A fresh new day dawned in Williston, but we had some rather interesting plans which would take us out of the neighbourhood and down to the waterside in Burlington proper. Before this, though, I woke up suddenly energised, and decided I should go out for a jog.
This was a terrible idea as it turns out. I’ve not done anything like it for quite a long time (foreshadowing for an upcoming blog post), but I managed to get out and about before arriving back and collapsing into the hammock in the back garden. There, I waited for Maureen to return home, as Megan was still out working at the summer camp.
Maureen soon showed up with some treats in the form of artesanal Oreos, which were absolutely delicious and soon turned into a problem as they became my go-to sweet snack whilst staying at Megan’s parents’ place. With our biscuits eaten, we rested our weary legs in the pool and waited for Megan to arrive back home.
After Megan had a quick nap the two of us packed and headed out for the afternoon’s plans: kayaking! This is a sport that I enjoyed back when I was a Boy Scout and used to set out on the suspiciously murky canals of Lancashire, but this time we were to head into the vast expanse of Lake Champlain.
Lake Champlain is a huge body of water which separates Vermont from the state of New York, whose border is flanked by a huge and beautiful mountain range called the Adirondacks. I’d caught a glimpse of it when we’d gone down for lunch at the docks, but this time we were going to head down to the local community sailing club and hire a couple of kayaks to head out onto the water.
The journey down to the lake took us through the centre of Burlington and past some frat houses: another thing I thought only existed in American movies! We arrived, rented our equipment, and were soon cast out into the somewhat unstable waters of the lake – it wasn’t like the peaceful stillness of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal!
It was great fun to be out on the water and back in a kayak after quite a few years. I am quite confident in a kayak, but in a moment of stupidity and brazen commitment to getting some good photos I had decided to take my phone with me. This made me panic the whole time about falling in lest I lose it in the murky depths, so I started with a bit of a nervous wobble.
The cloudy skies and the uneven water created some breathtaking views.
We’d set out in the late afternoon, so the sun was already pretty low in the sky, making for some beautiful displays of light as it danced on the waves. We headed out and towards it and towards a beach in the distance, which we dragged ourselves up on to upon arrival as I was developing a rather painful stitch in my leg.
Back in the water, we continued our journey onwards, a journey frustrated somewhat by the kayaks or the undercurrent (we’ll never know what it was) which seemed intent on dragging us port side (to the left). We eventually made it to the spot which the guy had designated as the outer limit of the area we could explore, where we watched a group of friends jumping from a rock and into the lake. It was a gorgeous spot, so we stopped to chat there for a while whilst the sun broke through the clouds.
The rays from the sun and the isolated rock made for an almost ethereal scene.
We then began our journey back to the sailing club, which was now quite far away thanks to the two legs we’d already rowed. It turned out to be quite the slog of a trip back thanks to the distance, our exhaustion, and the unwelcome turbulence created by some passing boats.
We eventually made it back to the shore, where we showered and changed into our glad rags ready to spend the evening on the water once again, but this time in a rather different capacity. We drove the short distance down the lake and parked outside a place called Splash, a gorgeous floating dock restaurant with views out over the lake.
Maureen joined us out on the dock, where we nabbed one of the best tables in the house just by the water. Cocktails in hand, we chatted the evening away as we nibbled on some good food, watched the sun set behind the Adirondack Mountains, and saw the return of The Spirit of Ethan Allen, a boat which takes people out to watch the sunset from directly over the water.
After tea, Maureen headed back home while me and Megan headed to a local bar where we’d arranged to have a drink with some of her friends. The bar was about as American as they get, full of sports memorabilia and people who’d been our playing baseball! We stuck to our plan of one drink and then home as we’d both a busy agenda waiting for us the next day.
Megan headed back for her penultimate day at summer camp the next day as I had breakfast with Maureen, who then took me out to begin our day’s explorations together. She’d a trip planned for the two of us which would take us back out to Lake Champlain, but this time over terra firma rather than on the water itself. It turns out that the lake has three main islands on it, and our plan was to head out and see the most important sights from these: North Hero, South Hero, and Grand Isle.
Out trip started on the Sand Bar, a natural sandbar connecting the mainland with the first of the three islands. I took plenty of photos over the lake and we got chatting to another lady who was passing by before heading onto the island proper.
We first stopped at a little shale beach on another part of the island before then heading up to a gorgeous old hotel with views over the water which has now been transformed into an event space. We then headed to a hotel that Maureen used to work at when she was young, where we met the new owner and had a snoop around the renovated facilities.
These are called Adirondack Chairs, named after the mountains in the background.
It was then time for lunch, and Maureen had arranged for one of her friends to join us for lunch. We met up at an old petrol station which had a cute shop and sandwich bar. I bagged myself a turkey sandwich with all the trimmings, including bacon, cheese, and pickles – the Americans sure know how to do a sandwich properly!
We ate our sandwiches on the porch of the local parish hall, chatting away about Michael’s experience living between the US, the UK, and Spain, a trio of countries that I know pretty well. As we chatted, a cold and cloudy front blew in, so we eventually had to pack up shop and head back towards the mainland.
As the weather held out without raining on us, Maureen and I did decide to make a cheeky stop at a local institution, Seb’s. This pit stop on the island had a lovely gift shop, which we had a good snoop around so I could pick up some postcards, and a snack and ice cream counter. The two of us grabbed a hot fudge brownie ice cream, which was super rich and came with a cute little cherry on top. I simply had to get a photo of the two of us with out sweet treats!
In the car on the way home, Maureen showed of her skills tying the stalk of the cherry into a knot with her mouth, and I gave it a shot. Alas, I was useless, even after continuing to attempt it throughout the evening until it was time to go back out.
The evening took us back to the bar from before, but this time there was a whole different vibe going on: it was karaoke time! The rest of the bar didn’t seem too animated, so I signed Breen and myself up to be the first to sing. Naturally we had to kick things off with my go-to karaoke song, Wannabe by the Spice Girls. We then sang many songs, ate some free popcorn from the machine they had out, and had an absolute blast.
Back home, Megan threw some mozzarella sticks in the oven and I introduced her to the joys of dunking them in jam. It might sound a bit odd, but you can’t beat a good sweet and salty combination!
The next day was quite a relaxed one: I spent my time in the pool, having lunch, and then out shopping with Megan to pick up some supplies for her new place and our weekend plans – but more on that very soon. We ended the day with a Chinese meal back at Maureen and Terry’s place, which was a nice relaxed way to end a rather chilled day.
A scenic tour of Vermont, from the huge houses to the gorgeous sunsets.
I’ll leave this blog post here, as the weekend’s activities that followed deserve their own blog post – and because these posts are getting pretty long and it’s taking me forever to get them out! I can only beg you all for patience whilst I try and get them out in between my busy work calendar back here in Madrid…
Now in the United States after our weekend in Montreal, Megan and I cranked up the music and it was full speed ahead to the first place that I’d be staying: her parents’ place. They live in the sleepy suburb of Williston in the city of Burlington, the biggest city in the state of Vermont in the north-east US.
We rocked up outside their place around mid-afternoon and headed inside to a gloriously cool welcome from the air conditioning. This fiercely counterbalanced by the extremely warm welcome from Megan’s parents, Maureen and Terry, who had me in the kitchen for a couple of hours nattering away about all sorts.
Eventually I wanted to get unpacked, so I was shown to my room, a lovely space in which I was presented with a gorgeous gift in the form of a basket full of local goodies: maple syrup sweets, maple leaf decorations, and – of course – a huge jar of maple syrup to take back with me. Megan was not lying when she said that Vermont loves its maple syrup!
Once unpacked, I headed downstairs for tea (I still refuse to call the evening meal ‘dinner’). Maureen and Terry had prepared a delicious meal of meat skewers with roast vegetables, where the caramelised pineapple was really the star of the show!
I was then introduced to Megan’s friend, Breen, who’d nipped over with her dog, Libby. The three of us headed out for a walk after tea, wandering around the block whilst I eyed up all of the huge houses. It was also during this walk that I was introduced to the pressing issue around these parts: skunks. After years of only hearing about skunks in fairy tales and other children’s stories, I was briefed on how to avoid them and their dreaded foul-smelling spray.
We then stopped for a quick drink at Breen’s place, after which me and Megan pottered the short journey back home and I headed to bed for the night – it had been another day of plenty of travelling and moving around!
Another day of travelling ended with a relaxing evening in my new home for the next week.
The next day began bright and (way too) early thanks to the dreaded jet lag. I headed downstairs, had some breakfast with Terry, and waited for Megan to show up. She headed off with her dad for the closing on her new house – more on that to come – and so I stuck around with Maureen chatting the morning away.
When Megan got back, I headed out with her and Maureen for my first American excursion. This day trip first took us to Costco, a wholesale shop selling oversized versions of everything: from toilet rolls to cereals and even salads. I had a lot of fun people watching and even managed to pick myself up some new underwear, so it was quite the productive trip, even if I spent most of the time making crude observations about consumerism.
The three of us then split up, with me and Megan heading to her new place, a gorgeous condo closer to the centre of Burlington proper. She gave me a tour around, we ate some cookies, drank some coffee, and waited for a plumber to show up.
Here’s Megan with the keys to her fabulous new condo!
He came pretty late, so we wound up abandoning him to his work and heading down to a place that Megan had picked out for lunch. At this gorgeous lakeside spot we had some delicious nachos and a couple of sensuously smoky cocktails whilst sat at the bar.
The cocktails soon had their desired effect and we wound up gossiping with the girl behind the bar. I told her about what I’d seen of Burlington so far, and both her and Megan agreed that I’d to be careful what I said as everyone knows everyone in the small state of Vermont.
We had a lovely lunch down at the docks on the lake.
Lunch over, we wound our way into the centre of Burlington for my first proper look at the city. After passing through the chaos of the town square, we made our way onto Church Street, the main shopping street through the city centre. I bought myself a black cap with “Burlington, Vermont” on it as a souvenir and then a cocktail mixer from a speciality drinks shop. I tried a sip of it straight from the glass on the way back to the car – way too sweet!
Upon arriving back at Megan’s parents’ place we hopped in the pool, where Megan’s friend Malory was waiting for us alongside Maureen. We stayed in the water for probably way too long, gossiping and splashing around before we were summoned out to eat delicious pulled pork and homemade coleslaw sliders.
Fed and watered, we then gathered in the living room with a smattering more of Megan’s friends for their Monday evening ritual of watching “The Bachelorette”. This trashy reality TV programme sees a bunch of single men battling it out for dates with two single women. It was as terrible as you can imagine, but me and Breen had a good laugh throughout as we snickered away at how exaggerated everything was – until we got told off for being too noisy. The Bachelorette is serious business.
A dessert break halfway through the show allowed me to get some sugar in my body in the form of some homemade biscuits that Megan’s friends had brought, but this wasn’t enough to stop an overwhelming tiredness take over me. With the show over, I said my goodbyes and headed off to bed.
The Bachelorette was a fitting wind-down after another busy day.
Next in my series of American adventures was a trip to the high school that Megan has been working at for the past few years. She was back for a few weeks in the summer as she was working at a summer camp for students for whom English wasn’t their native language.
We rocked up early so that Megan could coordinate with the other teachers and also so that I could have a quick tour of the place. I was thrilled to discover that it was just like the movies, from the locker-lined corridors to the huge theatre, and then the American flags and individual desks in all the classrooms.
With the students seated, I was drafted in to help out with some of the day’s entertainment. I sat out such events such as musical chairs and other physical activities, but was more than happy to try my hand at cupcake decoration. I made myself a purple monster of which I was very proud, but was dismayed to hear that I’d have to wait for the end of the day to eat it.
My purple monster, Geoff, looked good and tasted bad.
Once the summer camp was over, the yellow school buses had taken the last students home, and my cupcake had been well and truly devoured, Megan and I headed back home and were tasked with taking the family dog, Ellie, out for a walk. This allowed me to snoop around the neighbourhood even more, from the lovely houses to the intense green nature that forms so much of Vermont.
Back home, we waited for Megan’s brother Scott to arrive back. Once he did, we headed out for some food together at a series of food trucks that had gathered in the parking lot of a farm shop just up the road. There I tried my first Philly cheesesteak and some disgustingly sweet fizzy pop whilst enjoying some live music provided by a local a cappella group.
We then begun the short walk back home after the group had packed up and we’d finished our food, but stopped along the way to head into a field and watch as the sun began to set. We took lots of photos, but the coolness of the air and the jet lag that was still nagging at me meant that we didn’t manage to stick it out to see the sun disappear beyond the horizon.
Some cool tractors and a bit of accidental Wes Anderson.
I had to try my new hat out and climb inside this skip.
With the entire family gathered in the living room, I then spent a while introducing them all to the joy of Eurovision, running through my favourite acts from this year’s edition. It was like being back watching it in Norway, except that everyone was quite bemused by this most European of traditions!
The next day now took us out on another adventure around a spectacular part of Burlington and Vermont in general, but this post is already quite long, so I’ll have to live that one for next time!
It’s been over a month since I last posted, but the reason is a valid one: I’ve been gallivanting around across the pond for an entire four weeks! This American adventure took me on a wild trip around Canada and the USA doing so much that I’m going to have to break my trip down into a series of what I assume will be about a dozen blog posts.
But enough with the intro, it’s time to strap in, because here goes the first one…
My journey began as I said goodbye to my two plants, saying a little prayer that the funky automatic watering device I’d put in them would keep them alive for a whole month. I headed down to the train station with my suitcase and backpack and jumped on a train to the airport, where my first couple of dramas occurred.
I was firstly interrogated by a guy in the check-in queue over how long I’d been in Spain. I panicked, thinking it was some kind of immigration issue, but it turns out that he just wanted to compliment my Spanish! The next close call came as I’d no idea what kind of batteries were in some of the stuff I’d packed in my suitcase, calling for the stereotypical rushed unpacking and repacking of my suitcase in front of the check-in desk to fish the little buggers out of there.
The rest of the journey then went without a hitch, with the added little surprise of lunch being included which even came with a glass of red wine – I’ve been flying Ryanair for many years and so I was pretty amazed that anything was included for free. The wine improved the rest of the journey no end, and I was soon in Canada for my first ever visit to the country.
It was my first time in Canada and the first time I’d been to see Megan after so many years of saying I’d visit!
Things got off to a rocky start as the arrival forms I’d prepared to enter Canada wouldn’t work, and then my flight’s suitcases took an eternity to show up in the baggage reclaim. I did manage to spot my new bright blue case as soon as it came down the slide, and so headed out in earnest to look for my guide for the first part of my American adventure: Megan!
The last time I’d seen Megan was when she visited Madrid back in 2019 along with Loredana and Heidi. The four of us met in Madrid, and I’d always said I’d go and see all three of them: I saw Heidi in 2018 and 2022, and Loredana just last year. Megan’s from Vermont in the US, so this was always going to be a slightly tricker one, but it was time to be reunited!
Megan met me in arrivals with a balloon which said “congratulations” in French (apparently there were no welcome ones), and the two of us excitedly headed off to find her car and head into Montreal proper. We found our hotel, checked into our room, and got ready for our first night out checking out the city.
We wound up stumbling across a comedy festival hosted by Just For Laughs, the Canadian prank show that I used to watch as a child – I never thought I’d come across them again! We watched on in amusement as street performers made their way up and down the street whilst we searched for somewhere to grab a drink. Once sat down, the show continued on as we tried a local beer and watched the parade of comedians go past.
We’d decided that while we were in Canada we wanted to eat some poutine, and so ordered some only to be told that the kitchen was closed due to the fire system malfunctioning and dumping foam all over everything. We thus headed across the road and to another terrace, where we were served a hearty portion of the gravy and cheese curd-covered chips.
After our very Canadian meal we headed back to the previous bar, enjoying one last half-pint and chatting to the waiter before heading back to the hotel for a relatively early night – I was pretty exhausted after the day of travels!
I had a pretty rough night’s sleep thanks to the jet lag, but the early morning meant that me and Megan could squeeze in some activities before breakfast. We’d wanted to go check out a vantage point atop a hill near the hotel, but the drive up their turned out to be in vain as the road was closed off. The two guys manning the blockade suggested we walk up, a suggestion to which me and Megan laughed in unison.
At least we got to see some pretty houses and areas along the way.
We retreated back to the hotel to make the most of the free breakfast, after which we hopped back in the car and drove down into the Old Port, one of the oldest areas of the city. We had a wander around as the clouds rolled in, stopping by at a café along the way to grab a chocolate croissant after Megan spotted that an underground bakery had some really good looking ones on offer.
At this same café we grabbed some bread that had full olives baked into it, resolving to eat it as we headed back out on the road later on. We took some photos around the area, wandered down to the water, and then grabbed the car back to the hotel to pack and check out.
Don’t be fooled by my hat, it was sweltering out.
Once back in the car, we began our journey out of Montreal and out of Canada itself: it was time to cross the border over into the US. We waved goodbye to the city that I’d been in for less than 24 hours and headed south to a remote border crossing point that Megan had decided would be less crazily busy than the main one.
It was a lovely drive, passing through small Canadian towns and past some beautiful natural scenery before arriving at the backroad border crossing, which consisted of a little white hut and a cone in the road. Despite its benign appearance, I wound up stuck there for a while whilst I got asked a lot of questions and had my details taken.
I was very relieved to eventually be released and reunited with Megan, now in the US! The rest of the journey saw us power on through a bunch of small American towns, where the Canadian red and white tricolour had been swapped out for the Stars and Stripes.
But that’ll have to be all for now: stay tuned for my next blog post, where I’ll delve into the first destination on my American adventure!
Now back in Spain after a few short days in England for Jess and Adam’s wedding, the heat has begun to prove itself to be somewhat of a nuisance. No matter, however, for there’s always fun summer plans to be made and innovative ways of cooling off to be found!
One weekend I headed down to Luis’ place, who then promptly whisked me off to his family’s finca, their casa de campo. This rather Spanish concept sees families families own two properties: the family home, and then their “countryside house”, a more rural dwelling used for family holidays and weekends away to escape the heat.
Escaping the heat was just what Luis and I had in mind, and so we headed off with supplies in tow: our swimming trunks, some beer, and a box of Turkish delight that Luis had brought me back from Istanbul. I do love me some Turkish delight!
A Sunday afternoon spent in the pool was just the ticket.
After a stop for lunch along the way, the two of us then spent the entire afternoon lounging by the pool. We chatted, listened to music, and setup an impromptu medical centre after I wandered into a wasp nest and got stung on my foot. Turns out that wasp stings are worse than the bee stings I always used to get as a child!
Back in the city, I also had an evening planned with Napo, who I’d not seen for a while. We arranged to meet up in Lavapiés, one of my favourite areas of the city. The walk to the bar that we’d decided on was a lovely one, with a relatively cool but still sunny afternoon providing for some lovely sights along the way.
This street is one of my favourite in the city, it reminds me of Lisbon.
We first had a few beers at an old bar, sitting at the bar and chatting with a caña in hand for a good while. We chatted for so long that we didn’t realise that our favourite restaurant, NAP, had already opened! No fear though, as we did manage to get a table in the end, and had a wonderful catch up over some delicious Italian food.
The melanzane alla parmigiana is one of my favourite dishes.
As the night drew to a close we headed back towards my house on foot, making the most of a relatively mild evening and the short downhill journey to my neighbourhood. There I got an early night and prepared for what the next week of heat would bring…
Just a month after the last time I’d been back in the UK, I once again found myself hopping on a plane up north to England in order to attend a rather important event: Jess and Adam’s wedding!
I’ve known Jess since we were quite young, as we worked together on a drama project together back in the day and then worked together at Burnley Youth Theatre for quite a good while. I then received the invitation through the post last year and was super excited to attend what promised to be a fabulous celebration.
After flying back with Danni from Madrid, I had an early night as the very next day was the big wedding. Awaking early, I dressed myself as quickly as possible in order to not be late to the wedding: I’d had very clear instructions from Amber that I’d to be there bang on time at 1pm.
I put the effort in and was out the door on time in order to rock up at the venue just before 1pm. I waved goodbye to my parents and they headed off as I headed inside to check out the lovely rural venue: a barn in the Ribble Valley.
I followed the signs round to the entrance to the barn, entering into the space for the ceremony itself, set out with plants, lights, and some lovely views over the valley. There was nobody there, though, so I headed further inside and past the dining area and the bar, both of which were also empty.
Figuring that Amber had just told me to be there half an hour before everyone else – knowing me as she does – I set out to find a staff member to ask where I could leave my stuff before the celebrations began. Coming across a woman in the corner of the room, I let her know that I was here for Jess and Adam’s wedding, and her response left me frozen: there was no wedding there today!
She also mentioned the name of another venue, The Out Barn, which was when it fully dawned on me that she wasn’t joking and that I had, indeed, come to the wrong place. A blind panic then set in, as my parents had already headed off and the lady informed me that a taxi could take up to 45 minutes to arrive thanks to the rural setting.
As you can imagine, I was furious at myself: I’d managed to be on time, but I’d gone to the wrong bloody venue!
After much panicking and frantic phone calls, my parents showed back off and whisked me the short ten minutes in the car off to the correct location. I arrived flustered and half an hour late, but at least I had a good story to tell. Also, it turned out that Amber really did know me: the ceremony didn’t kick off until 2pm.
The views over the Ribble Valley from the wedding venue were beautiful on a gorgeously sunny day.
I spent a fabulous half an hour recounting my dramatic tale and catching up with some old pals that I hadn’t seen since secondary school about ten years ago, but we were eventually ushered into the main space and seated for the ceremony to begin.
The ensuing day was an absolute blast, with the picturesque setting and the intimate size of a group of great friends and some hilarious new people that I had the pleasure of meeting. With the tears of the main ceremony over, we grabbed drinks and began lunch, which was then followed by a night of singing, dancing, and having a big loud celebration as only us ex-theatre lot know how to!
The wedding was an absolute blast from start to finish.
The next day I had a somewhat heavy head and a distinct lack of energy – something I should have thought about beforehand! It was nothing that an early breakfast cooked up by Jess’ dad couldn’t fix, however, so we all sat around and recollected the highlights of the previous evening whilst gorging on bacon, sausages, and black pudding.
Once I’d recovered and been sent home with a generous wedge of the delicious wedding cake, I rested for the rest of the day to recover from the crash I’d had after so many days of fun with some of the best people I know.
I can’t thank Jess enough for inviting me to form part of her gorgeous wedding, and extend once again my congrats to Mrs & Mr Barrett as they begin married life together. Also a shout out to Amber for whipping me into shape, and my parents for putting up with my chaos. Oops!
I’d then a week to work back at home from the UK, but this had been cut short in advance thanks to an event with a client that I’ll have to go into more detail about some other time. I had three evenings in the surprisingly sunny British summer weather to enjoy though, and so spent the most of the time available enjoying the countryside with my parents.
Instead of wittering on, I’ll just leave you with these lovely pictures taken around my village.
And thus concluded a very short five days in England. I’d liked to have stayed a bit longer to enjoy the unexpectedly warm weather and great company, but a work event called, as well as plenty of other plans that I’ll have to get into shortly.
For now, I sign off with this photo of me enjoying the great outdoors and pretending to be one of the very farmers who used to scare me off as we played in these very fields as young kids. How time flies!
When I was young, rumour was that the farmer had a gun!
In between a couple of trips to Asturias and after a week back in the UK, I’ve also been up to plenty of other stuff here in Madrid. As I was looking over my photos, I noticed that a lot of them have had somewhat of a musical theme, and so I’ve grouped them all together in this quick little post.
My first little musical adventure took me, Sara, and Marta to a club, where live acts accompanied a wild programme of shows and events every twenty minutes. We had an absolute blast, even heading out for a few vermouths the day after to “balance the pH”…
Another lovely moment saw Thuy head back over to visit Spain for a few days. Naturally, we had to meet up for lunch, and had a lovely meal at a spot just a few streets away from the office where I first met her when I moved to Spain for the first time back in 2016. How time flies!
We also nipped into the office for a cheeky snoop around…
That week I also had another meal date, this time with Kevin, James, and Sara. Kevin and James were stopping in Madrid for the night before grabbing a plane back over to the US, and so we all arranged to meet up and have an evening meal at one of my favourite spots. We had an absolute hoot of a time, enjoying dish after dish whilst laughing over some hilarious stories and some strong gin and tonics…
The Cibeles Palace looked absolutely resplendent in its pride colours.
My next musical event took place when Danni came over for a flying visit. She arrived on a Thursday as I left work, but we were both back out of the house by 6:30pm in order to head to the north of the city and the WiZink Center. We arrived at the huge stadium early and in earnest to see a band which formed a massive part of my childhood: Queen!
The show was insane fun and an absolute joy – we both left absolutely hoarse, hungry, and – in my case – dying for the toilet! This was nothing that a McDonalds couldn’t fix, and so we had some tipsy chips on a bench before heading back home to rest for our next day.
We spent the day after the concert wandering the city streets, having lunch at one of my favourite spots, and then heading out for some drinks in the evening. Our original plan was to head to some of the pride concerts, but we wound up so deep in conversation on a terrace that before we knew it it was midnight!
The next day was Saturday, and we’d both to be up relatively early in order to grab a plane together back to the UK, as I’d yet again to head back to my native country for another and rather exciting event – but I’ll have to get to that next time. I’m so busy recently I can’t get these posts out on time!
I leave this post with a silly anecdote which will hopefully be as amusing for you all as it was stressful for me…
I was recently bought some new sunglasses by my mum: an actual decent pair of sunnies after years of using either cheap pairs that I’d then lose or break or, as was the case with my last pair, sunglasses that accidentally stolen from my auntie. Shout out to her for putting up with my clumsiness!
Speak of clumsiness, I was now in possession of a (relatively compared to what had come before) expensive pair of sunglasses, so the theory was that I’d be a bit less clumsy and not leave them around/sit on them/drop them every five minutes. Said theory was thoroughly disproven when, during my first trip up to Asturias, I left them on the table of the bar that I’d said goodbye to Kevin at. Thankfully he noticed them sitting there and took them back home with him, and so I was able to pick them up just a couple of weeks later when I returned up north.
Then, just two days later, I took them out again to the restaurant where I’d met up with Kevin, James, and Sara. As we left, my lesson had been learned, and I grabbed them from the table. The problem came when I popped them in the basket of the bike I used to get home – even as I placed them in it I did think to myself that there was a good chance that I’d forget to take them back out.
At about 2am that night I woke up for a glass of water, and for some reason something clicked in my brain and I suddenly remembered: crap – the sunglasses!
Well, you can imagine the sight as I, in some Christmas pyjamas that I had lying around, went running down the street to the bike station in a blind panic-fuelled hope that they’d still be there. As I arrived and realised that neither the glasses nor the bike I’d used were there, my heart sank. There was nothing to do but head back home, where I send a desperate email to BiciMAD (the public bike service here) asking them to return them on the off chance they were found, quoting the number of the bike I’d used after searching for the it in the history section within the app.
It was at that moment that it suddenly occurred to me that there might just be a way to search for the location of every bike by its number, and so I headed back into the app to see if I could wrangle the location of the bike I’d used – and lo and behold, I found it!
You know what happens next – the pyjamas went back on and I was once again power walking down the street and back to the same bike station, but this time it wasn’t to look for a bike – it was to ride one! I grabbed the first working one I could find, and off I went, speeding around the empty streets of Madrid at 3am in my festive PJs.
Arriving at the station containing the bike I’d used the evening before, I found the bike in question and – miraculously – the sunglasses were still in the basket!
The frustration from earlier was replaced with elation as I headed back home – on a bike again, of course. The elation didn’t help me sleep though, and so the next day I was tired and grumpy – but at least I had my sunglasses…
A few weeks back, Kevin landed in Spain and spent a night with me in Madrid, a quick little visit that marked the start of his extended summer holiday back here in his home country. He spent most of the rest of his trip up in Asturias with his family, and so you can guarantee that I had to get up north as much as possible to spend time with him and the rest of my friends there!
I actually headed up north twice over a two-week period, but seeing as I’m running so behind on getting blog posts written I’ve decided to merge them together into one, so here we go…
La Fiesta
The first weekend I spent in Asturias I was in Oviedo, where I’d arranged to stay with Kevin and his brother. Kevin had planned to meet me at his flat there, but wound up stuck in Gijón until late after some vermouths and a rebel train that didn’t open the doors at his stop. ¡Reclamación!
Kevin eventually arrived in a taxi, livid at this “ilegalidad” (ilegal happening) that had taken place. After a quick catch up I’d to head off to bed early so that I’d be up on time and ready to work from his flat the next morning.
We stuck our noses in this rather beautiful church in the centre.
After work, we headed to the centre of Oviedo to a bus back up to Gijón, where we met up with Cami for a much-needed reunion. We had a few beers on a terrace before heading into Burger King for a bite to eat, which wound up in me banging on about how much I wanted one of the kid’s meal toys so much that the lovely lady there gifted me a Burger King Barbie, complete with her Burger King hat!
From there, we grabbed a taxi out to our final destination for the evening: las fiestas de Cabueñes (literally “the Cabueñes party”). This party, which took place in Cabueñes, a small town outside Gijón, is a typical Asturian fiesta de prao (literally “field party”), meaning lots of drinking, singing, and dancing the night away in a field!
I’ve missed Kevin a lot since he left to for the US nearly four years ago.
The fiesta was an absolute blast, but left us all pretty exhausted the next day. Me and Kevin had to get back to his flat in Oviedo, but there were no taxis to take us back into Gijón to get the night bus, so we wound up having to walk for about an hour. Once we were in the bus station, no night bus showed up to take us onwards even after another hour of waiting, so we wound up having to walk even further and grab the first train in the morning.
As can imagine we were absolutely knackered, and spent most of Saturday sleeping in and relaxing around the house. We did eventually have to move, as we’d arranged to spend the evening with a group of friends, and so we headed into the centre of Oviedo to meet up with them for a lovely Asturian meal.
I love this photo of Kevin admiring the meat platter overlooked by a hungry woman.
After stuffing ourselves on all the traditional dishes, from pastel de cabracho to picadillo, we headed off to an Irish pub to end the night with a cheeky gin and tonic. We then headed home, luckily arriving just before a huge thunderstorm begun its attack on the city.
The next day was a short one for me as the majority of it was spent in a car heading back down to Madrid. We did manage to squeeze a couple more things before I left though, starting with a vermouth in Oviedo with Raquel and Joel, where I managed to leave my new sunglasses on the table when I left…
I then headed up to Gijón, where I’d arranged to have lunch with Cami before getting picked up and whisked off back down to Madrid in a carshare. It was a lovely end to an amazingly fun weekend up in my second home that is Asturias.
La Churrascada
A mere ten days later I was already on a bus and headed back up to Asturias, this time to spend a long weekend at Cami’s place in Gijón. I arrived somewhat late, but we still managed to cram plenty in: heading out to buy some sheets for her sofa bed, grabbing some snacks, and preparing ourselves to head out for a meal.
In the time I’d been back in Madrid, James (Kevin’s husband) had arrived in Spain to join him for the last week of his holidays, and so our evening meal was arranged so that the four of us could have some food, drink some cider, and have a little boogie.
And that we did, with a delicious and hilarious meal complete with croquetas, tortos, and some delicious pork. Tipsy off the cider that was duly flowing throughout the evening, we headed to a club in the centre of Gijón for a little boogie, before we all grew tired and headed back home.
The next day, me and Cami were picked up by Andrea and Andrei, who’d agreed to give us a lift to the day’s activities: a churrascada (barbecue) up on one of the mountains that overlooks Gijón. Even the journey to get there was quite an adventure, with Andrei’s car overheating on the steep roads up to our picnic spot.
We eventually arrived in one piece and cracked open some drinks and snacks whilst Andrei and Joel helped get the fire started to get the meat on the go. We had some laughs and a great catch up, even if the cool sea breeze was battering us a bit in the exposed spot that we’d picked.
We all wound up huddled around the grill to try and keep warm!
Our quick lunch soon wore on into the late afternoon, with course after course of meat, snacks, and delicious homemade desserts that people had brought along with them. When the fog rolled in and the humidity made the cold too much to bear, we packed up shop and headed back to the car.
Back in Cami’s flat, me and Cami had a quick nap before heading out for the evening. We headed to a local bar for some drinks, walking home afterwards in order to get a few steps in before heading off to bed. This walk home was an interesting one, as we walked past a flower shop at midnight that had its door open and all its lights on but there was nobody inside, and then later stumbled across a long-abandoned block of flats right on the main road. Spooky!
The next day Cami and I headed back out into the centre of Gijón for lunch, for which Cami took me to a local fish and chip shop for what I judged to be a rather fancy plate of fish and chips. We then headed down to the same beachside bar that we’d had drinks at to celebrate my birthday, where we had a couple of cocktails until the weather turned very Asturian and a torrential downpour blew in.
As it was a Sunday afternoon and with the weather how it was, we decided to spend the evening at Cami’s, where we watched some TV, chatted, and had a drink together to end another lovely weekend.
The next day I worked from Cami’s flat. After work, we had a quick lunch together before I had to head off in search of my carshare back down to Madrid, and thus my second trip up north was concluded.
As usual, I had an absolute blast with these couple of quick trips up to Asturias. It was great to have Kevin back in Spain, and also to see James in person for the first time since he visited the UK back in 2017. The two of them are now back stateside, but I’ll be seeing them soon… but more on that another time!
With Madrid turning up the heat and a couple of events to attend, I recently found myself flying back over to the UK for a weeklong visit to be spent with friends and family. I’d to work remotely from there on the weekdays, but we managed to pack a whole lot in during the weekends and the evenings!
After being picked up from the airport by my parents, the trip started before I even had chance to nip back home and leave my stuff off. We headed straight for an outlet, where I’d to pick up a few bits and bobs – some decent sunglasses to face the Spanish summer, some new boots for my travels later this year, and even an outfit for a friend’s wedding.
Shopping over, we headed back home and through my village, which was resplendent with Union Jacks to mark the Jubilee celebrations that had just finished as I arrived. The abundance of flags and the evening sun on an unexpectedly warm day led me to take a few pictures around the place – as I usually travel for Christmas, it’s not often I get to see the place in this light.
I then unpacked my bag upon arriving back at my childhood home, testing out my new boots before putting on some older, much muddier ones in order to head out for a walk around the countryside. This evening wander took us over the fields and around the two very pretty villages close to where my parents live.
I didn’t stay out too late though, as I’d to be in bed relatively early in order to be up bright and early for the next day’s plans – we were off to Alton Towers!
To celebrate Danni’s birthday, she’d decided to take Abi and me down to Alton Towers, a theme park that I was obsessed with when I was younger but which I hadn’t been to since me and my mum had a random day out there back when I was at university.
We arrived under some threatening looking skies, but this didn’t bother us in the slightest – we were in high spirits and ready to take on all of the rides that we could squeeze in. After taking a few photos down Towers Street, the entrance area of the park, we jumped on the first of many, many rides that day.
With it being a Sunday and with the sky threading to rain on us the whole time we were there, there was barely anybody else at the theme park. This worked massively in our favour, as we managed to jump on ride after ride with laughably short wait times. All this in a theme park somewhat infamous for its long queues – it was great!
After my first ever ride on Wicker Man, the wooden rollercoaster you can see above, we decided to all chip in and buy an on-ride photo pass so that we could grab all of our silly on-ride photos throughout the day. As I say, the wait times were practically non-existent, so we managed to re-ride plenty of our favourites in order to get just the right photo…
The day wore on but we kept up our rhythm, managing to grab a few rides on one of my favourite rides, Nemesis, which we thought would be closed and so we were chuffed to bits to see it open. However, the most terrifying ride had to be the spinning barrels, which had me screaming the whole way round and actually left me quite bewildered and dizzy. Childs ride my arse!
We had an absolute blast of a day at Towers, I genuinely don’t think I’ve laughed and giggled so much in one single day for quite a while. We finished the day with a pit stop at McDonalds for tea before Danni dropped me back off at home, tired and wet and exhausted but with a huge grin on my face – and not just because I’d been corrected on The Smiler…
The next day I was back at work, albeit remotely from my childhood bedroom. After the working day was over, I headed out with my parents and sister, who’d joined us from Sheffield, for another quick walk around the fields. We had a proper good wander, heading past two reservoirs and spending a good couple of hours out whilst the sun set over the landscape.
The following day was spent as a family, as we headed off to Yorkshire to inter my grandma’s ashes. This was the primary reason for my visit over to England, and served as a lovely last sendoff after she died last year.
After the short service, me and my parents, sister, auntie, and uncle headed over to York, where we’d booked a table to have afternoon tea at Betty’s. We spend the afternoon enjoying our tea, sandwiches, and pastries, before spending some time shopping and snooping around York’s lovely winding streets.
York’s lively atmosphere paired with a lovely day made for a great afternoon out.
I soon got tired, and took to taking some photos from where I sat.
I then spent the rest of the week working from home, with the my evenings spent chatting with my parents, walking around my village, and a cheeky evening meal out with Jess and Amber in a cool restaurant in Burnley that I’d never been to before.
When Friday rolled around, I headed over to Leeds, where I was finally reunited with Emily and had the chance to meet her and Lincoln’s dog, Lando. Lincoln wasn’t around, but his mum was, and so the four of us (Lando included) spent an evening in before spending the Saturday wandering around the nature that’s on Leeds’ doorstep.
From there, Em kindly gave me a lift over to Manchester airport, where I’d been told to arrive hours in advance to avoid absolute chaos at security. After literally walking straight through security, I had plenty of time to kill on the other side, and so started work on this very, very delayed blog post whilst sitting in the departure lounge – or in the case of Terminal 3 of Manchester airport, departure corridor.
Saying this gives me pause to think that maybe it’s time to write another whiny quip about a very specific life experience, just like I did after completing jury duty – give “Purgatory” a read if you haven’t already.
And with that, I end my quick week spent back home in the motherland. I managed to cram a lot of stuff in without taking any time off work, so I’ve to extend my thanks to Erretres for their refreshingly flexible approach to hybrid working. I much prefer to work in the office, but having the option to work from wherever you want really is the future.
Let’s see where this remote working will take me next…
In stark contrast to the jovial atmosphere in Oslo, I arrived back in Madrid to discover casualties at home – four of my plants had died. I soon discovered the cause: a heatwave that has passed through Madrid while I was gallivanting around in the cool Norwegian air.
The sun was still out in force upon my arrival, and so I soon had some new seeds planted in no time. This lovely selection of flowers and coriander has already started to sprout: all’s well that ends well!
Flexing my green fingers isn’t all that I’ve been up to since arriving back, however, with a couple of non-stop weeks before I head off on my next trip – but more on that later!
My first moment of excitement came as Kevin arrived from the US as he begins a well deserved six week holiday back home in Spain. We were reunited when he passed by the office after I’d finished work, and spent an evening of laughs together here in Madrid before he headed off home to the north the next day.
Another evening that week took me out to the theatre, where I’d booked tickets with Javier and Bogar to go and see Kinky Boots. We met up for a quick drink in the afternoon heat before heading to a theatre in the city centre to watch the musical.
We walked the red carpet in our not-so-kinky boots.
I really enjoyed the show, after which I found myself walking back home with an extra touch of sass. Those 10,000 steps have to get done, and a late night after the theatre is the perfect time to do so with the daytime heat now becoming somewhat oppressive as we move into June.
The new park between Plaza de España and the palace is lovely.
It may be warm with the sun’s arrival, but I’m fully aware that it’ll only get warmer as the summer wares on, and so I’m taking every opportunity I have to see the city in full bloom and change into my summer wardrobe. My summer collection this year now includes a lovely new yellow shirt that Bogar and Javier gifted me for my birthday – hence the vanity selfie below.
A vanity selfie in which I’ve just realised that my shirt matches the wall.
I took this photo on a walk around my local neighbourhood, where I’m lucky enough to have the river and the park that follows it just ten minutes walk away. Many an evening have been spent down there, catching up with friends in person or on the phone.
I thought these were oranges at first, but alas, they were just some orange flowers.
This week just gone has been a bit more relaxing, with time spent at home cooking, cleaning, and preparing my flat ready for summer. That doesn’t mean I’ve stayed still, however, as one evening I headed to ESNE, Madrid’s design university. There I attended the presentation of a book looking at the economic value of design within the Community of Madrid, stopping around after to chat to some other friends and colleagues with some wine.
Hey, don’t be fooled by the photo, all of the glasses weren’t ours!
The return of summer in Madrid brings with it the return of terraceo (hanging out on terraces) and tapeo (having tapas), and you can bet I’ve been doing just that in between times. It’s some compensation for the heat, which I know will soon start to becoming annoying – but until then, I leave this post here!
Before we begin, I’d just like to warn that my littlerun of short blog posts officially comes to and end with this post – buckle in, it’s a long one! It’s all worth it, though, as I’ve just come back from seven days of fun and mayhem over in Norway!
As the last time I visited Heidi back in her home city was well over three years ago back in late 2018, it was high time that I went back to visit. I was supposed to nip over back in summer of last year, but a double bout of COVID put a swift end to those plans. Now that travel restrictions are all but lifted, I’m trying to make up for a couple of years of lacklustre travel plans!
This trip actually arose when Heidi messaged me out of the blue to ask what I was doing on the 17th of May and to make a proposal that I simply couldn’t refuse. She told me that the 17th of May (Syttende Mai in Norwegian, hence the title) is Norway’s national holiday, and said I should come over to join her and Axel in the festivities!
I didn’t need to be asked twice, and so within a week I’d booked flights, and last weekend I found myself on an early train up to Madrid airport and on a plane which ended with a beautiful sweep over the centre of Oslo. Heidi was graciously waiting for me at the airport to take me back to the beautiful flat that the two of them have bought together, where Axel was waiting for us with a cool fresh beer.
Heidi then had to head out, as she’d been roped into participating in a relay race at work. While she struggled through her uphill section, Axel and I met up with some of his friends for a drink and so that I could have something to eat – I hadn’t grabbed anything since having breakfast at the airport in the early morning!
After a good laugh with Axel’s friends, we made a quick stop to a pic-n-mix shop as my sweet tooth was making a spontaneous appearance. From there, we jumped on some of those electric scooters – something which would become an integral part of the trip – and headed to meet Heidi in a bar for a post-run beer.
The bar was called “angst”, Norwegian for “anxiety”. I felt attacked.
We then headed back to their place, where we begun preparations for the evening’s celebrations: it was Eurovision time! Heidi’s friend Charlotte came over for the big event, and Axel whipped up some delicious pizza (with pineapple, come at us). I had a great time watching all of the acts: I was gunning for Spain to win (and not just because I live here, Chanel did a great job), but I wound up casting a vote for Romania – the whole thing was just too cute!
Heidi and Axel’s flat is gorgeous, especially as the sun sets.
In the end, Ukraine won with a lovely outpouring of public support, and we all headed off to bed ready for the next day of adventures – and there were many of them!
Our first trip took us out of the city and up to the mountains, as I’d commented that it’d be lovely to see a bit of the Norwegian wilderness. Axel duly drove the three of us up to a forest where we began our walk, which took us uphill for the first leg of the journey – much to my despair.
As you can see, the walk was absolutely gorgeous, with winding paths between dense forests of fir trees. Although I bemoaned the uphill nature of the first leg of our journey, we were soon at our destination: a reservoir surrounded by rolling hills. I grabbed a drink from a little hut – a drink which turned out to be pretty gross, but you’ve to make do – and we sat by the waterside for a while whilst I took some photos.
The whole place felt like the setting of an indie coming-of-age film.
We then began our return journey back to where we’d left the car, which was a pleasant downhill experience following the river as it meandered down towards the city. We stopped off along the way at a gorgeous secluded clearing by the water which Axel knew had a picnic bench installed. There, we had the leftover pizza for lunch and talked a while about things that were on our minds.
Reaching the car, we then headed back to their place to get freshened up and head to where we’d booked a table for our evening meal. The special little spot is one that we’d tried to go to last time I visited Oslo, but which to our dismay was closed. I was excited to visit, as it’d been described to me as a waterside restaurant on a little island in the middle of the fjord that forms Oslo’s waterside – quite dreamy!
A bus took us down to the waterside, where we’d to wait for a little boat to come and sail us across to the island. The short trip took us to a gorgeous and quiet spot, from which we could look back over the city our out towards the open water. The few of us that were on the island were joined by a little family of ducks, who I managed to catch as they headed out into the calm waters of the fjord.
Our table had gorgeous views over the water and the weather was just perfect – it felt like we’d escaped from the world. The meal began with our starters – I’d ordered the seafood soup following their recommendation, and it was absolutely divine.
I had great surroundings, great company, and great food.
As I was still somewhat hungry and I’d been so blown away by how tasty the seafood soup had been, I ordered a salmon burger for my main – well, when in Rome…
I then excused myself to nip to the toilet, situated in a little red hut just outside the restaurant’s garden, but this quick trip soon turned into a little adventure. Upon leaving, I noticed that I was able to walk onto a little jut of land that stuck out into the water, and I couldn’t help myself but head out and see what I could see.
This small cape had quite the range of surprises in store: views back over Oslo city centre, hidden benches for watching over the water, interesting rock formations and textures, and even a view out to a house perched on a rock which was completely isolated in the middle of the fjord.
I could have sat on this bench all evening to watch the sunset.
A while later, I decided that I’d probably been gone for too long, and so hurried back to the table. I was duly informed that my burger had come and gone – Heidi had asked them to keep it warm for me whilst I faffed around taking photos.
Said burger, much like the soup before it, was delicious; it consisted of a whole piece of salmon in between the bread, accompanied by some of the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten. This reminds me of a debate that came up when I was in Sweden last year between some Swedes and Norwegians over which country has the best potatoes. I’m sorry, Sweden, but I think I’m going to have to give this one to the Norwegians!
With our meal over, and the setting sun allowing a cold breeze to set in, the three of us headed back down to the docks. There, the boat picked us up and we made the short journey back to the mainland, where we decided to grab a scooter back into the city centre.
Look at those happy little faces, ready to take on the cold Oslo air.
Our original plan had been to scoot down to the bus stop, but the lovely scenes that we passed along the way led us to keep on going all the way back home. This lovely evening trip took us past the royal family’s farm, through the city’s docks, and past the iconic opera house that I was so enchanted by last time I visited. All of this was accompanied by a full moon which shone strangely large in the evening sky.
The atmosphere as the sun set over the water was sublime.
Arriving back at Heidi and Axel’s place, we had a relaxed evening in as the two of them had to work the next day. I was in no rush thanks to a Madrid bank holiday, and so watched the sun set as I listened to some music and looked over the hundreds of photos that I’d taken that day – although it might not seem like it, what you see in this post is my best attempt at cutting them down to just a few!
I awoke the next day to an empty house, as Heidi and Axel had already headed off to work. I spent the morning throwing myself some breakfast together and mooching around on my laptop, before deciding to head off down into the city centre to do a bit more exploring around the city streets.
As I arrived down by the waterside, Heidi messaged me to ask where I was and to ask if I wanted to come and visit her office as she was leaving early. With nothing much to do and nowhere else to be, I headed over to the huge building and she met me there to take me up to meet some of her colleagues.
Heidi’s office was a huge and quite beautiful place with an inner courtyard.
As you can see above, we then headed up to the rooftop terrace, which offered some pretty cool views over the city centre and the city government building (the big redbrick structure). Heading back down to ground level, Heidi checked out of work and the two of us headed off to meet Axel, who’d also left work.
We found some funky coloured greenhouses in the street.
Reunited, the three of us grabbed a bite to eat at a place that Axel knew in the city. Wraps in hand, we then headed off to a park which contained the botanical gardens.
Once there, we were swiftly told by a security guy that we couldn’t have a picnic on the specific spot of grass that we’d chosen. It was probably to our benefit in the end, it gave us the chance to explore some other parts of the park and make our way to the designated picnic area, a huge grassy hill bathed in the evening sun.
Spots in the park included this gem, a load of tulips hidden in a little courtyard.
After enjoying our evening meal with views over the city, we grabbed some scooters and headed back to Heidi and Axel’s place. There, we set about preparations for the next day – there was plenty to do! The plans for the Syttende Mai celebrations involved hosting a big breakfast with Heidi and Axel’s friends, after which I’d been told that anything could happen…
With the basic foundations laid for the following day’s brunch, Heidi and I headed out for a wander round – she wanted to grab some wildflowers and I wanted to get my step count up to my 10,000 daily goal. We thus had a wander round her lovely local neighbourhood, stopping to wrestle a few white blossoms off a tree that had an abundance of them.
I enjoy nothing more than an evening wander to get me rested before bed.
When we awoke, the big day had finally come – the 17th of May was here! Heidi had been up bright and early to begin the final assembly of some of the dishes and the setting of the table, but found the time to present me with a cute little ribbon so that I wouldn’t feel left out of the traditional dress!
Everyone then began to arrive around 10am, and so we cracked open some drinks and the buffet was officially open. We sat down to eat, drink, and get to know each other, until we were all roused from our seats to take part in a series of challenges. This involved splitting into two teams, with each of us taking part in increasingly bizarre and hilarious tasks in order to earn points.
I wound up having to sing and dance (well, the dancing was an optional extra that I added) with some noise-cancelling headphones on. The idea was that my team should guess which song I was singing/acting out, and I think we did quite a good job!
The morning then turned into afternoon, and we continued the party with more music, drinks, and snacks. Eventually, it was time to head out of the house and down into Oslo proper to see what was going on. Heidi, Axel, and I grabbed the bus down, where the spirit was rousing and almost everyone was in traditional dress: men in a dapper suit, and women in their bunad, a beautiful traditional folk dress.
I should probably point out here that Axel is not in traditional Norwegian dress, but rather a traditional suit from Seville. I’m not sure what the reasoning was, but he certainly looked the part in his Spanish suit that he’d grabbed when visiting once!
We ended up walking around the city centre for a bit – both so that I could soak up some of the atmosphere and because we’d taken the wrong tram in our excitement. A quick metro journey rectified this, and we eventually found our way to the wine bar where some of the others were waiting for us.
We all eventually wound up stealing the excellent hat from Axel’s outfit.
We then had an absolute blast at the wine bar. I met even more of Heidi and Axel’s friends, and wound up being roped into trying an orange wine. I’m still not exactly sure what it was made of or why it was orange, but it tasted good and wasn’t too expensive (well, for Norwegian standards), so I was happy.
How fabulous does Heidi look in her bunad?
With the afternoon wearing on into the evening, we eventually bade everyone farewell and left the wine bar to search for something to eat before heading home. This took us down to the docks, where we managed to snag a table at a lovely Italian restaurant. There, we ordered some delicious pizza and spent a good while chatting away.
Fully fed and watered, the three of us then headed back to their place to spend the rest of the evening cleaning up and munching on some of the leftovers from the morning’s shenanigans. This journey back of course meant that we’d to take the scooters – they were the cheapest and funnest way of getting around!
I just had to include the above video, it makes me laugh so much. I love how Heidi’s bunad and Axel’s excellent hat make for quite the interesting silhouette as they exit back out into the daylight.
After the cleanup operation in the flat, I was shocked to learn that I still hadn’t reached my 10,000 step goal, given all the walking and dancing and general celebrating that we’d been doing. To amend this, I headed out for a quick walk around their neighbourhood, discovering some interesting sights along the way.
The next day was a Wednesday, and I’d to work from then until the Friday, so the trip then turned into a more relaxing affair. I have to say that the views from my makeshift desk over the city below were quite the treat, so those three working days flew by.
At lunchtime on Thursday, Heidi and I headed out for a trip to the supermarket and for a walk around an area of greenery near the house. This was our little farewell chat, as she’d to head off for the airport in the afternoon, where she was to catch a flight with her mum to spend the weekend in London. Her mum had nipped over earlier in the week to see me, and kindly left me with a lovely little present in the form of some smoked salmon!
When I’d clocked off work that evening, Axel took me down to eat a delicious prawn sandwich in a lovely little spot that we’d tried twice before to eat at only to be told that we couldn’t for various reasons – third time lucky! It was a lovely evening meal, even if the Norwegian prices were starting to sting a little bit!
Once back home, I once again saw that I’d some steps left to do, and so walked all the way down from Axel and Heidi’s place and down to the waterfront in the city centre. There, I wandered around the area by the opera house that I’d loved so much last time I visited.
The striking architecture and how it interacts with the water is always a treat to behold.
After a chat on the phone with Ellie for a good while, I then grabbed a scooter and headed back up to the flat, where I spent my last night with Axel. Much like Heidi, he’d also to dash off for a trip, in his case to Mallorca with work. Quite the life we were all having!
That same evening, the sky put on a spectacular show of colours as the sun set, and so Axel and I enjoyed a beer on their balcony until the cold got a little bit too much. I then said my goodbye to Axel as he headed off to bed, as the next day I was to wake up alone in their flat.
The next was then spent working alone at their dinner table, but thankfully I leave the (virtual, in this case) office early on Fridays. Once I’d closed my laptop, I headed down into the city for one last look around and to grab Heidi and Axel a little something for being such graceful hosts.
Oslo is pretty and vibrant yet refreshingly peaceful.
With the gift bought and set up in the flat for their return, I then set my sights on grabbing something to eat before my evening plans of a relaxing bath and evening of music. Heidi recommended that I visit a pizzeria nearby, and so I headed down and enjoyed a delicious burrata-topped pizza before heading back home.
I had an excellent night in by myself, with a nice hot bath surrounded by candles followed by an evening on the sofa editing the very photos you see in this blog whilst I listened to some music. It was pure bliss, and a lovely zen way to finish off a rather busy week!
The whole of Saturday was then spent travelling: I’d to lock up Heidi and Axel’s place, grab a bus down to the city, grab a train out to the airport, a plane over to Madrid, and then another train to my local neighbourhood. I still found the time to go out for a drink with a friend that evening though – it was a near miracle!
I can only end this post by saying a huge thank you to Heidi and Axel, who opened their doors to me so that I could spend not only the 17th of May partying with them, but also the rest of my working week in their gorgeous home. I can only hope to be back again soon, and hope that they’ll come and visit me here in sunny Spain just as soon as they can.
