I Have A New Blog.
http://musingbedlamite.blogspot.com.es/
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Sun or Sol
What we consider a heatwave in England is just spring here. I got my first taste of 33°C+ weather this year yesterday..... Wow! It was a total shock to the system. Going fromcold rain and hail stones last week to this is hard on the body. I was walking between classes and had that feeling of searing burning on my skin, fortunatly this year i'm not making any rookie errors and doused myself in sun tan lotion before i left the house. Summer is going to be hard, no no, i mean Haaaaaarrrrrrdddd. . Mother nature? Please be gentle.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Getting fit for Summer.
Have you ever noticed that an idea in your head about an excursion or a physical experience is never the same in reality? You’re not alone; it’s the same with me.
I woke up last Saturday with a hangover from hell, I had been drinking copious amount of beer the night before and some strange blue gin in celebration of my birthday. The headache was like a heard of thunderous elephants stampeding through a very large hallway with fantastic acoustics and a sub woofer. However I had not ventured out of Vic for a long time so was determined to have a day out in Barcelona, not because I wanted to see any works of art or architecture you understand, there was a huge sale on at Decathlon and Primark at Diagonal Mar, a shopping centre in the suburbs of Barcelona.
I needed some clothes as I have left most of them in the UK and I needed some equipment for my bike and walks around my local area. I had only seen these shops and this suburb once last year when Jesus and I had visited a fair at the Forum, but I was sure I could find my way....... Yeah right!
Two hours later and a 12km walk I arrived. I can’t actually say I was disappointed, the walk along the seafront in the fresh February air was refreshing and the smell of the sea always takes me back to my childhood, where I can day dream about adventures I had with my friends. Needless to say, after I finished my shopping I took the bus back to the city centre.... What was my point in this story....? Oh yes! Getting fit.
It’s been a nice winter, but the warm weather will be on its way in the next couple of months and as soon as it is I plan to spend the majority of my weekends exploring the Pyrenees and the rest of Catalonia by foot but, to do this I want to be a little fitter. So my plan was to hit the training full on!
For the first few days it was a nightmare, so I pulled up off the gas for a couple of days then, last week I went to climb a hill close by called Creu de Gurb, it’s a small hill close by my town about twice the size of Roseberry Topping (for my English friends). It was a blisteringly cold Sunday afternoon but undeterred I mounted my bike and set off.
When I arrived at the top I was greeted by a huge Catalan flag and a nativity scene. No I don’t mean there was a woman giving birth to the second coming, I mean there was a nativity scene left up there from the Christmas day tradition of climbing the hill. At the top I was greeted by a great view of El Plana De Vic.
I was also greeted by the arrival of a snow storm, but luckily I spotted a footpath because that rock face decent would have been tricky in my trainers. So I set off for a run down the hill, something I have enjoyed since sprinting down from Nuria last summer to evade a rainstorm. Considerably shattered and with the arrival of the snowstorm, my sight distance was down to a couple of meters by the time I reached my bike, the ride back to Vic was freezing and with a few wrong turns (my arms were so cold snow was actually settling on them :D )
The reward when I arrived home??? I realised that I am at least 200% fitter than I was when I arrived, and I’m really looking forward to tackling those mountains in the summer.
I woke up last Saturday with a hangover from hell, I had been drinking copious amount of beer the night before and some strange blue gin in celebration of my birthday. The headache was like a heard of thunderous elephants stampeding through a very large hallway with fantastic acoustics and a sub woofer. However I had not ventured out of Vic for a long time so was determined to have a day out in Barcelona, not because I wanted to see any works of art or architecture you understand, there was a huge sale on at Decathlon and Primark at Diagonal Mar, a shopping centre in the suburbs of Barcelona.
I needed some clothes as I have left most of them in the UK and I needed some equipment for my bike and walks around my local area. I had only seen these shops and this suburb once last year when Jesus and I had visited a fair at the Forum, but I was sure I could find my way....... Yeah right!
Two hours later and a 12km walk I arrived. I can’t actually say I was disappointed, the walk along the seafront in the fresh February air was refreshing and the smell of the sea always takes me back to my childhood, where I can day dream about adventures I had with my friends. Needless to say, after I finished my shopping I took the bus back to the city centre.... What was my point in this story....? Oh yes! Getting fit.
It’s been a nice winter, but the warm weather will be on its way in the next couple of months and as soon as it is I plan to spend the majority of my weekends exploring the Pyrenees and the rest of Catalonia by foot but, to do this I want to be a little fitter. So my plan was to hit the training full on!
For the first few days it was a nightmare, so I pulled up off the gas for a couple of days then, last week I went to climb a hill close by called Creu de Gurb, it’s a small hill close by my town about twice the size of Roseberry Topping (for my English friends). It was a blisteringly cold Sunday afternoon but undeterred I mounted my bike and set off.
So I took my mountain bike across town and through various footpaths (to give myself a challenge) and up to the hill, tied my bike to the gate of a farm and off I went scampering up the rock face (not thinking about the decent).
When I arrived at the top I was greeted by a huge Catalan flag and a nativity scene. No I don’t mean there was a woman giving birth to the second coming, I mean there was a nativity scene left up there from the Christmas day tradition of climbing the hill. At the top I was greeted by a great view of El Plana De Vic.
I was also greeted by the arrival of a snow storm, but luckily I spotted a footpath because that rock face decent would have been tricky in my trainers. So I set off for a run down the hill, something I have enjoyed since sprinting down from Nuria last summer to evade a rainstorm. Considerably shattered and with the arrival of the snowstorm, my sight distance was down to a couple of meters by the time I reached my bike, the ride back to Vic was freezing and with a few wrong turns (my arms were so cold snow was actually settling on them :D )
The reward when I arrived home??? I realised that I am at least 200% fitter than I was when I arrived, and I’m really looking forward to tackling those mountains in the summer.
Its like Mordor here.
Yes I'm alive, No I'm not dead, I woke up this morning with a voice in my head.
That voice reminded me of this blog and to write something. Life here is getting better every month, for the first few months money was tight and I was unsure if I would make it to the end of the month, but now I'm in a much better position.
Being a teacher seems to get better every week, yes I have a couple of classes with children from the Village of the Dammed but, that’s to be expected. What really makes me beam with pride is seeing my students smile in class. At first I didn’t see too much of it, I guess they were just concentrating on my voice and the weird accent it was producing. Now they understand me better, it seems like some of them are just flying and really enjoying their classes, they always seem motivated at the start, which can only be a good sign.
That voice reminded me of this blog and to write something. Life here is getting better every month, for the first few months money was tight and I was unsure if I would make it to the end of the month, but now I'm in a much better position.
Being a teacher seems to get better every week, yes I have a couple of classes with children from the Village of the Dammed but, that’s to be expected. What really makes me beam with pride is seeing my students smile in class. At first I didn’t see too much of it, I guess they were just concentrating on my voice and the weird accent it was producing. Now they understand me better, it seems like some of them are just flying and really enjoying their classes, they always seem motivated at the start, which can only be a good sign.
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