Barcelona, May 2013

I had always wanted to visit Spain, and in particular Barcelona.

Maybe it was watching L'auberge espagnole, or having learnt Spanish at university, and never having had the chance to practice it in a local setting, or then again perhaps it was the promise of delicious tapas, wine, and sunshine. Or, most likely, all of the above.

So we were delighted to spend around a week in this beautiful city. We were fortunate to have an old school friend who we could stay with, and we made the most of her enormous balcony and its plentiful sunshine, and her local knowledge and tips.

Barcelona is a city which lives outdoors. Many people live in apartments, meaning that people come out to squares, parks, and the streets for lunch, or evening strolls. This makes for a friendly, sociable atmosphere. We enjoyed people watching over a beer or a coffee.

Parc Guell was great. The Gaudi buildings and amazing views over the city were fantastic. It gets really busy though, so we tried to escape the throngs, and found some lovely quieter paths, managing to get entirely lost.

We also enjoyed winding our ways down the streets and alleyways of Barri Gòtic, with its amazing medieval architecture, and boutique shops. It was nice to relax on the beach, and we also sought out a few more Gaudi buildings scattered around the city.

One must-see sight is of course La sagrada familia. The outside is really amazing, with its sheer immensity and the different designs on each facade. The two hour queue wasn't particularly appealing though and we chose instead to move along - I do regret that decision, but then I'm sure we'll be back to Barcelona before too long.

The food in Barcelona is just great as well. Staying in a less touristy area, we were able to visit local shops and supermarkets and make the most the amazing produce and wine, buying delicious bottles of red (Spanish, claro) for a few euros.

A delicious restaurant we tried in the Gracia suburb cooked up some stunning dishes (if a little pricey), including clams cooked in white wine, prawn with lobster cannelloni, salmon with sake and mango.

Although chocker blocker full of tourists, we also enjoyed the La Boqueria market and enjoyed cava, and delicious chickpea dish, and more.

We took a day trip out to Sitges, a small village on the coast, where we wandered through the quaint alleys, enjoyed ice cream and some delicious pintxos and beer, and relaxed by the sea.

We also saw some random signs around Barcelona. I'm at a complete loss to explain the second one.

Straford-upon-Avon, April 2013: Shakespeare and sprinting

In April, we spent a weekend in charming Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. We wandered around the cute wee city centre with its distinctive architecture, had some fish and chips, and even saw Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

The main reason for our visit however was for me to participate in the Shakespeare half marathon. It was a great race. In comparison to the other half I had done, where around only 20 people took part, and I managed to get lost, this race seemed huge, and very well organised. 

The day of the race, Kylie made the most of the traditional full English breakfast served up at our bed and breakfast, while I managed my specifically requested peanut butter toast.

Kylie waited to cheer me on during our first lap of the village centre, and even managed to snap a pic (already a success compared to the Hutt Valley half). After that we headed out into the countryside, passing through small settlements before arriving back into Stratford itself.

Anxious before the start

Feeling pretty fresh at this stage of the race 

It was a great atmosphere, with lots of supporters, including families and small children cheering everyone on, and a few unusual outfits, either for charity or for what seemed to be no reason at all. I'm not much of a speed freak, but was glad to improve on my previous time by around 15 minutes.

After the race, we enjoyed a well deserved pub lunch before heading back to London.

London Winter, Christmas & New Years 2012/13

Backtracking a bit, as we’re coming into winter this year, I realise we never blogged about last winter, Christmas, and New Years.

I have to say we were a little apprehensive about UK winter. I found however that it wasn’t so much the brutality of the winter, but rather the duration – it just seemed to keep on going! I think we even had snow in May. To be fair though, it was apparently an unusually long winter. Meanwhile, back in NZ, friends and family were basking in the warmest summer in 40 years, and cruelly sending pictures of sunny beaches our way.

That said, it was fun to have actual snow, and a real Christmas-y feel. Erika, Kylie and I went ice skating at Somerset House as well. It was beautiful, with lots of cool lighting, the beautiful old building behind, mulled wine and chocolate brownies to warm us up, and a ginormous Christmas tree. My second ice skating experience ever, and I even managed to stay upright, but only just!

Before Christmas, we got together as a group to have our own Christmas celebration and secret santa exchange.

Unlike most of London, we didn’t leave the city for Christmas or New Years. We spent an incredibly relaxed Christmas with French and Norwegian friends and Emeline and Håvard. We made Norweigan gingerbread biscuits, named ‘Pepperkaker' - they were a little darker than the British-style gingerbread, and had a kind of peppering taste - which we then iced - which then iced; we went for a walk around the neighbourhood; and we ate copious amounts of delicious food. 

For New Years, we got together as a group and went to a local bar, where we had quite a bit of wine and danced into the wee hours.

In January, we were treated to a proper snow. It was great fun to us newbies to start with. We went to the local park, and used some real estate signs lying about as toboggans to slide down the hill, much to the amusement of the families. We made a snowman out the back of our flat, had numerous snowball fights, and went exploring in the local cemetery, which had turned into a veritable winter wonderland. After a while though, I got a little fed up of struggling not to fall over on my way to and from the station, and trying to stay warm in our chilly flat.

Amsterdam February 2013

In early February, we arrived into a frosty Amsterdam for a few days of sightseeing. We enjoyed wandering or biking along the canals, stopping off at a cafes or coffee shops to warm up. I always find the Dutch architecture interesting to look at, with their unique step-like facades, and incredibly skinny buildings.

This was Kylie’s first taste of the Netherlands, and taste we did, enjoying cheese, ham, bread, and stroopwafels (round thin wafer-type waffles filled with syrup, particularly delectable when rested on the top of a hot drink so that the syrup starts to become gooey). A local delicacy which we enjoyed less was pickled herring on bread.

 

At times we found it a little hard to find some tasty and authentic restaurants, as the centre of the city seemed to be dominated by tourist-trap type restaurants, including, oddly, a number of Argentinean steakhouse restaurants.

Our hotel was near to the Vondelpark, a lovely park full of people walking, jogging, and of course, biking. One day we took a picnic of ham, cheese and bread there but sitting still chilled us through and we headed straight for a coffee in the nearby café.

The Van Gogh museum was being renovated at the time, but we enjoyed visiting the Rijksmuseum with impressive works by famous Dutch artists Vermeer, Rembrandt, as well as some Van Gogh.

On our last day we trekked across town in the snow on our bicycles to a great little market, on the hunt for delicious goodies to take back to the flatmates. My toes felt like they were about to freeze and drop off however, so we didn’t hang around long!