Viva Espana !
Viva Espana !
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Spring 2002 - Fed up with the wet miserable weather in England
I took off for the Mediterranean climate of Spain. Initially I stopped
in Barcelona for a few days, a beautiful city, home of Gaudi architecture
and Catalan pride. Then it was onto Valencia, the third city of Spain, sitting on the East
Coast. There I studied Spanish for six weeks at a fantastic language school,
Costa de Valencia. It was superb fun, and in my time there I went from
hardly speaking a word to being able to have a reasonable conversation
in a bar ! In fact the best way to learn was to drink a few beers (and
sangria, wine, schnapps, Aqua de Valencia … etc, etc !!), something I did
from time to time (!) during my stay. The lifestyle was fantastic, - From Beach BBQ’s to Tapas Bars, Salsa
bars to Rock bars, Night Clubs to Music Festivals … Valencia was a town
that lived life to the full. And the Fiestas were amazing - when Valencia
CF won the Spanish League title the town partied for a week. Then there
was the Fiesta de San Juan where everyone lights fires on the beach before
going swimming at midnight. Valencianos are Crazy for sure ! I also travelled through Madrid and round Andalucia for a couple of weeks.
Madrid was great fun, the nightlife there lasts into the morning. In
Andalucia I visited Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada and the Sierra Nevada mountains,
it is a really beautiful region. Best of all I met lots of cool people, all who were up for a good laugh.
Thanks especially to my teachers and the school staff who were all great
fun. Then the students - Swedish, Norwegian, Irish, American, German,
French, Brazilian, Austrian, Swiss, Italian (Cazzo, Ivan !) and even a
few other English guys all made it a real international occasion. Anyway, below are some of the photos I took during my time, hope they
managed to capture the spirit of the country and my time here. Some of
the captions are in Spanish, not sure if there correct or not though ! AMUNT VALENCIA !
Los Fotos (Click on flags/title for pictures)
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Campiones! - AMUNT VALENCIA ! Campiones de La Liga ! When Valencia won the league title for the first time in thirty one years, the town went crazy and partied for a week. |
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Madrid and Andalucia - Nightclubs in Madrid, La Mezquita in Cordoba, Beautiful Sevilla, the amazing Alhambra in Granada and the beautiful Alpujarras villages in Sierra Nevada. |
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Valencia Life - Boating in La Albufera, flat parties, paella, tapas nights and Beach BBQ's, a taste of the social life at Costa De Valencia. |
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Road Trip, San Juan y Bar Madrid - A Road trip through the country, partying on the beach in the San Juan Fiesta and, back in London, celebrating Brasils triumph in El Mundial. |
Autumn 2002 - Returning to Spain, this time I have based myself
in Barcelona in the hope of finding some work here. Barcelona is a very
multicultural city, with a real mix of nationalities rubbing shoulders
with the proud Catalans. I've discovered only a fraction of the city and
the life here, and already it's almost overwhelmed me. With luck i'll be
here for a while, so come and visit !
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Barcelona Days - From La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell to Street Performers, Sailing Boats and Mountain hiking. |
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Barcelona Nights - Sunsets, Discotecas and Fireworks. So much variety of nightlife here in Barca, from hip hilltop bars, to cheap student hangouts perfect for drinking games. |
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Barcelona Christmas - Enjoying the Fiesta life in Barca - Birthday, Christmas and New Year parties all feature here. And Thanks for Christmas Dinner Mum ! |
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Barcelona Spring - Barcelona is coming alive for Springtime! From Carneval and springtime fiestas to cracking House parties, the fiesta life is back! And a Road trip from the Costa Brava beaches to the Mountains of the Pyrenees via the south of France. Que bien ! |
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Barcelona Summer - Beach parties & Fiestas in the streets, summer in Barcelona as been as hot as the weather. And a Road trip through the beautiful Pyrenees and the very proud Basque Country broke up the madness for a few days. As they say here - Sant Ilari, Sant Ilari, fill da puta qui no s'ha l'acabi !! |
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Barcelona Autumn - La Merce fiesta, Birthday parties and bidding farewell to some Barcelona stalwarts with an Oveja Negra/Razzmatazz double. And a few sunsets thrown in for good measure ! |
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Cocktails, Menorca and CARNAVAL - Taking a midwinter break in Menorca with my bike, i discovered green fields, beautiful beaches and cows. Then it was back to Barcelona and Sitges to hacer fiesta para CARNAVAL !! |
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One Night in the Port - Recipe for Fiesta - Take one "landstarved" Ship's Crew. Marinade on a Barcelona beach with Beer and Whiskey. Place in the Port Olimpic Disco Bar strip. Stand back and watch the mayhem begin ... |