Fri - September 15, 2006
Relocation!
I've moved! Well, not so much me, but this blog.
I've taken the opportunity yesterday to teach myself how to use WordPress and have transported this blog to here. With WordPress, I have more control over the design of the blog, and that makes me very happy.
I'll keep this blog here. It would be far too much work for me to move over all 3 years' of entries over to WordPress - iBlog doesn't have an export function! Argh!
I've taken the opportunity yesterday to teach myself how to use WordPress and have transported this blog to here. With WordPress, I have more control over the design of the blog, and that makes me very happy.
I'll keep this blog here. It would be far too much work for me to move over all 3 years' of entries over to WordPress - iBlog doesn't have an export function! Argh!
Posted at 09:52 AM
Thu - September 14, 2006
American thoughts
This is all over the internet already. But I
couldn't help posting a link to it here as well. Keith
Olbermann on 9/11.
Why do Americans seem to think it's more serious for a president to lie about his sexual indiscretions that for their president to lie about something far more serious?
Inaction is louder than words, Mr Bush.
Why do Americans seem to think it's more serious for a president to lie about his sexual indiscretions that for their president to lie about something far more serious?
Inaction is louder than words, Mr Bush.
Posted at 08:21 AM
Mon - September 11, 2006
High Rockabilly and low maintenance
This past saturday, Steve and I drove down to
Calafell to go to High Rockabilly for the first time. We'd heard
of the event, but being crap, completely forgot about it until Steve's old
flatmate from London rang us up to let us know he was going to be there. We
didn't need any other excuse and I started to look for a hotel to stay for the
night immediately. It wasn't actually that easy. Booking.com, who I
normally book through as their prices tend to be the best, only showed 2 oe 3
available hotels in Calafell. As it's primarily a beach resort (south of
Barcelona), most of the hotels I could find would have a minimum booking of at
least 2 nights, if not an entire week.
I eventually found Casa Antiga in the old town of Calafell. What a find!! This place is awesome - easily the best hotel we've stayed in along the coast of Spain. We panic'd a bit, because googlemaps pointed us in the direction of Segur de Calafell which is one of the (pretty ugly) 'new town' bits of Calafell. When we got there, I pointed out it couldn't possibly be right, as all the places there looked like they were built sometime from the 60s.. and eventually we kept driving and found the old poble. Thank goodness!
The Casa Antiga is right across from the Ajuntament (town hall) and just below a pretty cool castle. (We love castles - and hiked up there on the sunday morning before heading home.) There's some Iberian ruins in the area as well, and we'll probably explore those more next time we go. The hotel was friendly, very reasonably priced (cheaper than it would have been if we'd stayed in one of the generic beach holiday hotels along the beach), comfortable rooms and a nice garden and pool area. It was about a 15 minute hike down to the beach (the old town is up on a hillside, as all old villages should be!) and the event, but this was a small price to pay. (Although, note-to-self, wear practical shoes for distance and non-practical shoes when just sitting or standing at the bar.. sheesh.) We saw quite a few old faces around at the Pool Party in the Solimar Hotel and met a few new folks as well. Later on, at the event itself, it was so busy we didn't really get the chance to talk to many people. We zoomed home the next day after breakfast and a hike round town - Calafell is about 2 and a half hours south of us.
We've had a bit of a travel-bug for the past few weeks since watching the Hairy Bikers' Cookbook on DVD. These guys are great - and it's the only cooking program that Steve watches and enjoys (besides Nigella, obviously, but we all know he's not watching the cooking there...). I can't wait for the next series which has just been commissioned according to their website. Of course, now I'm bugging Steve to fix my XS650 so I can zoom round on it again - and so it can go get it's ITV/MOT in October. I've bought an electronic ignition and we've going to take it to the local bike shop to get that fitted. I know it's possible to fit ourselves, but we don't have a strobe and it needs a good service anyway. So hopefully, we can do a bit of traveling on BOTH bikes before winter sets in in February when it's too rainy to ride around. (The cold isn't a problem - the wet roads and wacky drivers are.)
Work on the house starts up again now that the summer is over and we hope to have a bathtub (!) by Christmas. Finding taps is proving a problem as the ones we like and agree on are way too expensive. Still contemplating the Stephen Einhorn taps, as ever, but can we really justify the expense? Probably not.
In the world of the reluctant web designer, I've finished (more or less) the Space Ranch website. I built this website for a friend (and ex-manager of the Ace Cafe) who has opened a really awesome bed and breakfast for bikers on the Costa Brava. It's in Pals and all the rooms are designed based on old motorbike movies. Think Barbarella meets Clint Eastwood. I mentioned this before - but her site wasn't finished then.
Speaking of cool hotels - here's another beautiful place to stay on the Costa Brava. Lindos Huespedes Hotel. We toured around this place the other day which is halfway between Torroella de Montgri and Pals as a friend of ours works here during the summer. It's a beautiful place and would be a great place to stay. It's hard to find though - which I think adds to its charm.
I eventually found Casa Antiga in the old town of Calafell. What a find!! This place is awesome - easily the best hotel we've stayed in along the coast of Spain. We panic'd a bit, because googlemaps pointed us in the direction of Segur de Calafell which is one of the (pretty ugly) 'new town' bits of Calafell. When we got there, I pointed out it couldn't possibly be right, as all the places there looked like they were built sometime from the 60s.. and eventually we kept driving and found the old poble. Thank goodness!
The Casa Antiga is right across from the Ajuntament (town hall) and just below a pretty cool castle. (We love castles - and hiked up there on the sunday morning before heading home.) There's some Iberian ruins in the area as well, and we'll probably explore those more next time we go. The hotel was friendly, very reasonably priced (cheaper than it would have been if we'd stayed in one of the generic beach holiday hotels along the beach), comfortable rooms and a nice garden and pool area. It was about a 15 minute hike down to the beach (the old town is up on a hillside, as all old villages should be!) and the event, but this was a small price to pay. (Although, note-to-self, wear practical shoes for distance and non-practical shoes when just sitting or standing at the bar.. sheesh.) We saw quite a few old faces around at the Pool Party in the Solimar Hotel and met a few new folks as well. Later on, at the event itself, it was so busy we didn't really get the chance to talk to many people. We zoomed home the next day after breakfast and a hike round town - Calafell is about 2 and a half hours south of us.
We've had a bit of a travel-bug for the past few weeks since watching the Hairy Bikers' Cookbook on DVD. These guys are great - and it's the only cooking program that Steve watches and enjoys (besides Nigella, obviously, but we all know he's not watching the cooking there...). I can't wait for the next series which has just been commissioned according to their website. Of course, now I'm bugging Steve to fix my XS650 so I can zoom round on it again - and so it can go get it's ITV/MOT in October. I've bought an electronic ignition and we've going to take it to the local bike shop to get that fitted. I know it's possible to fit ourselves, but we don't have a strobe and it needs a good service anyway. So hopefully, we can do a bit of traveling on BOTH bikes before winter sets in in February when it's too rainy to ride around. (The cold isn't a problem - the wet roads and wacky drivers are.)
Work on the house starts up again now that the summer is over and we hope to have a bathtub (!) by Christmas. Finding taps is proving a problem as the ones we like and agree on are way too expensive. Still contemplating the Stephen Einhorn taps, as ever, but can we really justify the expense? Probably not.
In the world of the reluctant web designer, I've finished (more or less) the Space Ranch website. I built this website for a friend (and ex-manager of the Ace Cafe) who has opened a really awesome bed and breakfast for bikers on the Costa Brava. It's in Pals and all the rooms are designed based on old motorbike movies. Think Barbarella meets Clint Eastwood. I mentioned this before - but her site wasn't finished then.
Speaking of cool hotels - here's another beautiful place to stay on the Costa Brava. Lindos Huespedes Hotel. We toured around this place the other day which is halfway between Torroella de Montgri and Pals as a friend of ours works here during the summer. It's a beautiful place and would be a great place to stay. It's hard to find though - which I think adds to its charm.
Posted at 04:51 PM
Fri - July 28, 2006
The rain in Spain...
It's raining!!
I didn't even notice at first. It's a sort of Apologetic Rain... in that way that seems to say 'so terribly sorry for this, but have to rain a bit... but you won't notice, don't worry..'. It's a nice reprise from the heat.
Speaking of heat. I always thought it was so funny in England that people would moan and complain and act almost completely shocked when the weather was crap - like it was a unique experience. "Oh GEEZ. Look at those clouds today! Wow! Didn't expect THAT!" As if everyone doesn't know that, in general, the weather is consistently Not Good in the majority of places in the UK.
But then we move to Spain - and in 3 years we've experienced the hottest summer, the wettest winter, the driest summer and the coldest winter. It's hot - but, darn it, it's Spain - so shouldn't that be expected? But no, I chat with neighbours, shop keepers and friends and more of less, the first thing they say is 'Wow - isn't it hot?' Like it's some sort of shocking surprise. Is this normal all throughout the world? I swear I don't remember this experience in California!
In the time I've typed those three short paragraphs, it's actually stopped raining, by the way. And the terrace has dried up already - so I guess the heat hasn't gone away after all.
Because of the heat, we've moved into another bedroom. It just gets too hot at the top of the house so we moved the folding futon bed thingie that was in my office down to the extra room downstairs. We have every intention of moving the lovely zebra print sofa bed up to the office, but it's too hot for that sort of effort. It's a sort of adventure waking up downstairs - kinda like camping - sleeping on a futon so low to the ground. But the important bit here is sleeping! The bed might not be quite as comfortable, but it's nice to be able to sleep - and we even need a sheet in the middle of the night! Wow!
And it's only July - wonder what August will be like!
I didn't even notice at first. It's a sort of Apologetic Rain... in that way that seems to say 'so terribly sorry for this, but have to rain a bit... but you won't notice, don't worry..'. It's a nice reprise from the heat.
Speaking of heat. I always thought it was so funny in England that people would moan and complain and act almost completely shocked when the weather was crap - like it was a unique experience. "Oh GEEZ. Look at those clouds today! Wow! Didn't expect THAT!" As if everyone doesn't know that, in general, the weather is consistently Not Good in the majority of places in the UK.
But then we move to Spain - and in 3 years we've experienced the hottest summer, the wettest winter, the driest summer and the coldest winter. It's hot - but, darn it, it's Spain - so shouldn't that be expected? But no, I chat with neighbours, shop keepers and friends and more of less, the first thing they say is 'Wow - isn't it hot?' Like it's some sort of shocking surprise. Is this normal all throughout the world? I swear I don't remember this experience in California!
In the time I've typed those three short paragraphs, it's actually stopped raining, by the way. And the terrace has dried up already - so I guess the heat hasn't gone away after all.
Because of the heat, we've moved into another bedroom. It just gets too hot at the top of the house so we moved the folding futon bed thingie that was in my office down to the extra room downstairs. We have every intention of moving the lovely zebra print sofa bed up to the office, but it's too hot for that sort of effort. It's a sort of adventure waking up downstairs - kinda like camping - sleeping on a futon so low to the ground. But the important bit here is sleeping! The bed might not be quite as comfortable, but it's nice to be able to sleep - and we even need a sheet in the middle of the night! Wow!
And it's only July - wonder what August will be like!
Posted at 09:29 AM
Sat - July 22, 2006
Summer cocktails and high maintenance
Reading though a few of my regular online 'reads'
the other day, I stumbled High Maintenance Gimlets from fancytoast. I absolutely love, and totally agree
with, her take on the high maintenance/high quality thingie... (Thanks to gastronome for the link originally!) I love
cocktails. I have tons of books on cocktails, along with fancy glasses so every
drink can be served in the appropriate glass: highball, martini, tumbler, etc..
We also have quite a well-stocked bar down in the pool room.
But sadly, I rarely make mixed drinks. Steve is more of a beer/wine guy - instant gratification I suppose. And making a fancy cocktail, when it takes me half an hour and he's already starting another drink, is a bit of a downer - especially in the summer when it's hot and I'm only making the drink for myself. Cocktails really are meant to be shared...
So imagine my surprise when I actually made some cucumber gimlets on friday night! And they were good! And looked pretty. And very refreshing. And, dare I say it, probably somewhat healthy, no? (All right, perhaps I'm pushing it a bit there...)
But sadly, I rarely make mixed drinks. Steve is more of a beer/wine guy - instant gratification I suppose. And making a fancy cocktail, when it takes me half an hour and he's already starting another drink, is a bit of a downer - especially in the summer when it's hot and I'm only making the drink for myself. Cocktails really are meant to be shared...
So imagine my surprise when I actually made some cucumber gimlets on friday night! And they were good! And looked pretty. And very refreshing. And, dare I say it, probably somewhat healthy, no? (All right, perhaps I'm pushing it a bit there...)
Posted at 05:49 PM
Mon - July 17, 2006
Road Trip to Valencia
After the excesses of my birthday weekend at
Calella, and here with a housefull of guests, Steve and I decided to take a li'l
trip south to Valencia province. We'd never been south of Barcelona before
(well, south of Reus/Salou) so it was all new to us once we passed that point!
The first night, we stayed in a little village called Villafames. A short way in from the city of Castellon, we picked this because there was a rather lovely looking Casa Rural featured in my Special Places to Stay in Spain book. We found the place quite easily, but were disappointed that, although the book gave a guide price of about 85 euros a night., we were quote 135 euros! On a wednesday! Luckily, there was another hotel in the town, El Rullo. They were much more reasonable at 40 euros for the double room! Highly recommended place! We hiked up to the top of the town where there were ruins of a castle and the views were pretty incredible. The town itself is pretty neat, considering it's built on, into and with an unusual red rock.
We drove inland through the mountains and at about lunchtime, tried to find a restaurant which proved a lot more difficult than it is here. Everything was either closed, or, at worst, boarded up. We finally found a bar run by a lovely couple (in their 80s?) who cooked us a meal and were very friendly (and quite concerned that we were sitting outside, in the shade, as they thought it was far too hot.) They were also rather impressed with our catalan/valencian. Which was a nice compliment...
Carrying on from there, we stayed the next night at Casa Pilar in Castell de Castells outside Alicante. This was featured in the Special Places book as well, and is a beautiful Casa Rural created from an old family home. The town was nice and friendly (although some jackasses decided to steal the cool dice dust covers that Amalia gave us from the wheels of the car as well as leaving a lovely scratch mark with their keys down the side - what IS it with some people?). That kind of put a damper on the lovely image we had of Castell de Castells, which was a shame. But heyho!
Then we visited my cousin in Monovar and took a tour of the wonderful winery that her husband, Rafa, runs - Salvador Poveda. (Is 'runs' the correct term for someone that, well, runs a winery - there's probably some proper word for that...) Had an absolutely amazing meal at a restaurant in Monover called Xiri which was easily the best meal of the trip - the food, the company, the wine...
The next morning we set off back home and arrived home at about 8 pm on saturday, exhausted but glad to be home. We zoomed back most of the way on the motorway but stopped in a small town outside Valencia called Manuel! Obviously, that's steve's surname and when Rafa told us there was a town called Manuel in Spain close to Valencia, we had to stop there and take pictures! There was a wedding going on there at the time which was pretty stunning to see - the groom's guests arrived in two coaches (and asked Steve for directions to the church, which he was quite pleased to be able to give!). And the bride and her guests were walking, after a grand display of fireworks, to the church from the other side of town (they didn't need directions!).
All in all, it was a great trip, but from what little we saw, we are rather glad we live here in Catalunya. It was quite dry as we travelled further south, restaurants weren't found easily at the end of roads marked by little yellow signs, and the coast - my goodness - that was quite a sight. We didn't actually go into Alicante, or Valencia, or Benidorm, but we saw the high rises... Yikes! And the building work! And I thought it was bad here.... We both look forward to going back, however, when it's cooler and we can explore more. And we are also excited to see Rafa's new winery being built in amongst the vineyards!
The first night, we stayed in a little village called Villafames. A short way in from the city of Castellon, we picked this because there was a rather lovely looking Casa Rural featured in my Special Places to Stay in Spain book. We found the place quite easily, but were disappointed that, although the book gave a guide price of about 85 euros a night., we were quote 135 euros! On a wednesday! Luckily, there was another hotel in the town, El Rullo. They were much more reasonable at 40 euros for the double room! Highly recommended place! We hiked up to the top of the town where there were ruins of a castle and the views were pretty incredible. The town itself is pretty neat, considering it's built on, into and with an unusual red rock.
We drove inland through the mountains and at about lunchtime, tried to find a restaurant which proved a lot more difficult than it is here. Everything was either closed, or, at worst, boarded up. We finally found a bar run by a lovely couple (in their 80s?) who cooked us a meal and were very friendly (and quite concerned that we were sitting outside, in the shade, as they thought it was far too hot.) They were also rather impressed with our catalan/valencian. Which was a nice compliment...
Carrying on from there, we stayed the next night at Casa Pilar in Castell de Castells outside Alicante. This was featured in the Special Places book as well, and is a beautiful Casa Rural created from an old family home. The town was nice and friendly (although some jackasses decided to steal the cool dice dust covers that Amalia gave us from the wheels of the car as well as leaving a lovely scratch mark with their keys down the side - what IS it with some people?). That kind of put a damper on the lovely image we had of Castell de Castells, which was a shame. But heyho!
Then we visited my cousin in Monovar and took a tour of the wonderful winery that her husband, Rafa, runs - Salvador Poveda. (Is 'runs' the correct term for someone that, well, runs a winery - there's probably some proper word for that...) Had an absolutely amazing meal at a restaurant in Monover called Xiri which was easily the best meal of the trip - the food, the company, the wine...
The next morning we set off back home and arrived home at about 8 pm on saturday, exhausted but glad to be home. We zoomed back most of the way on the motorway but stopped in a small town outside Valencia called Manuel! Obviously, that's steve's surname and when Rafa told us there was a town called Manuel in Spain close to Valencia, we had to stop there and take pictures! There was a wedding going on there at the time which was pretty stunning to see - the groom's guests arrived in two coaches (and asked Steve for directions to the church, which he was quite pleased to be able to give!). And the bride and her guests were walking, after a grand display of fireworks, to the church from the other side of town (they didn't need directions!).
All in all, it was a great trip, but from what little we saw, we are rather glad we live here in Catalunya. It was quite dry as we travelled further south, restaurants weren't found easily at the end of roads marked by little yellow signs, and the coast - my goodness - that was quite a sight. We didn't actually go into Alicante, or Valencia, or Benidorm, but we saw the high rises... Yikes! And the building work! And I thought it was bad here.... We both look forward to going back, however, when it's cooler and we can explore more. And we are also excited to see Rafa's new winery being built in amongst the vineyards!
Posted at 07:08 PM
Sat - July 1, 2006
Visitors and the like!
Inspired by mylifeinspain's blogiversary (Congrats on 2
years and much more frequently updated than my own...), I've added one of those
free service things from Bravenet, a guestmap over there in the sidebar. GO SIGN
IT. Come on - it's not difficult and it would be nice to see if anyone other
than my dad and Steve read my blog. Of course, I'm expecting
them to sign it too. Speaking of Steve - he's been a busy guy since taking a
break from working on the house... He's been posting pictures onto his flickr
account. Go have a look - and post a comment or two there as well.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
Posted at 05:49 PM
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Published On: Apr 27, 2007 04:00 PM
Published On: Apr 27, 2007 04:00 PM