the last days of craziness and partying before 6/7 weeks of being well behaved before Easter comes. This means that for 1 week, Carnestoltes (the weird carnival king) gives out themes and instructions for the children to do each day. For example, on Tuesday we had to wear sport clothes, on Wednesday we had to prepare a ball (I'm not sure why but all the kids brought in balls), on Thursday we had to bring in or make a medal (mine said 'Best English Speaker') and on Friday it was fancy dress (I was a cowboy). It was a week of fun at school but it did just seem like the Spanish were looking for an excuse to party. 

Speaking of which, although this takes place in schools, in the evenings there are activities and parades for the adults and the kids. The biggest Carnaval celebration near to where I live is in Torelló, about 15 minutes away. This place normally has a population of about 13,000 but over this weekend, it reached about 100,000. On Friday night, there was a great big party in the town. This consisted of a vehicle pulling a giant DJ set around and blasting out music. We very appropriately nicknamed this 'The Party Bus'. The theme for this night was Senyoretes i Homenots  where the boys and men dress as girls and the girls and women dress as boys. It was a fantastic night of partying in the streets with all the crazy Catalans. The next night was just a simple fancy dress and parade. Now we didn't dress up but we did paint our faces with Union Jacks, which caused more confusion than expected as people didn't seem to know what country it represented. (HELLO...OLYMPICS/GOLDEN JUBILEE!) Anyway, we went along, not really knowing what to expect. What greeted us were huge and elaborate floats made by the locals, each blasting out more music and therefore being followed by thousands of dressed up crazy people. The atmosphere was electric and the floats were amazing, and quite frankly, crazy. We're not too sure where they came from or what the reasoning is behind the floats but it was great nonetheless! 

It's been one CRAZY week. 

Barcelona and Puigsacalm

It's been relatively busy out here in Spain over the past few weeks with one thing or another. I'll try and cram them all into this without boring you to death. 

Every weekend I seem to go to Barcelona. This is far from a chore and seen as it's only an hour and half away, why not?! The Barcelona Bucket List is slowly but surely being ticked off and it's great fun doing so. Although the trips to Barcelona are mainly cultural and touristy, I do manage to squeeze in the odd Starbucks and fastfood indulgence from time to time as a reward for living in the least touristy place on earth. Along with wondering down La Rambla and super walks along the beach watching the crazy surfers out in January!

Recently I have visited Sagrada Familia which is the big Cathedral designed by Antoní Gaudi. It's immensely impressive on the outside but slightly disappointing on the inside, and certainly not worth the 11 euros I paid to get in. It is arguably the symbol of Barcelona and it's clear to see why. However, it is yet to be completed and so adding to the wonder that is Sagrada Familia. My Grandad Harry had a theory that every night all the work that had been done in the day would be removed so that it would never be finished and continue to be this extravagant tourist attraction. Who knows?
I have also been to another of Gaudí's famous bulidings; Casa Batlló. This is basically a house built on the Passeig de Gracia running through the centre of Barcelona that is a bit wacky. (Gaudí was a bit wacky). It's a fully functioning, practical house but with weird and wonderful 'stuff' in it, all designed and overseen by Gaudí. It was really interesting to visit but I don't think I'd like to live there, I'm happy with my little flat. 

The last leg to the top.

On Sunday, the gym I go to had organised a little excursion- a walk to Puigsacalm. This should have really been labelled as a climb as it is, according to wikipedia, 'the highest mountain in the Catalan Transversal Range...and has an altitude of 1512 metres.' Now, although I didn't start the walk...I mean climb from sea level, it bloody well felt like it. It was extremely steep and it definitely nearly killed me. Ok that's an exaggeration but it was pretty difficult and my legs were aching like mad afterwards. Having said all this, it was a grand day out in great company (mainly old ladies who were out climbing us- to be fair they had sticks) and the views from the top were spectacular. It was lovely to get some proper fresh air and see another part of this fab country. 

Thankful to be alive

Other activities that have been undertaken over the past few weeks include seeing Les Misérables twice (it's immense, and if you haven't already seen it then do!), being subjected to a questionable English production of the Ugly Duckling and Pinocchio at school and indulging in some gorgeous strawberries and cream IN WINTER!



Well that's all for now folks but I'm sure I'll have some more Barcelona stories to fill you in on soon. Ciao for now!!

P.s. Hi Fran.

Back to Spain we go...

Ok, it's been far too long since I've updated this blog. I do apologise for this but I can assure you that I'll be more disciplined this year.

Let's start at the end of last year, before Christmas. The last few weeks before we broke up for the holidays were mainly geared towards Christmas and Els Pastorets. This is the Catalan equivalent of the Nativity play that young kids put on around Christmas time but the story is centred around the Shepherds (els pastorets) and the journey they make to see the birth of baby Jesus. The three Kings, Mary, Joseph, the Angel Gabriel etc feature very little in the production and so I wasn't really following the story until it was explained to me afterwards! This is mainly because there are about 400 kids at my school which made the show a complete shambles, and that, along with the fact that only half the microphones worked meant that it was about 2 hours of me thinking 'what the hell is going on?!' Having said that, it was great to see another Catalan tradition and I felt like a proud honorary teacher watching all the students perform. 

By the time the 21st December came around, I was super excited to venture back to the UK Christmas. I was met at the airport by the family and was extremely happy to back on home soil. Needless to say, it was a very special 2 weeks at home seeing the family and friends and going to London to see in the New Year made it even better! I also got see the newest addition to the family- little baby Willow (who is actually a dog). I love her to pieces but I just hope she remembers me when I'm home next, whenever that may be. 

So, on coming back to Spain, I decided to drag my Dad and brothers out here to see what goes on and where I live. They were staying in the hotel opposite my flat which was very handy and they spent 3 days and nights here and we barely stopped. We visited Barcelona and Girona, seeing as much as possible in the little time we had. I also showed them around lovely little Vic and took them to some of my favourite places. We were lucky enough to be invited to my lovely mentor's house for dinner on Saturday before the Three Kings parade through the city. I should mention at this point that some families go with the tradition that the Three Kings bring the presents on the night of the 5th January as opposed to Santa Claus on 25th December. Anyway, after indulging in some traditional Catalan foods with my family and Maria's, we set off for the city centre and needless to say, it was booming. I had no idea that there was so many people in Vic. The atmosphere was super and I can imagine that being 5 years old and seeing the Three Kings parade through the town is exceedingly exciting!

The boys all left on 6th January and so that meant it was back to normal for me here in Vic. I'm really happy to be back and to see all my Spanish, English and French friends again along with all the little monkeys at school. I've already tried my hand at some new Catalan foods with my French friend Aurelie and her brand new baby boy, Yann, and their friends. I was invited out for lunch with them and by lunch I mean about 4 hours of food in a restaurant whilst nursing a hangover. However, I had the most fun! We ate calcots which are a vegetable (somewhere between a leek and an onion) cooked on a fire. You then pinch one end and pull the other to take out the juicy vegetable from inside, all the while wearing a bib and gloves (it gets very messy). This is all served on a roof tile, I don't know maybe the restaurant couldn't afford plates. This was all an experience in itself which made for a great day out with some new friends. 

I'm looking forward to some new adventures out here over the next 6 months, I've even written a 'Barcelona Bucket List' (don't worry I'm not dying) but it's all the stuff I want to do before I leave Spain in June, so watch this space. So, I hope the New Year is treating all of you well and I promise to update you all more often from now on....I hope.

The most wonderful time of the year!

It's been a fair few weeks since I last updated my life in blog world. This isn't because I've been too busy, more because nothing amazingly spectacular has happened. I think the 'honeymoon period' of my year abroad has well and truly ended in that life here is just normal and I go about my daily doings quite happily. However, I don't see this as a bad thing, far from it in fact, but it does mean I have well and truly settled into my life out here in Vic.

This is the market as seen from Jade's balcony

Having said that, these last few weeks have been a delight as ever. The highlight of which has to be the annual Medieval Market that comes to Vic each year, bringing THOUSANDS of people from all over Spain with it. I definitely think this is the best market I have ever been to, and I live a minute away from it! The food was to die for (I didn't cook for 3 days!) and the atmosphere was super and very cultural. Therefore, all my indulgences in food and mulled wine counts as being culturally educated as part of my year abroad. This market took over the city for 4 days and, although going anywhere was a bit of a pain, it was a great to see everyone walking around in medieval attire and hearing some traditional Catalan music. We also caught a mini show-thing one night which was...umm...interesting but entertaining nonetheless. I would like to mention that the highlight of this market was the vessel in which the mulled wine was sold...a horn, which made the wine drinking an experience in itself!

Being only an hour and a half from the beautiful city of Barcelona, I've visited a couple of times to do various things. The Christmasness in Barcelona is fabulous, just like any city in the UK, there are lights everywhere, an ice rink in the centre, and a gorgeous Christmas market complete with Christmas songs in English! It's safe to say that I really love the city as it's great to get lost in tourism as opposed to being one of the few foreigners here in Vic and also the fact that the city is just immense. Recently, I went for the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday and to let our hair down which was a truly fabulous getaway. 

This is me, Maria and Josep enjoying our traditional roast dinner.

Having been invited to dinner a few times to my mentor's house to experience some traditional Catalan stuff, I decided that I would attempt to cook a roast dinner for Maria and her husband Josep with the help of my friend Jade. This masterpiece was complete with proper gravy, stuffing, roast potatoes and an apple pie for pudding (yum). It was, I am pleased to say, a great success and I think (and hope) it went down a treat, even though it did take us 4 hours to cook from start to finish!

I took this picture from my balcony, the clouds are pretty impressive

So Christmas has finally arrived in Vic. The lights have only just been turned even though they've been up for about a month, but they were well worth the wait. The main square has a great big tree and all the streets are lined with lights, one even has a very festive red carpet running down it. However, it's just not the same here and I'm super excited about coming back to the land of tacky Christmas decorations and songs, but more importantly, stuffing my face for 2 weeks with Britain's finest Christmas nosh. 

Lyon and stuff...

Sorry for being a little behind with this blogging malarkey, it's been a bit manic recently but I don't seem to have done anything. The last couple of weeks have been relatively normal to be honest. 

My normal week consists of going to school 4 days a week, going to my Catalan class twice a week, dragging myself to my gym class 3 evenings a weeks, drinking in cafes more often than I should be, having Spanish language exchanges (in yet more cafes) and enjoying fun and games on the weekends. All the rest of the time is filled in with tele watching and a lot of eating (hence the gym).

Having said all this, I have done a couple of things for the first time very recently. I paid my rent which meant trying to find the Estate Agents again which was a bit of a challenge. However, the people were very nice and I was referred to as 'the English girl'- could be worse I suppose. I also decided it was time for a hair cut so I braved the trip to the salon to tidy up the birds nest that was, my hair. I also left my keys at school this week which was a tad dumb. It meant I wasn't able to get into my flat for a good few hours before my keys were returned safely to their rightful owner. Nonetheless, I embraced the situation and went for some delicious Tapas to pass the time.

This weekend, however, was a lot more exciting. It started on Friday evening when I went down to Barcelona for the evening to stay in a hostel for the night, before I had to catch a flight the next day...more on that in a mo. I spent the evening wondering around the city, soaking up the hustle and bustle of my favourite city. I went to the fountains near to Placa Espana called las fuentes de Montjuïc, they're gorgeous and mesmerising to watch. After exploring a bit more of the city, I headed back to the hostel for some tea with some Canadians I had met when I arrived. They were good company but a bit weird- never mind eh? 

Saturday morning started too early for my liking- 6am! My flight to Lyon was at half 8 so I needed to get a move on. The reason for visiting, was to see the love of my life Fran and my beautiful friend Abbi, who are also teaching as part of their year abroad, and as flights were ridiculously cheap, I could hardly resist. 

The first day was spent wondering around Lyon and generally catching up. Although, we did find a rather spiffing free zoo in a park which was a nice surprise, good research Abbi! The rest of the day involved walking round in circles in the centre of the city, eating in a restaurant far too posh for us students and travelling back to Fran's house a million miles above sea level. The village I was staying was lush and the scenery was amazing. To be honest it was great to get some genuine fresh air rather than the farmy/pig smell here in Vic. Having said that, there's not a great deal to do there so I'm kinda glad I don't live there. Although, we did find a lovely little crepe place in the village that was extremely French and so we couldn't resist. The rest of my time in the middle of nowhere was spent watching films, cooking and eating traditional French food (pizza and fajitas) and absorbing the wonders of the French countryside. 

The downside to the trip was the fact that I, yet again, had to get up at the unreasonable hour of 6am to get the bus and train back to Lyon for my flight at 8pm. This obviously meant that I had a lot of time to kill so I made the most of this by going to the Fourviere on the big hill, the old town, a couple of cathedrals, some cafés and a shopping centre. After a tram to the airport, the plane back to Barcelona, a bus from the airport to the city centre and a train back home to Vic, I was knackered but was pleased to see my lovely flat and more importantly, my bed. 

So, to sum up, the last couple of weeks have yet again been great and it was great seeing some familiar faces. It's starting to get really cold here in Catalonia and those sparkly lights have been going up which can only mean one thing...CHRISTMAS! I'm very much looking forward to this but I have another month or so of fun and games before heading back to sunny Wales for some Christmas Cheer. 

Zaragoza

Last week, I had a 2 day working week. That was thanks to the Spanish and Catalans and their constant need to celebrate something. 

Anyway, this time it was Castanyada. I'm not really sure what the story behind the whole thing is but the Spanish eat roasted chestnuts and little cake things. My second day of work (Wednesday) which only starts at 11am, was fun and games in the afternoon so I technically only did one day of teaching. This was absolutely fine by me as you can imagine. I didn't let all the free time go to waste though- don't worry.

I was invited to my mentor's house so she could show me what normally goes on at Castanyada. Jade and I went over in the evening bearing nothing but a pumpkin that I carved for Halloween and had a fab evening. We met up with Merce and Tomas (who we already know) and their friends Jan and another woman whose name I can't remember. Jade and I were most impressed by the fact that Jan was an Inuit who could speak 5 languages, play guitar, paint (pretty well), and make amazing Sushi. The night was lush and it felt really family-ish and homelike. 

On Friday morning, Jade, Anna and I went on a little 'holiday' to Zaragoza. We arrived in the city about 5ish and after checking in at the hostel, we went straight to the Palace building, which seems to be the 'image' of Zaragoza. The building is MASSIVE and the area it's in is just lovely. 

We did lots of exciting things over the weekend including visiting an art museum (it was free), going to the future (the futuristic looking buildings of the city), going inside (and up) the palace building, visiting the university, walking around a lush looking park and going to clubs and bars. Arguably the best bit of the trip was the last night when we went to the El Tubo area of the city where all the bars and restaurants are. We had the most incredible Tapas ever and for only 10 euros each. I also had the best xocolata desfeta in a gorgeous place on the main drag through Zaragoza, and it has gone to the top of my list as the best one I've tasted since I've been here.

Once again, had an enjoyable weekend away discovering another part of Spain. I would definitely go back and recommend it to friend. Definitely falling for this travelling malarkey! 

It has turned.

I can't believe how fast time is passing. The saying 'time flies when you're having fun' is certainly applicable here. Nothing amazing has occurred really this week but it's been a great one yet again. As usual, however, it's been a busy one!

I decided that, to avoid boredom and eating to many goodies, I should join the gym, so I did. It's so much fun and the people are fab. The three gym workers are a variety of characters. There's a beautifully built man who sadly doesn't take any of the classes I go to, a 3 foot nothing woman who is a bit lazy but she speaks English to us (as we're few and far between here, when we crop up people like to show off their language, or at least attempt to) and lastly a seven foot Samoan looking guy, Berto. He is hilarious and so enthusiastic but sadly his English stretches to counting to 10, I don't he's the brightest knife in the shed, if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, I've been 3 times this week and hopefully I'll be able to keep that up!

As I'm spending my days speaking English at school and meeting up with other English speakers, I thought it would be a good idea to set up some foreign language exchanges. I met a lovely guy, Eduard, who wants to perfect his English so he can work in Santander in Britain. He's a friend of my friends partner so I met him through them on a night out. I've also met up with Andrea who is the daughter of Maria's friend Merce, who we went to Costa Brava with. She was lovely and we just spoke Spanish the entire time and it turns out I can waffle in Spanish too as she even asked me if I like talking... I met a lovely French lady at my Catalan class and so I thought it would worth it meeting with her to make sure I don't forget how to speak the lingo. Incidentally, she is how I met Eduard as he is friends with her partner, Sergi. It turns out my French still exists but with the odd Spanish word thrown in and that's exactly why I want to practice with her!

Anna, Jade and I decided we would visit somewhere else earlier in the week and so we hopped on the train and visited Ripoll. It's a lovely little town close to the French border in the mountains. I wouldn't say I loved it but it was a very nice place and the scenery is amazing. I know I keep saying that but it truly is!

On Saturday, we visited Barcelona again because I really really needed to buy a coat before the cold really sets in. The cold Gods were obviously watching over me as the queue in Primark was minimalistic and, literally, as soon as we touched back down in Vic, IT WAS FREEZING! And it has been ever since. It almost feels like we had a week of Autumn and then went straight to winter. This doesn't bother me in the slightest anymore as I know have a lovely new coat. Barcelona didn't disappoint, yet again, which made Saturday a great day out and we topped it off by going out on Saturday night for some fun times. Needless to say that Sunday was quite a relaxing day after a pretty busy week.