My five week European holiday is almost over and its now time to put my travel blog to sleep. The holiday has flown by at such a pace that I am still coming to terms with the fact that it is almost over. As with all holidays I walk away with many great memories. Last night (Friday 18th May) I met up with my friend Mai for dinner. Mai has been in London for a few months now and she suggested we pop into Soho for a bite to eat. We ate at a café/bar called Amato. It’s the kind [View Full Entry]

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I flew into the Irish county of Kerry on Monday afternoon (14th May). Unfortunately there is a lack of internet access on the isolated West Coast and although my cousins have it in the house they are still using dial up and it’s making things very difficult for blog updating so I will be publishing this entry after my return to London. I am staying in the town of Ballybunion. A place not renowned for good weather. It is where my mother grew up and it’s a lovely if somewhat quaint part of Ireland where the people are friendly but [View Full Entry]

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Its lunch time Sunday and I’m back in London, the weather here has been mixed since I arrived back last Friday, showers in between bursts of sunshine however today its taken a turn back to winter . I had an amazing time in Spain developed new friendships and am so glad that I decided to come over here if initially studying Spanish each day was a little difficult. My limited vocabulary was my weakness during that first week in the language school yet it’s amazing how rapidly it developed mixing with both Spaniards and my friends studying Spanish in the [View Full Entry]

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I am sitting at the keyboard in my penultimate night in Madrid. 11 nights have flown by and tonight I'm staying in with my adopted family before heading out and catching up with my friends from the school who are on an "Actividad Extra" this evening. The school arranges extra activities (such as last week's cooking that we attended) to free the students from the rather uninspiring surrounds of the class room whilst still learning about the language and life in Madrid and Spain. I have certainly had a great time in Madrid and its certainly a vibrant city, more [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday (Monday) I accidentally found one of the best tapas bars in Madrid. El Bocaito from all accounts creates some of the best tapa this city can provide and is frequented by some of the most famous locals and visitors to Spain. The bar is only 5 minutes walk from home and is part of Chueca, in my humble opinion the best part of the city for restaurants and bars. According to the New York Times, El Bocaito's famous mejimecha (marinated mussels with ham and onions in béchamel sauce) are sublime, as are the anchovies of the house and tasty [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a busy three days and as I’m typing this I am almost ready to sit down to Sunday lunch with the family. Carmen has a fantastic paella cooking on the stove at the moment which myself, Gregorio, Marco (Carmen’s brother) and Roy (an American student staying in the house) are looking forward to devouring. Lola the dog is also keen to enjoy the paella; however ella tiene hambre siempre (she is always hungry!) Yesterday I traveled with two friends from the school to the famous city of Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha. Once the capital of ancient Hispania the [View Full Entry]

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I have now completed my week at school, have received my certificate and am now free to be a tourist again without the stress of regular homework Last night we (myself and six fellow students) went to the home of...(so sorry I've forgotten her name!) and was ‘taught’ how to some traditional food. None of us expected that the microwave oven would be used in the preparation of ‘traditional’ meals nor did we expect ingredients such as canned peas would be used however our host was extremely friendly and we all stood in her cramped kitchen to make the very [View Full Entry]

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I'm not sure if this story rated in the news in Australia (it did in other parts of Europe) however the youngsters of Madrid celebrated la fiesta by clashing with police very close to my place. News services suggested at least 1000 youths took part by setting fire to bins, knocking down telephone booths and throwing bricks and bottles at the local police. - a nice way to celebrate a public holiday! I'd hate to see them when they lose a game of football! Spain's El Pais paper (which has a somewhat sensationalist reputation in some respects) said the area [View Full Entry]

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Firstly let me apologise for the lack of photographs, as you may have read I left my camera in many pieces back in Bilbo, however yesterday (Monday) I bought a new camera and so photos will return for the next entry. I was somewhat nervous and apprehensive for the first day of the language school. I’m not really sure why as it’s a great learning experience and Juan Antonio (Carmen’s brother) and their dog Lola walked me to school, Lola is an over excitable cocker spaniel who seems to appreciate a long lead! I must admit to a lot of apprehension [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Bilbo was on Sunday; it’s now Tuesday morning and am at the language school. I arrived in Madrid on Sunday afternoon, the flight was late however my host family seemed pleased to see me. Hands up if you have seen the film National Lampoons European Vacation? I must admit its one of my favourite comedies. Do you remember the scenes where Clark and the family arrive and stay at the home of what they thought were their German relatives and they turned out not to be related? Well that’s how I’m feeling now however it’s in Spain! [View Full Entry]

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