Travels to Barcelona

Hola! I am trying my hardest to get back into the swing of writing my regular Sunday Blog but my diary has been super full. After landing back in England on Saturday night and taking a well deserved Siesta, I am writing about my Barcelona adventures a few days late. I am also in the middle of testing some yummy recipes that I will be sharing on my regular Sunday Blog this coming weekend!

Sooooo after a whirlwind start to my new job it was already time to say goodbye for the Summer holidays and hello to Barcelona :)

Photo by RSB

Travelling on the cheap

I have always taken a humongous suitcase on holiday with me. Expertly packed by my Mum of course. We even take a cool-box full of food with us... just in case they don't know what food is abroad y'know ;) To cut down our costs we decided to travel with only hand luggage and I had my first ever stay in a hostel. I was really worried about fitting things in my tiny backpack but I found that it was actually better because you only take what you need, you don't have any heavy bags and you get to cut loads of queues! The hostel was also good for a city break as everything is on your doorstep anyway. We stayed right next to the Plaça de Catalunya which meant we could go out to eat, jump on the metro and have a wander around the shops near the square. I enjoyed my light-travelling experience but I don't think I've been fully converted from my Villa and suitcase ways just yet. 

Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi is a Catalan Architect and lots of his work is dotted around the city of Barcelona. It's really strange but unique, creative and beautiful at the same time. You will be walking along for ages looking at your average pretty apartment blocks and suddenly come accross a Gaudi masterpiece. His largest piece, the Sagrada Familia, is still being worked on today. The Gothic style church is meant to be harmonious with nature, with forest style architecture on the inside. It is a project that started in 1915 but isn't expected to be completed until 2027! It will be a good excuse to go back when it is all finished. 

Beautiful Places

Barcelona has so many hidden gems, you can find beauty in the most unpredictable places. Some of the side streets and little bars were just as pretty as the main tourist attractions. You don't have to be big on your Gaudi to enjoy the beauty of Barcelona. 

Photo by RSB

Yummy Food

I have got a serious tapas belly going on right now, which is not good when I am jetting off to Spain AGAIN in just a week. I definitely love tapas; you don't have to decide on one meal, you can eat as much as you like and there is so much choice! Patatas bravas por favor!! I was also loving the fruit pots that were sold in lots of places. It was a refreshing and healthier alternative to ice cream :) They even had fruit pot stalls on bikes, awesome idea! 

I hope you are all having a fantastic Summer so far as well! I'm sure this is only the start of many more adventures for me :)

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Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

Well hello! It feels really strange being sat on my sofa, in my new apartment, writing a blog. I have been absent from the blogosphere for what feels like months and months. I love writing my Sunday blog post and usually have it done way in advance but I have been SO BUSY its unreal. Talking to Sam last week I realised that a month ago I had just finished all my Uni work and didn't have a clue what life had in store for me but now I have a job, a fancy new home, fab housemates, a car and even nabbed myself a boyfriend. If that doesn't take up all my usual blogging time then I don't know what would!

Lets start with the fancy new apartment. As you all know I'd been on the hunt for a new home with Tom and Amy so that we could be a household of totally profesh young teachers. I've given you a few sneaky peaks of the new place but now we are all moved in and settled! Of course there are still a few bits that need sorting but we are all very happy with it.

Moving in was really tough, you forget how much stuff you have accumulated at Uni and you definitely DON'T want to carry it all up three flights of stairs in this rare Summer heat! After sweating profusely, making friends with builders and meeting our crazy land lady, we finally put on our pj's and set up camp in our totally bare living room. Who needs a sofa and chairs when you have blankets and a box?!

The first days are a blur of furniture deliveries and putting flat packed furniture together. I found out that I am quite a dab-hand at DIY thanks to playing with mechano as a kid. Tom would disagree though! Even though Tom has done nothing but talk about tools, I am really grateful for him putting together a lot of our stuff and being a proper man of the house. I must admit though, the proudest moment of moving has definitely got to be me and Amy vs the sofa!!! Two 'burly' delivery men bought the sofa up one flight of stairs and decided it was too difficult to get it into our apartment so LEFT IT in the hallway. Thanks guys. We definitely need some form of medal for our DIY goddess achievements... we managed to de-box the sofa, push it upstairs, twist it round corners and drill the feet on in less than an hour! No pivoting required.

 I'm sure you are all dying to see some of the finished rooms now :) a few friends have already been to visit and have the tour, and we have a few more visits lined up for over the summer. For those of you that are a little too far away from Harrogate, looky here...

Dining Room/Kitchen.

 Kitchen Area.

Living Room.

Which also has an amazing view of the sunset...

My Room.

As well as moving into my new place, I have started working at school too. It feels so good to be teaching and actually getting paid for it!! It's so different to being a student teacher, there is much more freedom and I feel like a really valued member of staff :) I've loved getting to know the school, staff and children ready for September. In between all the moving mayhem and teaching I have also, somehow made time to meet a nice guy and convince him that I am not  a total loony. He is an outdoorsy, go with the flow, slightly geeky, food loving type and we do get on quite well :) We have spent lots of time out walking and eating haha! We are off to Barcelona on Wednesday for a few days, which does unfortunately mean I won't be blogging on time AGAIN next week, but I am really looking forward to it. 

As well as having people come to visit us and jetting off to Spanish cities, I do want to spend time visiting some of my Uni friends. I have a car now and will soon be getting paid for teaching so there is no excuse!! Me and Tom spent Friday night and Saturday visiting Emma in Cambridge for an early 21st Birthday celebration. It was really nice to see her and to finally experience Cambridge!!

We went out for a few drinks in Ely on Friday but after a long day of teaching and travelling, we had to admit defeat. Then on Saturday we had a walk around the shops in Cambridge and went on a punt tour. Our guide was really good and I learnt loads about all the different colleges and historical events. We even witnessed a proposal! It was honestly sooooo cute :) This guy was climbing up the side of one of the bridges and we were all thinking, what is this idiot up to? He got to the top, put on a fancy jacket, then jumped back into the punt on the other side to rejoin his girlfriend. Somebody then dropped a picnic basket and a box down into the punt and he proposed right there in front of everybody!! Luckily she said yes!

 We then went for lunch in The Eagle (which is where the discovery of DNA was announced!) before having one last walk around the shops and going back to Emma's for a BBQ. Thanks very much to the Galleys for having us!

So, I hope I have made up for my lack of posts with this Marathon post!! I'm sure there will be plenty to tell you about my Summer travels in the future :)