Just strolling around…

It has been a long time since my last post, and there are a lot of “news” to tell, so forgive me because this is gonna be a damn long post. Sorry 😕

I´ll do it chronological so it´s easier for you to read, and easier for me not to forget anything.

So, we were by the time Aoife went home again on the 6th of March. Then came a normal week at work, until Wednesday, when Santiago Polo (one of my best friends) rings me and tells me he´s in Madrid. He´s staying only aweek in Spain, most of the time in Murcia (south from Spain). We wanted to see eachother, but he doesn´t have time to come to Barcelona. I only have Sundays off and can´t go to Murcia. Solution: we´ll meet up in Valencia on Sunday, spend the day togheter and i´ll take the first train (06:00) on Monday. Sounds perfect! We´ll see…

Then on Thursday, the director of the restaurant quits and with him the whole team he was arranging to come to Ibiza. Crisis! In the mean time Tim (american friend from Germany) calls me to tell me he´s in Spain as well, he´s been living in Valencia for the last 3 weeks, and he´s coming to Barcelona on Friday with his girlfriend Olivia (Spanish friend form Gremany as well). Friday morning, no one came to the restaurant, only the old head chef and the dishwasher so we had to give a frightful service. Martin, the owner and big boss, decides to close Atlàntic restaurant. Critic? Yes for many people who worked there, for me not so bad, I was only wondering when I was gonna leave to Ibiza.

So no work, on Friday evenning or Saturday. I met up with Olivia and Tim, went to down town for the evenning and had a coupple of drinks. Saturday Tim and I woke up late and kaputt, and then met Olivia who was with some friends in a bar. Had some drinks and went home from one of them to have dinner, beer and to chat for a while. It was a lovely time with them, and it was very nice to see Tim and Olivia again.

So it´s sunday already! 08:00 and the trains starts moving towards Valencia! Three and a half hours later the journey is over. I´m in Hauptbahnhof of Valencia, city I didn´t know for more than a night when I was 16, wich is in Fallas (=Carnival) at the moment. Fallas are really big “sculptures” made of wood , paper etc. wich are done for carnival and are placed around the city for a week and then burned at the end. I had only to wait for an hour for Santiago to come, but Mr. Polo felt the need to stretch his legs in Alicante, and got out of the train, and of course the train left without him :). No big deal, I picked his bag from the train, put it in a locker and waited 3 more hours for him. While waiting I saw the Mascletà, thousands of fireworks with very few colors (it´s at 14:00) but very very loud. It´s made on a square, but I could only make it to one of the adjacent streets `cause it was sooo full.

Met Santi at 16:00, I was very happy to see him indeed, and went down town. It was very hot, 25 C degrees, so we had to stop in some bars to “refresh” ourselves with a beer or two. We did taht almost the whole day, until I called Maria (Spanish friend from Germany) and she took us to a place to drink “Agua de Valencia”, wich is made with champagne, orange juice and other unknown spirits. We went to a nightclub afterwards, danced for a while, and then went to another nichtclub, but this time without Maria. The second nightclub was very bad, there were at the most 10 people including us, and we were the only ones who weren´t junkies, so tschüss from there.

It was already time for me to take the train back to Barcelona, but the tickets were sold out and for the next train as well. Tough luck, ah? Ihad another day with Santi!

06:30 was a good time to go to bed, if we had any! So the ground of a park of a church looked very nice and confortable, for our very much tired bodies. And so it was until 09:30 when we woke up and grabbed something to eat, by then go to the Oceanografo, Sea aquarium, where we spent the day in.

I ended up taking the 15:00 train and arrived in Barcelona, almost dead to see my friend´s faces `cause I didn´t have gone to work.

Sorry this is getting so long, but it has been a busy week.

And the big finale, was on Tuesday when we got a call from the office, saying we had a ticket for Wednesday night´s boat to come to Ibiza.

So wednesday was all runing around trying to pack everything and be prepared to leave. We had to take our bosse´s car with us, a big 4×4 Mercedes-Benz, which was a lucky strike, `cause otherwise, I would have had to pay for excess luggage at least 100€.

I arrived yestareday at 07:30, met the boss at 11:00, went to the both the restaurants I´ll be working in, La Barraca and Cova Santa, and then came very tired to my aunt´s where I´m staying untill June.

Pffff!!!!! Busy!!! That has been my live in the last few days, sorry you had to read too much, but I had to update you guys with “all my news” :).

So conclusion: I´m now in Ibiza until end of September. I´ll be working in La Barraca until end of May, then in Cova Santa.

I´m tired of writing, you are tired of reading, so….

chao

SAI

Here you see my mom, my two aunts (Maritza, Ibiza, and Leo, Switzerland) and me.

Aoife in Barcelona 25/02/2006 – 05/03/2206

I suppose you know who that is, we are in Park Güel, Atlantic club and Down Town Barcelona. There´s one in Reus with Traudel as well, and by the way, Pizza Hut, Döner Kebap is coming to get you!

Tim and Olivia in Barcelona 10-11/03/2006

Some very nice people you get to know in life.

Santi and me in “Las Fallas” Valencia !!12-13/03/2006 (So short? It seemed like ages… :))

 As you can see, we Rules!! jajajaja!!! No really, most of the pictures are on the street, some with Maria, there´s one with Polito on top of a car jumping to get a flag and in the Oceanografo.

And don´t miss in our next very soon show… Simon´s first week in Ibiza as a builder…..

Hello everyone! I´m back!! I haven´t post anything lately, ´cause Aoife was here for the last week. She just left today, so I now have the evennigs free (bzw. with nothing to do ;))
Oh we had a lovely time here in Barcelona. We had dinners, partys and lots of time together, wich is really the point. I´m sorry is over now , but looking at the bright side of it, I´ll see her in Ibiza in May.
Now that I mentioned Ibiza, I tell you that I´m flying there on the 30th of this month, yes sir, Barcelona is over!!!
Time really flew here , I still remember while back in Ibiza and waiting to leave to here, and now after five month (uff you say it fast…) I´m going back to the island.
It´s sound a bit sad, but I´ll like to be there again. I´m very good here in Barna, but I think that it´s time to change scenery and get some fresh air. Also to live with other people (actually at my aunt´s) will be nice, not that I´m tired of living with Sebas and Riky, but being with a person almost 24 hours a day, including working, it´s not so easy, and besides it´s like you are never out of work, because either you want it or not, you can almost only talk about it, ´cause that´s the only thing you do. So it will be nice to chat with someone about something different.
We, Aoife and me, went yesterday to Reus, where the RyanAir airport is, and visited Traudel. It was very nice and funny, to talk in german again for a whole day. We stayed there for the night and I came here early.

Ok I´ll post some pictures in a couple of days, I just have to sort them out, so you see for yourselves what the craic, “la vaina” in Ireland =), is.

Lass es gut gehen und man sieht sich!
Tschüss
SAI

Hello every body! As I sayed in the last post my mom came here to Barcelona for a couple of days! She arrived on the 7th and left on the 12th. I was GREAT! I haven´t seen her since last may and I was missing her. Her sisters came as well , one from Ibiza and the other one from Switzerland. We had a very nice time, no exciting adventures, just walks, coffes and beers, in almost every square there´s here. I really enjoyed having her around!

Then last sunday after leaving my mom at the airport, no sleeping what so ever, we went to have lunch with almost everyone that works in the restaurant and some others, ´cause it was Riky´s birthday. We had a lot of fun.

Now I´m just waiting for Aoife to come, not for another week, and working working working working…… jajajajaja

Well just a quick hello , I hope you all are ok and keep up with the hard work in college, work or trying to find one (yes Santi that´s for you ;))

chao

SAI

Hallo liebe Freunde!! It´s been two weeks since the last post and there are things to be told! Last last (?) weekend, for example, I went to the spanish Pyrenees, like 1,30 hours form here. It was five of us, Riky, Sebas, Paco, Xavi and me. We went to a little town up in the mountain called Castellar de N´hug. The place is amazing, surrounded by high peaks covered with snow, little houses made of stone and fresh and cold air. We went there ´cause there is a beautiful place with a waterfall and an ecological trek. We  bought some food (sausages, bread, tomato) and had a picnic on a table made of stone there in the trek. Xavi and I had the opportunity to take some really good shot, wich you´ll be able to see, or at least one ;). Then we drove 30 minutes back to a restaurant, where for 15 € you could eat an enormous amount of food!!! But I´m talking about A LOT of food!!! very very good, it was like typic spanish/catalan food (rabit, lamb, soup, and very much wine!!!) I really enjoy going out of the city and have a day in the field, I needed it. We even had a snow fight (well actually ice, from the parking place) for about 30 minutes. It was very funny =).

Then last Wednesday at 01:30 am my mom arrived!!! But I will tell about than in the in the next few days, and about Riky´s birthday wich was yesterday.

I´ll leave you guys with some of the best moments of the trip to the Pyrenees,

ciao bellos!!!!

SAI

Hola a todos!! This week is been ok, not so many interesting things , but some very good news.
My mom is coming to see me!!!!!!! =) I´m so happy about it! She is coming to Europe to some fairs, but wasn´t coming to Spain. So what she did was to take two days off from work and stay for a weekend in Barceklona with me!!! She is arriving on the 8th of February and will leave on the 12th. It´s just a short time but I´m gonna take advantage of it as much as I can.
As for other news, I wasn´t able to finish the fast I was doing. I was already on the 8th day of fasting and I decided to eat an almond. Well the almond made my stomach go crazy and I just got SO anxious that I started eating EVERYTHING I found. I was supposed to start eating progressively, but I couldn´t. Well I still think that 8 day without eating anything is pretty good and for being the fisrt time I do it is great. Who knows I might do it again after the summer…

Aoife is coming to see me as well! She´ll be on the 25th of February and will leave on the 5th of march, I´m looking forward to that.

It´s been really cold around here in Cataluña!! The day before yesterday it snowed and everything, brrr. It´s not SO cold like (1.5 degrees) but it is if you think that this is Spain and not Germany or Sweeden, and that houses don´t really have a heating system. At home we just have three radiators, and that´s it, and I of course don´t have a proper winter jacket, although it´s ok 😉
I was gonna go to the mountains last Sunday, but the roads were closed because of the snow, we were gonna go to the Pyrenees, to a little town on top of the moutain, where there´s a really nice retaurant. We´ll try to go next Sunday, let´s just hope there´s not so much snow this time.

Ok got to go, i´ll leave you with some pictures of the lasts day I was strolling around the city and drinking bolivean beer with two friends, one that some of you should recognize

cheers
simon =)

Parque de la ciudadela

Parque de la ciudadela

Arco del Triunfo

Las Meninas de Picasso

La playa de la Barceloneta

Traudel, Juan Pablo (Bol) y yo drinking bolivean beer “Paceña!!”

Traudel

Juan Pablo

el Sombrero Vueltiao a todos laos!

In a bar in “Gracia” a neighborhood full of bar and cafes, very nice

Last Thursday, Fede in the back, Paco, Riky and Sebas

Jaunito (alimaña) and Fabricio (Ecuador)

Hello friends, it´s Sunday again!!! Yeah, that means DAY OFF!!!! Although I had yesterday´s morning off as well it´s always nice to have some spear time for myself =).
So everything´s going great, I went to the Picasso Museum yesterday, I think I was there six years ago when I came to Barcelona for the first time, but still, is amazing. You can see some very good paintings including “Las Meninas”, wich he painted “copying/changing” the one from Velasquez. Really nice, you can´t take a picture, but I did, jijiji.
Then went to “Las Ramblas” and took some more pictures, for a change. That´s a place where there is always something going on, it´s like it has a life of it´s own.
Today I´ll be once again a tourist, with my camera around my neck and my Sombrero Vueltiado. I think I´m gonna go to the “Fundación Miró” and then to the cinema to watch “Harry Potter”.
Aoife bought plane ticket to come here again!! She is arriving on the 25th of February and staying untill the 5th of March. It´s still a month and a half, but I sure it´ll fly very quickly, and she´ll be here soon.
I started a “ayuno” (that´s when you don´t eat anything) just drinking water and a mapple of a canadian tree and tropical plams. I feel very good by now and today is my fifth day of doing it. I´m plannig on doing it for ten days at least. Then after these days, I´ll start eating fruit and cooked vegetables for another week. I really heven´t been THAT hungry. Just the first day and half of the second. But it´s horrible to do it working in a restaurant, ´cause you smell and see all that food, and you just want to try it… But I´m feeling great and I recommend it to everyone, it´s goos to give the body a rest.

Alright chicos , hope you are all fien, best wishes to those Colombian who are going to start college soon and to those who are already studying or at exam time.

Kisses and hugs to everyone

Simon

Hello everybody!! first of all HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you all have a good year full of good things.

It´s 3rd of January and I´ve had the most wonderful week of all. Aoife arrived on the 27th and from that moment on the week was all joy. We went sightseeing, shoping, took a walk in Park Güell (Gaudí´s famoust park), went for dinner, tryed to ice skate but were too late, walked Las Ramblas again and again, slept a whole day after going out dancing and of course celebrate New Year´s Eve.
It was amazing, thank you Aoife for a magical time.

But for you that weren´t here, i´ll share some of that magic in a few pictures that can be a resume a a whole week of nice moments.

I met Juana Figueroa the last week from december, it was really nice seeing someone from college here. We went out for drinks and ended up in a club. She was with a friend, who is studying in Milan, and we had a very nice time.

Ohhh, some important news I was forgetting, my boss is gonna come in the following days to Barcelona, and will go to the Govierno Civil, entity in charge of registrations and all the visa and permits issues, to get my situation sorted out. And as if that wasn´t really goos, he knows someone who works there, so it may be easyer tahn it would normally be. PLEASE cross your fingers for me =)

love

Simon

p.s. I´m gonna be an uncle!!! Lala is pregnant =)
I wish her the best durin this very special moment and afterwards, te quiero lalita.

Now Pictures!!!!!!!!!

>

Have you ever eaten a chinese pizza?? Well we have!!! Yummie!! A chinese guy was selling them on the street inside a polystyrene (Icopor) box in Plaça Real, and when I wanted another, he disappeared. Schade!

Before the dancing some pizza and beer

Then in the club (Sidecar, just read it like if it was spanish if you want to know how Spanish say it =) )…

The guy from the back (blue T-shirt) , I´m gonna regret telling you this, put his tongue in my ear and try to kiss me. Aoife couldn´t laugh more… you probably will too.

You can´t have a nicer moment than inside a garbage container, jajajajajaja!!!!!

Then on New Years Eve…

… and then after midnght, to the club…

Aoife and Roxana (She is from Rumania, is our nieghbour and works at the bar in the club).

Julius (Philipino), Juanito and me

Julius, Aoife and me

Riky, Xavi, Seba, Victor and me

Me riding a lion at Colon´s monument

Aoife, the lion and me

Gaudí´s salamander in Park Güell

Hola my friends!!!
just a few pictures to let you know i´m fine and to wish you a “late” merry christmas and a beautiful new year full of succsess and joy. I´ll write you again in 2006 =)!!!

yours

Simon

At last the Sagrada Familia

The people of Atlantic Restaurant plus Riky´s mom

Hi everyone, I have to tell you what just happend!!! As I bought my camera, it came with a promotional sticker saying I would recieve a free 256 Mb memory card, if I register on their site. Well I did, and I was expexting to get it in about four weeks. I just got an email saying that because of supply problems they can´t give me the 256Mb card, so they are sending me a 512Mb one!! jajajaja!!! Isn´t that great?? jajaja I´m so happy, and so lucky as well…

Well it´s getting a bit colder here, so I bought a cool Lacoste jacket. Can you imagine me in a Lacoste jacket?? I never thought of having anything of that brand, does this mean I became a yuppie? jajaja

Ok nothing really exciting or different in my life, as you can see, only little things that make me happy, I think that´s what it matters.
Work is getting harder, because of the “office dinners” (cenas de empresas) we are having every day, and it´s just a pain in the bum, ´cause you have to change the whole restaurant to fit the tables for all the people, but at least there´s something to do.

Ok chicos, I´ll post some pics soon, and I´ll be writing you (I hope some things more interesting, maybe after Aoife´s visit, Dec 27th-Jan 3th…) in a few days

hope you are all fine and happy and to hear from you bald

chao

SAI