Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

After the 'Oh no I don't wanna go!!!' the swimming was fine. I managed 10 lengths (with a little rest after each one as I am not a very strong swimmer!) with some on my back, which I find much easier but harder to navigate! Carl was determined to do 2 more lengths than last time and did 16 (well done honey!), Mum did 12 and Dad did 8 and then his hamstring hurt so he called it a day, but he was doing much better than me up until that point! Fortunately it wasn't as cold outside as I first thought :o)

Relaxing weekend....lovely!

Carl and I decided to have a relaxing weekend after the DIY extravaganza of half term and my going to Barcelona. We watched DVDs, messed on the computers, lazed around...bliss!!
Yesterday we took Paul and Sarah out for Sunday lunch as a thank you for helping us with the kitchen lino (which Paul and Carl spent 6 hours doing last Sunday. I arrived home from Barcelona halfway though, in dire need of a cuppa and lunch, so various items were passed though the kitchen window in order to have sustinance!) We went to The Wheatsheaf in Tempsford and ended up in a little room of our own and got preferntial treatment it seemed!! The food was lovely and the portions huge!! Carl had a mixed grill, Sarah had lamb roast, I had chicken roast and Paul had a 16oz T-bone steak which he ate so fast it was untrue (eating by inhalating your food as Carl would say!) After this we decided to have pudding too, as it all sounded so scrummy, so the boys had blackberry and apple crumbles, Sarah had Death by Chocolate and I had apple pie. Paul then commented that if he helps with the hall/stairs/landing carpet and they drag it out for 12 hours they could get 2 free meals out of it!! Hmm...nice try! Anyway, the food was lovely, the company great and a good time was had by all!!
It is now Monday night, 6.45pm and Carl and I are about to pick up my parents to take them swimming. It is COLD outside and we really are not in the mood, but as we didn't go last week we really should go this week and we'll feel much better if we do. I tell you, if we weren't taking Mum and Dad we wouldn't be bothering! Bad isn't it?! So I'll have M&D to thank for either: my new found fitness/getting a cold/having earache from water in the ear again!! Well..I'm sure we'll enjoy it when we get there...

From the mouths of babes

I think I must be looking more wrinkly these days. At school we were taking about journeys and transport. One of the children said about jumping out a plane, to which I said I'd done that. They kinda looked at me in disbelief so I said I'd bring in the photos, which I did. They thought they were great and then one little boy said "You look much younger in the pictures." So, is he saying I look old now? Granted, the photo was taken 6 1/2 years ago, and maybe I am being over sensitive or maybe it is just because I am nearing my 3rd decade but, from the mouths of babes as they say. So, nice to know they think I look old and haggared. Thanks kids! ;o)

Barcelona (To be sung Queen stylee)

What a fabulous weekend! Unfortunatley it did start with us having to get up at 3.30am to catch a plane. So 3 1/2 hours sleep... All was going well until we were checking in at the airport. It was 5.25am (we had a 6.10am flight) and the women said we were late (which we weren't!) and she was quite stroppy with us. We had been standing around for a few minutes as she looked busy and it took at least 5 minutes to get through the damn revolving doors - so it really wasn't our fault that we were (not) late. Then it was the security checks - what a pain in the backside. We were queuing for 35 minutes (managing to get into the slowest moving queue with only one scanning point - the other queues had 2 but you couldn't tell from the back!) So then we had to run for the plane. I had joked earlier about how amusing it would be to have our names called out...wasn't so amusing when they did as were were running and trying to avoid people and their luggage! Well - actually it was funny again once we were on the plane! So, we did catch the flight much to our relief!
Two hours later we landed at Barcelona (Girona) airport (and they refused to stamp my passport - b****rds) and took the Barcelona bus to Barcelona city - a 70 minute drive. We were all pretty tired but I didn't manage to sleep on the plane or the bus :o( Once of the bus we had the problem of where we actually were and how to get to the hotel! Finding the metro station seemed particularly problematic so after walking around a lot, we finally asked someone who pointed us in the right direction. Then we had to lean the metro system, which is much less traumatic if you have slept!! Luckily our stop was only 2 stops away :o)
We found the hotel without a problem and the rooms were fine. We dumped our stuff and then headed out for some lunch...it was about mid-day at this point and due to no breakfast we were starving!! Lunch was at Cafe Zurich on Placa de Catalunya, which served a choice of 3 or 4 baguettes. Our waiter clearly wasn't listening to our order as we didn't get the right number of drinks and one of the bagettes was wrong too. Typical!! However, they were tasty and filled very empty stomachs!! We then decided to go exploring and strolled down La Rambla, which had lots of stalls including chickens and cockerels! Bizarre!!

1. Caro, Conny, me and Lisa doing various pointy poses on La Rambla.

We carried on down La Rambla towards the harbour. We stopped along the way to see the Placa Reial, a square filled with people, palm trees and a fountain - very pretty. At the end of La Rambla stands a huge column called 'Mirador De Colon' which is a monument of Christopher Columbus. It is really tall!! We then sat on the Rambla de Mar with a drink to admire the views. After that we walked along towards the 'Cap de Barcelona' which is a colourful piece of art (which is in the background in the photo below). My favourite sculpture was right next to the 'Cap de Barcelona' - a giant lobster. Be afraid - be very afraid...or not!

2. Giant Lobster. 3. Giant Lobster about to eat us! Arrgh help!!

After all the lobster excitement we took a wander in the southern Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter), through Placa de la Merce, where there was a church with a statue on top, back towards the Christopher Columbus Column.

It was at this point we foolishly decided to walk to the castle (Castell de Montjuic) which was up a rather large hill (hereafter the 'hill' will be refered to as 'the mountain' as that is how it felt!!) We walked along the Passeig de Josep Carner. We kept walking...and walking...and walking and somehow missed the lower entrance to the Jardins Mossen. When we realised this we decided to keep going to the upper end of the gardens....so up we went alongside a duel carridgeway..very scenic...and eventually got to the point of the Carretera de Miramar. As it turns out, the gardens were very pretty cactus gardens, which was very nice to walk through.

From there we entered the Jardins de Miramar which contained statues and had good views of the city. After a little rest we continued up a twisty road towards the castle. After about 2 1/2 hours of walking we finally made it to the top of the mountain to the castle. We were soooo glad they had toilets and a snack shop, so we ate snacks and had a drink before taking in the views from the top of the mountain. Fabulous landscape I am sure you could see all of Barcelona from up there!! Walking down was much easier and took about 30 mins!! We then headed back to our hotel, through some of the not so nice streets, where Conny had a special view of her own!! ;o)

4. In the cactus garden. 5. A mountain with a view!

In the evening we went for a meal...in the nearest place we could see, which happened to be straight across La Rambla from our hotel road!! It was called La Pomme (I think!) The food was nice, if not a little odd! Most meals came with chips, which I didn't mind. Caro and Jeannie opted for salad instead. I didn't...but ended up with vegetables anyway (by vegetables I mean a handful of green beans, a slice of carrot, a slice of courgette, one potatoe and what I think was a bit of artichoke! Tasty but I like a bit more potato!!) I had salmon which was lovely! We had pudding too, which is rare for me but the crepe option ticked my fancy and was very tasty! We left at about 11.30 and went to bed....such a long day!!

Caro and I were up and ready for breakfast at 9am...we knocked for the others, who were still in bed as Jeannie forgot to put her mobile to Spanish time! Ooops!! We had breakfast (and made up rolls for the follwing morning as we would be missing breakie!!) and headed to Placa de Catalunya to get the 'Barcelona Bus' which takes you around Barcelona with a headphone commentary. It was great to see the sights of Barcelona with a bit of information. On the tour we saw some beautiful buildings, such as Casa Amatiler, Casa Batilo, La Pedrera and Temple de la Sagrada Familia. We got of the tour at this point and had a wander around the Sagrada Familia - the unfinished cathedral. It is a truely awesome sight - the architecture is astounding, the amount of detail amazing to look at. Lots of photos were taken from various angles, trying not to get too much of the construction in them (The gigantic cranes are a bit of a giveaway though!)

It was a quick hop on, hop off the bus as the next place we wanted to visit was Park Guell of Antoni Gaudi. The gardens were tropical, more splendid views and we got to have our photos taken with a lizard. What more could you possible ask for? The mosaic seats were gorgeous...I wonder if I could get one in my garden? We spent quite some time wandering around the gardens before deciding it was lunchtime and we'd better get on with the city tour.





Jeannie and I with the lizard man.

On the Gaudi mosaic seats. Nice views huh!

After a tasty bagette and some postcard purchases, it was back on the bus. We saw the Barcelona Football stadium (Hmmm), Placa Espanya, Terminal Iberia and the Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya. We stopped outside the MNAC as the Font Monjuic (fountain) is supposed to be really pretty...and it may well have been if it had been on!! Apparently the switch it on at 7pm so we were a few hours early! Oh well!! On the later part of the tour we saw Torre de Calatrava (Olymipic statue), the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic (Olympic stadium), the world trade centre, the Mirador De Colon, Cap de Barcelona and the Olympic village. Our last stop wasin the Gothic Quarter to see the Cathedral, which was also under scaffolding! Typical!! We then wandered back through the Barri Gotic back to La Rambla where Jeannie and Lisa went back to the hotel and Conny, Caro and I went to the supermarket to buy some goodies.

After a siesta we headed out for dinner. We decided to go for a Catalan Tapas meal near the University. The restaurant was called Celler de Tapas and the food was fabulous! We has spanish omlettes, muscles, Icelandic cod, salad, olives (Hmmmm...Olives...), and various other things, to numerous to mention! Truely scrummy!! Everyone else had pudding (Catalan Creme Brule) and we all had tea and coffee, so, once again, it was 11.30 when we left!
Our next port of call was a bar where we could celebrate midnight and Jeannie becoming old, oh sorry, becoming 30! After some searching we found a bar called 'Bar Castells' where we could have a drink outside. Conny and I went off to sort out her mini-cake, candle and streamer and then we had a few strange looks as we tried to walk with a tealight to the table! From there we tried to find another bar. We walked for ages before we found an Irish Pub just outside the Gothic Quarter. Lisa and Conny decided to head off back to the hotel (after all it was about 1.30am and we had to get up at 5.45am!) but Caro, Jeannie and I went in for a drink. We arrived back at the hotel at 3am...so another night with 3 hours sleep! Talk about burn the candle at both ends!!

We left the hotel on schedule and caught the mentro and the Barcelona Bus without a hitch. We managed to check in on time and not have our names called out! We arrived home at roughly 12.30pm, had lunch and Jeannie had another birthday cake...one with 30 candles!

How many candles - after hearing about Jeannie's tea-light trauma, I am not surprised she looks worried!! Happy 30th birthday Jeannie! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!

DIY-a-rama.

DIY - where do I start?!?! This week Carl and I decided to get some much needed stuff done around the house. Perfect opportunity as it is half term and Carl took the week off work. So Saturday we took 3 car loads of bricks/concrete/garden rubbish to the tidy tip. This took a few hours and were were knackered afterwards to that was it on Saturday!! On Sunday the dreaded gloss-ing began. I hate the stuff - gets everywhere. Ended up painting more of myself than the woodwork! Spent all day doing it and then trying to make sure we didn't touch anything! In the evening we had our valentine's meal at Nando's in Bedford -Scrummilicious!
Monday - oh joy - more glossing!! Then it was shopping for lino for the bathroom and kitchen. Am glad this was successful as were were wandering round shops for HOURS!! Actually we were shocked by the lack of pushiness of the salespeople and also the fact we couldn't get a straight answer for how much stuff would cost! B'ah!
Tuesday we had Mum and Dad over for the day. Mum helped me paint the hall, landing and stairs, which now looks much better :o) Dad was helping Carl with the new kitchin sink - which was a complete pain in the bum. So no water for hours (after we finally managed to turn it off - a challenge in itself!!) After Mum and I finished painting, we left Carl and Dad with the sink and we popped over to see Sarah and Joshua. He seems different everytime I see him. Mum and I were left to change his poopy bottom - which we did after working out which way these new-fangled nappies go! (Mum used terry-towling ones when we were little and I have never had the joy of changing a nappy before!) We took my folks home at about 5 o'clock before heading to homebase for a couple of bits for the sink. Got home and then reaslised the bits didn't work!! AAAGGGHH!! So off to Wickes to get the right bits!! The sink was all done at about 9.30pm when we then cooked dinner and collapsed on the sofa! Why is everything harder than it first appears and takes three times as long as anticipated?!?
Yesterday we cleared out the dining area and had another visit to the tidytip with the old sink and various other oddities. We then set about laying the lino in the bathroom. Now we've never done this before (or anything like it!) but I think we did a grand job! It looks soooooo much better than the rank carpet that was in there. Well done us!! After this I decided we had to paint the spare room. Given that it was 6 oclock by this point Carl wasn't to happy about it, but I won im over in the end (otherwise Jeannie, Caro, Conny and Lisa would have had a paint fume-y room to sleep in tonight!!) So, after moving furniture about we set to work. It didn't take us too long, considering we had to move furniture half way through and it looks much nicer now. Hmm we just need to tidy the mess we created before anyone can sleep in there!! So today will be spent tidying up and doing lots of odd jobs before I GO TO BARCELONA TOMORROW!!!! Yes - I am a bit excited! How could you tell!!

Bridesmaids dress shopping

How exciting! On Saturday I went bridesmaids dress shopping with Lou (the bride to be!!), Dori (chief BM), Carol (mother of the bride) and 3 year old Chelsea (flower girl and Dori's daughter). Such fun - fitting on posh frocks! V impressed that Lou brought them there and then - first day of looking! Hurrah! I think the dresses are lovely - such a great colour too!! :o)
One of the funny bits of the day for me was when I took Chelsea to the loo in Debenhams. Dori was in the process of changing when Chelsea said she needed the loo, so off we went! We got some very odd looks running around Debenhams in bridesmaids dresses!! Having located the toilets there was a long queue and only one loo was working. Chelsea then went into a long speil about being a girl and going into the girl's toilets and that she wasn't a boy (which reminded me of the episode of 'My Name is Earl' I'd seen the night before!) After a while, and the queue barely moving I decided we should go into the men's. I checked the coast was clear 1st and we ran into the cubicle and she did the deed - she wasn't impressed though as she was a girl, not a boy!! When we came out the queue hadn't even moved! I think I made the right choice!
So thanks Lou for a great day, and for having me as a BM - feeling all proud and excited and stuff!!