Time has suddenly speeded up dramatically and it's nearly time to fly back for Christmas. Barcelona may have been ready for the festivities a good month ago but I'm catching up now with less than a week in Spain to go! Which basically means I've watched Love Actually and am now feeling fully prepared.
We've been cooking up a storm Spanish style, with wine in hand. Our first attempt at paella was deemed a success by an international crowd of Catalan, Argentinian, Panamanian and French guests to the relief of the British chefs. We may have cheated slightly by neglecting my host mum's advice to boil up fish heads to make the fish stock but we were very impressed by 'easy paella stock' and thought it was a lot more practical on a few accounts, not least avoiding needing the fumigate the flat afterwards.
Although we needn't have worried about possible smell issues as it transpired that we wouldn't be sleeping there that night anyway. After a very successsful lunch and afternoon napping watching Christmas films we went out and arrived back at the flat at 6am only to realised we'd locked ourselves out. The flatmates were away for the weekend and we spent all of 6 hours in a hotel five minutes away. No time to use the pool! It was only when we woke up to high winds and driving rain that I remembered the weather warnings out for the weekend. Not the best day for sight-seeing in sparkly leggings from the night out!
Undettered, we are British, we raided a chinese superstore (like a pound shop) for umbrellas and emergency ponchos. Then hopped on the train to the next door seaside town. On a rainy Sunday the village was beyond quiet and the atmosphere was slightly as if it was the end of the world as the wind howled. We were the only ones to get off the train. The pounding waves, grey sea and drizzle transported us back to an English seaside scene and we found a tea stop to match in a nautical themed restaurant. It was at this point we also realised we were running out of cash with no ATM to be seen and didn't have much phone battery to be updated when the flatmates would be back to let us in.
After we had set the world to rights over a warm cup of tea we set off to explore the sleepy town, attracting puzzled looks from the locals who were probably questioning our sanity. It was really picturesque and after wandering around we settled down to watch the surfers on the steps of some very upmarket beach huts. I think families can decamp for the whole summer to these mini houses on stilts to let the waves wash underneath at high tide. Very jealous!
We arrived back in my friend's town to truly apocayliptic conditions. The ponchos went from seeming a bit over the top to essential survival items. We were congratulated slightly sarcastically for being prepared by a man on leaving the station but who's laughing now? We had a dramatic scene receiving a message from the flatmate saying she was at the flat with my last minute of phone battery and set off at high speed. At this point it became evident that the majority of the roads had turned into rivers as the rain stepped up a notch and lightning cracked across the sky. We passed stuck cars as we waded hysterically through the town in our bright yellow plastic concoctions and finally made it to the flat. The weekend had been a rollercoaster ride of emotions but all very entertaining, a sense of humour conquers almost anything!
These conditions continued for a few days, luckily Nana remains imperious in the rain and we spotted an intrepid kayaker battling with the waves.
Then back to the sun, I've treated myself to a one euro coat from a vintage sale and am enjoying the crisp sunshine. Perfect for exploring the Christmas markets in a beautiful setting below the cathedral. The big thing here seems to be to construct your own nativity scene to the last detail, we've seen mini campfires, water features and cabbages. All apparently essential components to reconstructing the birth of baby Jesus!
Life's still a beach for this one:
Also two of my favourite things rolled into one arrived at the house last week, he didn't last long...
