More useless information than you are likely to need

This post is really just an excuse to say "Hola. Cómo estáis?" but I cannot resist passing on a couple of other thoughts.

• The first is that we notice, especially being here out of the holiday season when many people are going about their everyday life, that the Spanish day has a different shape to the English day. The day seems to start about 8.00 in the morning. Although most shops will open later (much later in some cases), if there is a building site that is the time work starts and banks crank into action then too (although that sort of bureacracy is one area where we would say that Spain is not yet quite 21st century). Then there seems to be what we have taken to calling "the eleven o'clock breakfast". This may not be the way they do it in Madrid, but here, you will often see business people adjourning to a local cafe for a cup of coffee, a cake or a tostada so that there is no need to eat lunch till 2.30 or 3.00. Lunch is followed by a siesta-not necessarily a sleep, although in the height of summer we have often seen workmen fast asleep by the side of the road, and coach drivers in the luggage compartments of their coaches. I would say that in our part of the world this rest time is almost sacrosanct. For instance, we have a community person whose job it is to keep our little area looking spick and span and he is often out in the morning with his leaf blower, chasing pine needles up and down the street, but I have never heard him between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock when, even in the height of summer when this area is at its busiest, you could almost hear a pin drop. Then at around 5 o'clock everything starts up again and it's back to the cafe for more coffee and cakes (it's the tourists drinking wine and beer by and large at this time of day) followed by work till about 9 o'clock or, in the case of Sebastian, our gardener, or the dustbin men/women of Chiclana, even later. We said goodnight to Sebastian at 10.15 on Saturday night last week, and the dustbins are emptied everynight at 11.45 pm in our street! You will not be surprised to know that we are finding it very easy to adjust-the mid afternoon rest does make it feel as though you get two days in one. We are going easy on the cakes though (but not that easy!)
• We have had a few days of the "levante"-in fact one day when we have had gusts of up to 40kph. This is the warm wind from the east, blowing from Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar. It is considered the optimum wind for windsurfing, if that is your thing, as opposed to the "poniente" (helpful conversation with Sebastian about this the other day) which is colder and comes from the west.

See, (if you got this far), I told you this was useless information.

"Hasta luego, chicos"

Una idea horrible

Someone rang Mike today and, in Spanish, offered him a job in telemarketing. Short shrift was given.

Must get back to enjoying ourselves.

We have a 'parabólica'

Nothing to be alarmed about-although it does sound like something that you might pick up in the swimming baths if you don't wear flip-flops.

It's actually, as you can see from these photographs, a satellite dish which enables us to pick up English language Channels on our TV and it sits in the corner of the garden looking up at the sun ( it had to be so positioned to avoid the pine trees) in a hopeful kind of way.

Mike is looking forward to a summer full of cricket and we are back on track with the West Wing. Incidentally, we caught part of a West Wing Episode on Spanish TV last night. It was dubbed of course. I think there must be a very small group of actors who specialise in dubbing in Spain because everything sounds the same. Spanish Josh had a really deep voice which I am sure I have heard before coming out of Tom Hanks' mouth, but actually would pretty much suit a Spanish Cary Grant. Anyway it is not Josh, who, as you all know, is squeaky and unsophisticated. I hope the parabolica doesn't signal that we are settling into a life of expat indolence. Must rush out and speak some Spanish!

Have a nice week or, if you must, se disfruta la semana que viene

To Spain the Slow Way

As threatened, here is an account of our 5 day trip from the centre of Birmingham to our house in Spain. You are likely to lose the will to live by the time you get to Day 2 but it makes a good record for us!

Saturday 29th April Said goodbye to the apartment. It's looked a little bare and impersonal over the last couple of weeks since we packed up and moved out our personal stuff so it was less hard to do than we anticipated. Then by train to London to stay the night with Esther. Struggled with the cases at Euston as, helpfully, the escalator wasn't working-this was one point where we began to wonder if the journey by train was such a good idea. However, we were revived by dinner at Moroccan restaurant with Esther in Clapham.

Sunday 30th April A drizzly start to our last morning in England for a while. Esther was on her way to Brighton and drove us to Heathrow and we then wrestled with the 'automatic check-in' machines to get our boarding cards and then check our bags. Presumably the long term aim of the machines is to reduce checked-in baggage and staff levels, though at the moment since having checked in you then have to queue with your baggage once you have your automatically produced baording card it's a bit of a pain. Successful visit to Fat Face for Tricia (he means I spent a lot of money. T.) then brunch at Giraffe. Excellent veggie burger for T and scrambled eggs for M. There is something exciting about an airport meal when the baggage is checked in. It always feels like the start of the holiday.Flight OK. Landed on time then 150 minutes to get to our hotel because of baggage delays and transport to the centre of the city. This was the other time when we began to wonder about the journey. NB. Always travel by Eurostar from London to Paris in future!

Hotel comfortable. Across the road from Austerlitz station (Calling it the Libertel Austerlitz gave us a bit of a clue on this one) from where we would take the overnight train to Barcelona on Tuesday evening. After a reviving cup of coffee next door we made our first to the station to check out the train and station facilities. (I want you to know that this was Mike's idea.T)Walk through the nearby Jardin de Plantes then walk to Institute du Monde Arabe, which is a fabulous building, of which more later, and back along the river. Earlyish dinner then walk to the mosque which, amazingly, has a café and restaurant. T makes reservation for following night.

Monday 1st May Public holiday in France so quiet. Lots of impromptu stalls selling Lilies of the Valley (Mayflowers). T spots and buys an orange scarf to replace a previous one that she had given away in an unusual fit of generosity. We were entertained as we wondered through Paris in a light drizzle by a French version of the Manchester 'Cow Parade' with excellent flamenco dancer . See photo which was taken later when the sun came out. The little boys are looking up the cows skirt, an activity which is causing them much amusement. Phone call from Greg with news of the 'Don Angels' (alive and well and enjoying retirement in La Barrosa). Lunch at Little Italy Trattoria on Rue Rambuteau. We were packed in like sardines, so perhaps not the place for a romantic lunch, but the food was great and we were rather cold by this stage, despite the orange scarf.Fabulous buffalo mozzarella and ravioli. Afternoon stroll then boat trip on the Seine. Back to hotel for siesta then further visit to train station to soak up more 'atmosphere' (this sounds really sad!). Now only 25 hours until we get on the train. Disappointed to find out that there is no First Class lounge at the station. Watch Spanish family who seem to have brought back most of the souvenirs sold at Euro Disney - lots of guns and cutlasses. Dinner at mosque. Excellent vegetable cous-cous, although, of course, no alchohol. Walk back to hotel along the banks of the Seine. Pleasure boats at night look amazing.

Tuesday 2nd May Clear blue sky. Paris bustling as this is a normal work day. Deposit cases in Left Luggage then walk to mosque. Tour, photos then coffee/mint tea and very gooey cake. Walk to Rue Mouffetard. Little shops/cafes and wonderful vegetable stalls. The Common Agricultural Policy is alive and well!










Then on to the Institute du Monde Arabe. Great building by the architect Jean Nouvel. As is typical of Arabic buildings the main facade is facing into a courtyard, so the view from the Seine is of a large but rather nondescript glass building that could be an office block. The windows facing into the inner courtyard are covered in metal blinds which replicate Arab designs. I think they are meant to have some practical function to do with regularising the amount of light, but, whatever, they are very beautiful and the sunlight through them makes patterns on the walls and floors of the interior. Limited collection of art, including rugs, as it is mainly a library and research centre, as well as a venue for conferences, film shows, concerts and seminars but interesting. Great views of Paris from roof. Pity T got in the way.

Back to Rue M for lunch. Pizza place - 3 courses, glass of wine and full body massage for 8.50 Euros. Excellent value (but the bit about the massage was wishful thinking!). Walk to Luxembourg Gardens then to Mariages Freres for Ceylonese tea (Kenilworth) and cake (served by young men in white linen suits. I have been going to this place for years and never been served by anyone female or over 25, so I wonder about their take on sex discrimination and also what they do with the staff once they get too old. T). Back for final stroll through Jardin de Plantes before catching Barcelona train at 20.30.

Actually, we were on board and in the restaurant car by 20.00, not wanting to miss a thing! We had decided to go Grande Classe which gave us a double cabin with loo and shower, dinner and breakfast. Everything was compact but we managed. Welcome drink and pleasant meal as we speed through the suburbs of Paris and beyond. Orleans only stop in France. Night cap in buffet bar before retiring to bed. Bunk beds made up while we were dining. M takes the top bunk. T slept ok but M not at all - probably a mixture of the novelty of the experience, the noise and the fact that the track was not the smoothest. (He just got himself over-excited.T)

Wednesday 3rd May Breakfast at 7am as train travels through Spain. Arrive at Barcelona Franca station on time at 08.26. Taxi to Barcelona Sants station to leave our luggage for that nights train to Cádiz. Walk up Montjuc to Fundación Joan Miró. This is the definitive Joan Miro collection and is superb. It includes three tryptychs which are huge and where the influence of the Abstract Expressionists is very evident. M loved mercury fountain although not by Miró! Fenicular railway down to Parallel then walk to Barcelonetta for lunch at Cal Pinxos. Good fish (a la sal), paella and service. T sees Eva (from Indonesia) who we met at Don Quijote in Seville before Christmas and speeds off after her so we are able to chat and catch up on some of the news about the other people we knew there. Small world isn' t it?

Metro to Camp Nou for a tour of the ground. Quite old and more compact than expected. Spectators closer to the pitch than at Man City (one can never got too far away from the pitch when watching City!). Back to Barcelona Sants hotel for a massage for M. Wonderful. Then Casa Mila (Gaudí) for Malevich exhibition. Loads of paintings on loan from the Russian Museum in St Petersburg, which explains why there were so few in St Petersbug. A truely great and important artist whose contribution, like that of other Russian artists of the time has yet to be written into art history in any serious way. Quick look inside at the building but must take proper tour next time. Both shattered by now so back to station and spend a couple of hours in the First Class lounge. What a great place and so welcome. Board train 20 minutes before departure (22.30). T goes straight to restaurant car to get good table (ie one going to Cádiz!). No views this time as it is dark but meal good. This time we both sleep very well. NB. If we do this journey again we should spend more time in Barcelona.

Thursday 4th May Awake refreshed as train pulls in to Córdoba. Last in to breakfast at 08.00. Breakfast as train travels through Seville. Arrive San Fernando on time at 10.13 and get taxi to house in La Barrosa, where we nervously open the gate and it is all still there just as we remembered it.


Nearly 5 days of travelling, 3 solid days of sight-seeing, some excellent food, great trains, loads of memories. Life in La Barrosa starts here.....................

worth waiting for

Have had some difficulty for unknown reasons in getting this photo (taken by Naomi) onto the blog. Now my technical advisers have helped out-thanks Naomi/Martin-and here it is. What a team effort it's all been!

This is now

Just a selection of the flowers in our garden in Spain at the moment. In the next post we will tell you how we got from there to here.

That was then

We had a lovely week in the UK before heading south. We ate lunch in the sun with Naomi and Martin in Brighton and watched Esther run the marathon in London drizzle (followed by a meal by the fire at the Ebury-three other Marathon groups in there but our runner was the fastest and the prettiest!) Alastair, Cathy, Eleanor and Rosalind came to see us on Sunday and Sara on Tuesday. We rounded the week of with dinner at the Bucklemaker with Ann. We hope to see you all in Spain very soon.

Photograph courtesy of Naomi.