tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119437652022-04-07T05:56:08.301+02:00My camera died, so no pictures for a while.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1127381761204160122005-09-22T11:23:00.000+02:002005-09-22T11:36:01.210+02:00

My time is up. My room is clear, the floor is swept and mopped. I'm sitting here waiting for 2.00pm and my bus to the airport.I've had a good time here, met some great people, seen some nice places and eaten loads of good food. Living in another country has been much easier than I expected, and I hope to be back more permanently at some point. Hopefully not too far away. It's been cleansing to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1125565013859194752005-08-26T10:56:00.000+02:002006-01-06T19:51:25.953+01:00

Blank photo for blogOriginally uploaded by stvcr. Another long car journey, but totally worth it. We hit the misty coast, very like Cornwall or Ireland, and visited a monastery on an island, linked to the cliffs with a narrow footbridge. Very atmospheric and windswept. There was a bell for us pilgrims to ring, and 12 iron crosses on the way up. Lots of photos in Ainhoa's camera.Off to a small

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1125565209201590672005-08-24T11:00:00.000+02:002005-09-17T10:56:05.263+02:00

Blank photo for blog Originally uploaded by stvcr. A shorter day trip out into the vineyards around Vitoria. The countryside was much more like Valencia, very hot and dry. We were going to a small hilltop town called Laguardia, which was very touristy but very pretty as well. Lunch was where the action was at. We'd booked a table in another town, and it was one of those shed like restaurants

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1125565083157899242005-08-23T10:58:00.000+02:002005-09-17T10:57:23.606+02:00

Blank photo for blog Originally uploaded by stvcr. On Tuesday, the others were in town and we took off in the car for a small town near Donostia called Hondarribia. This lies right on the French border and seems to blur into the town on the French side. Very pretty and it was a sunny day. Ate some good calamares and bar hopped a bit. It did have a French feel to it, but that may have just

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1125315062165759992005-08-20T13:29:00.000+02:002005-09-17T10:58:05.613+02:00

Rainbow cloud 3Originally uploaded by stvcr.Back from a week of sightseeing in the Basque country. I had a kind offer of a room to stay in at Begoña's place in Vitoria (Gasteiz), so it was all very civilized and it avoided overcrowding Aihnoa's sister's flat, where the other three would be staying. I arrived Saturday and went straight from Bilbao (Bilbo) to San Sebastian (Donostia) for the day

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1124378711281974002005-08-18T17:21:00.000+02:002005-08-18T17:25:11.286+02:00

I'm off to el Pais Vasco again this Saturday. Will have a day in San Sebastian (Donostia), and then will be meeting the others in Vitoria for a week of fun. Sould be seeing some other places in the area and go out in Bilbao one night.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1123775579394322722005-08-11T17:52:00.000+02:002005-08-12T15:38:49.680+02:00

Rainbow cloud 3 Originally uploaded by stvcr. Some of my sub-reasons for coming here seem to be bearing fruit as well. I have not missed a single TV prog from England, not even Newsnight. So giving up completely should be relatively easy. My cultural vacuum seems ready to be filled with fresh content and I'm looking forward to watching a load of films and reading a lot. Even though I've had

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122843973631360572005-07-31T23:06:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:11:35.250+02:00

Me Originally uploaded by stvcr. Aihnoa, Teresa and new people Marie-José (from Murcia) and Mercedes (from east Dulwich), were all in town to get together. They all know each other from London. Not much late night stuff, but spent Saturday at Vicente's parent's house in the country, complete with pool and cool breezes. Had a nice paella and lazed the day away. Their dog is huge, but friendly.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122843897050715822005-07-31T23:03:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:04:57.056+02:00

I've just uploaded all the photos from Aihnoa's camera, so there are around 100 new pics on Flickr. What are you waiting for?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122552836452910142005-07-28T14:12:00.000+02:002005-07-28T14:13:56.463+02:00

Right click on title to save mp3 of street singing and music in my street. This was recorded in June sometime, but I've only just got around to uploading it.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122408377234189952005-07-26T22:00:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:20:32.726+02:00

MeOriginally uploaded by stvcr. My bus for Bilbao was leaving at 1.45, so we met up in town with everyone for the actual fiesta day. Lots of traditional costumes, even Diego had his (only 10 weeks old!). Groups of drunk men marched around town followed by brass bands, and people sold big strings of garlic on the street. No idea what the point was, but all good fun. It was roasting hot as well.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122407915989717682005-07-26T21:37:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:23:19.226+02:00

MeOriginally uploaded by stvcr. A walk followed by a beer in the shade. Then more big lunch, but with just Aihnoa and Teresa. After lunch, Begoña picked us up and we drove out of town to a reservoir, and lay looking at the lake and a nice church. I tried to get a snooze in, as it was the big night out coming up, but it was hard ground and I couldn't manage it. I do find that after straining my

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122406615457999652005-07-26T21:28:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:26:48.123+02:00

MeOriginally uploaded by stvcr. I've finally worked out, after 20 years, that if I drink too much I won't enjoy the next day. As we were drinking short drinks the night before, I probably had the equivalent of 3 pints. Not bad for 6 hours drinking. And I had lots of fun and didn't feel too bad. Just lack of sleep. Lunch for 10 at the family home was a riot, and left me stuffed after 6 courses

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1122385393873829762005-07-26T15:21:00.000+02:002005-07-31T23:28:45.920+02:00

Finally arrived at 10.30 and Ainhoa's brother, Pedro, picked me up and took me to the house of Ainhoa's sister, Ana, her husband, Felix and their new baby, Diego. He is so cute. And in the two weeks since I'd last seen him, he'd put on loads of weight. Met Theresa (living in London), and had some food. Went out at midnight to meet Aihnoa and friends in town, and the bar crawl started. In Valencia

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1121948134807942002005-07-21T14:15:00.000+02:002005-07-26T15:21:09.463+02:00

guggenheim Originally uploaded by stvcr. Day one of four in the north of Spain. I was meeting friends in Vitoria for friday night drinking (Blanca's birthday), but the daily flight from Valencia to Bilbao arrived at 10am, so I had the whole day to see the city. Number 1 on the list of things to do is the Guggenheim museum. The city was an industrial town, but now they're trying to promote it

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1121939841776115332005-07-21T11:49:00.000+02:002005-07-21T12:07:51.626+02:00

Spain is the noisiest country in Europe. That is an official fact. And my street is the noisiest street in Spain. I have this unlucky habit of moving into places, one week before they start digging up the road. They've been digging my road for three months now, and currently I have four sets of workmen doing their thing from early in the morning. One of these is a demolition job on a building.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1121688210259848372005-07-18T13:35:00.000+02:002005-07-18T23:13:57.816+02:00

I spent last weekend in Barcelona with Aihnoa. She kindly offered to put me up at her flat, so I could spend a couple of days there. I knew I couldn't fit a lot of tourist stuff in, so decided to just visit the Picasso museum and have a general look around. Her flat was within walking distance, so we had a wander round, looking at a few Gaudí buildings and me taking phone cam pictures in the hope

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1121432511897830112005-07-15T14:43:00.000+02:002005-07-15T15:01:51.903+02:00

I've noticed that a lot of the material that I'm using to learn the language, has various examples that are quite politically charged in content.For example:"Bases nucleares, No!""Nevertheless, the most important thing is that a process is being initiated to eliminate the debt burden""The IMF has exceeded its powers""If one could at least cut back on the cocaine smuggling, a lot of deaths would

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1121087981836039162005-07-11T15:12:00.000+02:002005-08-12T13:08:19.603+02:00

guggenheim Originally uploaded by stvcr. I was a bit wary of going to this festival in Pamplona. A long journey there and back, no sleep overnight. Could I stand the pace? Well, I bought my ticket to fly last week, so I was in. Flew to Bilbao at 8.30am Saturday. Then caught the bus to Vitoria to meet my friend Ainhoa and her friend Jared from New Zealand, plus her brother Pedro. They gave me

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1120581517325590422005-07-05T18:38:00.000+02:002005-07-11T15:20:37.966+02:00

Valencia 131Originally uploaded by Karen P_. This is a paella (I didn't need to tell you that). On Sunday Vicente picked us all up and took us out of town down to a big restaurant for Sunday lunch. As soon as we sat down, all the noise plus hangover nearly caused me to pass out, but food cured me. Two fat paellas. One normal and one with squid, and black from the ink. After the meal, he

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1120581694671770442005-07-04T18:41:00.000+02:002005-07-11T14:49:00.296+02:00

Got a light?Originally uploaded by Karen P_. Karen & Tom arrived Friday for a 3 day visit. It's over a week ago now, so my account may get a little confused. A few drinks in the Plaza next to the Cathedral started us off, and we met a strange young student who asked us for a light and then started chatting and then joined us for drinks. We had a table booked in another part of town, so had to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1119896093022853592005-06-27T20:14:00.000+02:002005-06-27T20:31:27.743+02:00

Oliva Originally uploaded by stvcr. This is the view from the roof of John's house. He and James were in Oliva for 4 days, and I popped down for a couple of nights to join them. I expected more St Juan celebrations but they had all happened on Thursday (when I was jumping in the sea at Valencia). Instead, we went out to eat paella and sink a few drinks. Met up with Vicente as well and he

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1119692779858532562005-06-25T11:44:00.000+02:002005-06-25T12:19:55.446+02:00

Spent Thursday night on the beach, along with the rest of Valencia, for the festival of St. Juan. This involved homemade bonfires, booze, jumping over 7 waves at midnight and swimming in the sea. The people I was with were from the north, so the beach was as much fun for them as it was for me. To bed at 4 and up again early to meet the others and go to a beach down the coast at El Saler. This was

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1119431476328528492005-06-22T11:10:00.000+02:002005-06-22T11:11:16.333+02:00

I had more visitors last weekend. Hayley from work and her boyfriend Matt came for 3 days. Some drinking, but mainly lots of eating. Found a great place for posh tapas. Pricey but worth it. They stayed in a nice hotel in the centre with lots of America's Cup corporate liggers (complete with matching caps and rucksacks). We did lots of walking around, and spent the Sunday on the beach. All good. I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11943765.post-1117976846905423112005-06-21T19:07:00.000+02:002005-06-21T19:32:16.953+02:00

PICT0348Originally uploaded by stvcr. Lots of people with broken arms or on crutches. Due to the crazy driving I guess.When they double park, they leave the handbrake off, so that the person blocked in can just roll the car out of the way if necessary.The bin men (who come at 2am!) will take away anything. Anything. Beds, sofas.....The adverts are so long, I forget what I´m watching.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1