last of the summer bank holidays

the uk likes to do things just slightly earlier than canada, so this past weekend was the last *long* one of the summer. only problem was it was a little disjointed for me because i had to work on sunday, although i did have friday off.

i spent much of the weekend doing not much, trying to enjoy sporadic sunshine in between rain showers, and catching up with a few peeps. i went to parkgate on sunday afternoon for ice cream and a pint, which was the perfect treat as it was a summer tradition i hadn't actually done this year.

work is still really great and i'm enjoying reading through the copious amounts of files and getting a handle on things. going to see broken social scene tomorrow night for a dose of canadiana...cant wait.

my second coming at nml

the first day at work is usually a quite relaxed one and this day was no different. i did a lot of listening and chatting...drank a lot of tea...but realised that this job is going to make me very happy. looking at all of the events for the next few months doesn't freak me out, it actually excites me! sad, i know, but its nice to be psyched about work.

the other wonderful thing was the fact that with one fax and phone call i had e-mail and access to all of the files i would need, people actually spoke to me and were friendly, my coworkers have the same interests and concerns, and we're already planning a day trip to glasgow to check out some galleries!

this might just be the perfect job. we'll see how it goes once i actually see my office and start delivering some workshops this week. i do love a challenge...

and if you want to check out where i'll be working, one day a week i'll be at the walker and the rest of the time i'll be at the lady lever

drifting place

i have this small obsession with a uk singer songwriter and i'm determined to see him at a gig next month...even if it means taking a day off work.

every once and a while i discover someone musically wondrous and of late its been scott matthews. just some guitarist from the midlands - wolverhampton to be exact - who seems to have a knack for lyrics and a slightly haunting voice. go buy his album *passing stranger* i highly reccomend it.

its been gloomy and grey here these past few days, but i've been trying to be artistically productive and spent much time trawling the internet. last night i went out with chris, sam, val and harriet for a few jars...the first time we'd all seen chris in ages. it was nice to enjoy liverpool before all the students come back into town.

ebay addict & storm lover seeks house

i finally made my first ever ebay purchase. after a succession of portable audio players kicking in the bucket over the past 6 months, i've now purchased a slightly archaic discman that does play mp3s. my own died long ago, but still played when it was sitting level on a table. dipak's ipod did funny ipod things and sam's discman gave up the ghost after a drop in the barcelona hostel and a trip down to london.

we've have a few wonderful thunderstorms here over the past 24 hours making me very happy as that is one of the things i really miss about canadian summers. i think i'll treat myself to a seinfeld marathon and some arts and crafts this afternoon.

i'm continue to educate myself about house purchasing in the uk. one thing to understand is that there is a property television show on during every moment of the day, but last night was how to get yourself on the property ladder. it just kind of freaked me out a little bit because...my god...i might be buying a dwelling in the next few months.

right. off to drink some tea.

the weekend in coventry was alright...it's usual laughs and large amounts of baked goods for the canley crew. i was able to see everyone for a change; i always seem to miss out on someone. discovered a blackberry bush growing wild in the corner of the sainsbury's parking lot so made a crumble after a picking spree with abi and dipak.

i'm now trying to carefully plan the next five days before i go back to work. not sure if going to brighton is going to work out - as much as i want it to - because both chris and val have other things going on so may not be able to come. now that sofian lives up in darlington, it'll be harder for me to hitch a ride and can't afford to foot the hotel room bill on my own.

but...it might be a good thing. it doesn't feel like i've been *home* for ages and i have to run arrands like bus passes and food shopping and laundry for work on monday. i think i'm starting to feel a bit weird about it all. really excited, but it feels like i haven't done proper work for ages so it'll probably take it out of me the first week. can't wait to be on a regular schedule again though!

errands to run and bits to do in the next few days and the weather is crap which isn't helping. i wasn't able to see dolly and family in the midlands as they were up for a few days rest before flying back to canada today. too bad, but at least i was able to speak to her without a time difference.

should probably start saving funds for all these autumn excursions and the possible house purchase that might take place sometime before christmas. all very exciting...

one more week

i had a very successful day yesterday and i think it was due to having a uninterrupted night's sleep. godbless my own room. i got a lot of shopping for work clothes done and went to see the new luc besson film at fact.

val and i caught up over dinner at the blackburne arms...the most delectable sweet potato and feta lasasgne, which may become my new favorite meal in town. we were unfortunately accosted by a group of scots out on a stag do, not the most pleasant experience but funny all the same.

i'm off to coventry this morning and for a change get to share my train journey with sam. i think i might be off to brighton next weekend with sof, val and chris...i just need to convince val that we'll be okay camping ;)

more massive photos

and here's the link to davoud's photos from the massive attack gig...they are worth the wait

barcelona in pictures

gaudi's la pedrera

inside the museum of contemporary art...an amazing museum and the building looked exactly like the architect's mock ups. i'm sure of it. although, davoud's pictures would have been nicer ;)

i want *those* legs...a sculpture on the roof of the joan miro gallery

my one and only shot of the sagrada familia. it's one of those buildings that you buy a postcard of. that, and the light was just not working for me.

no water and no bombs

well, i did make it home successfully albeit delayed and to water that is shut off meaning no shower or washing of face. i was pretty lucky to make it back during the window when the uk airport authorities were still allowing hand luggage and, well, flights.

i'll post the photos seperately as that always seems to turn out better...

i can't even do my laundry. ah well, at least sam put some water aside so i can graciously have a cup of tea.

things i´ve learned

in a few ways, this trip has been cursed from the get go and i do remember saying to davoud and nick as they were driving me to the airport that i was really nervous. not about flying or wearing flip flops in the shower or even walking around solo after dark, but i think i now know what the nervousness was brought on by.

there comes a time in everyone´s life when they are *done* with the hostel. not neccesarily the guesthouse or the budget hotel, but the 6-12 people sleeping in a dorm life. i think there is also a time when you tire of doing things on your own whilst travelling. i saw a lot of extremely fascinating contemporary and outrageous art today and no one there to discuss it with. sometimes i´m just not in the mood to talk to strangers.

so i think that´s it for me on the solo travelling front for a while. well, this trip wasn´t supposed to be solo, but that´s just the way it turned out. it´s not that i haven´t enjoyed myself because i have, but if you asked me if i had fun i think i´d have to say no.

i was also remembering a time when it all seemed to difficult and this land across the sea seemed so far away. it all just doesn´t seem as foreign anymore.

i´ve also learned that there is a henderson´s in every city if you look for it - in barcelona it comes in the form of foodball - and that i can now firmly distinguish between canadian and american accents.

feeling sentimental

...but only because i just read the comment from rebecca. i keep getting all these bizarre flashes to my two month trip two years ago and many of them have been from the time we spent in spain together. i´ll never forget the night in madrid that we both couldn´t sleep so we played cards until god knows when in the morning. or the bottle of sparkling wine we shared in san sebastien on the sea wall to commemorate our last night together. it all just makes me smile.

i hiked up the steps - rather than take the escalators, yes, escalators - to the national museum of art today. i realised that i take a completely different approach to museum going these days after working in one so i was quite happy to do the survey as i left. also visited the joan miro foundation, which was not that great. although that probably had something to do with the fact that i´m not a huge miro fan.

i do have a little bit of a rant about people who visit galleries. please *please* stop taking pictures. i know you said that you turned your flash off, but every incidental flash is taking away a bit of colour from the masterpiece in front of you! just go downstairs to the bookshop and buy the freakin´postcard goddammit!

*ahem*

went to the beach again this afternoon, but got rained out eventually with what turned into a great thunderstorm. i like cities after rain like that. the streets were virtually empty as people stayed inside until it was completely finished, a rare treat in this bustling town.

back in barcelona

weird. even the commands on blogger are in spanish!

well, back in barcelona and its actually been hard to believe that its almost been two whole years since i set foot in spain. this is definitely still on of my favourite cities, it just has absolutely everything.

i spent much of today wandering around. i actually used my lonely planet city guide to take myself on the modernista meander around a lot of the architecture in the city...with a quick detour past the sagrada familia. i was really impressed by it the first time i was here, but this time it really did seem like a building being tackled by too many architects trying on their egos for size. still, a masterpiece and the most visited unfinished building in the world.

since the museums weren´t open today, i decided that i was beach bound this afternoon. it was disappointing that i couldn´t go swimming since i had no one to watch my precious belongings, but i still managed to stay their for four hours. and yes, i was wearing my sunscreen. and no, i did not get burnt.

i have to head out now and find some food as i´m absolutely famished. this is the part i hate about travelling on my own...table for one, please.

a little shocked

i'd had this thought a few months ago that it might be nice to buy a house or a flat, but i thought there was no way anyone would give me mortage; a year ago they wouldn't even open a proper bank account.

but after receiving my tax return and opening a nice little isa (kind of like a money market or mutual fund) they asked me if i'd ever considered getting a mortage. so back i went to the bank yesterday and was promptly informed by the mortage advisor that yes, indeed i could buy a house and they would lend me the money to do it.

how crazy is that? so now i'm actually seriously considering getting on the property ladder. there is lots for me to think about and take into account, but at least i know its a possibility.

i've just been lazing around the past few days...going out for lunch, seeing movies, watching seinfeld, cleaning, doing yoga...and sometimes remembering to eat. i have trouble with meals when i don't have a routine.

going down to cov tomorrow to stay with davoud and anna before i fly out to barcelona on sunday evening. probably won't get any postings until i get to spain...and if they still have internet in the hostel i promise to post from there.

i'm off to be a culture vulture.

it was massive

i finished work at school on friday and after spending a pleasant evening - with slight celebratory tones - with val and sofian i took the train down to cov on saturday, although i did feel quite weary. got a chance on saturday night to catch up with the canley crew and cook them some canneloni, although i think we'll excuse abi from actually stuffing the pasta next time ;)

on sunday, dipak, davoud, nick and i jumped in a hire car and whisked ourselves - via 3 pubs and one with *very expensive* whisky, so expensive we had to cancel our order - to westonbirt arboretum in gloucester for the massive attack gig. and boy, was it massive. it was probably one of the best gigs i've ever been too. it's actually hard to find words to describe it other than - and i have to give nick credit for this one - dirty bass my brother. the weather was quite pleasant to start off with, but took a bit of a turn when we were waiting for the main act to show...

dipak, davoud and nick taking cover whilst i get the job of taking the photos.

kicked around cov on monday and then came back up to the pool on monday night. i went to see superman returns yesterday, which was actually really good and i was impressed that someone other than christopher reeve could pull it off. it was actually the lois lane that i missed most.



in other news, i got my tax return in the mail this morning. wahay! we'll just see how much of it i actually lose on the conversion. the joys of moving to another country.