Not much has changed

So I’ve been back in the UK for almost two weeks now. Already looking forward to getting back to Spain. Not that I’ve hated or even disliked my time here, it’s just been way too busy here and the weather is well rubbish.

I’ve not been up to much since getting back. Seen some old friends. Not much has changed. I don’t have much to update them with (another reason why my blog stays quiet for weeks on end these days)

Some highlights have been.

Watching Chelsea beat United in community shield. Many reasons for this, I’m a Chelsea fan, was good to be drinking with me dad while watching football (always a favourite past time) and it also means that football is back. (It’s even better that today’s back pages are full of Ferguson’s rants rather then the actual football.)

BBQ. My dad decided to throw a last minute BBQ. Well, one had been half planned for last weekend but it was a bit on/off. Friday we made a definite plan it was on the the very next day. In all there was about 15~18 people there and I was the lone chef. It was a bit tricky trying to cook for that many people. Some sausages did get burnt but no one has since complained about stomach bugs, which is nice.
I was even told that the plain chicken I cooked for the step brother was ate, despite him being one of the highest critics of food I’ve know. Even in restaurants he might not eat if the food isn’t perfect, so for him to eat my BBQd plain chicken was good to hear.

During the BBQ there was also a challenge set by my dad. He challenged my friend to jump on some massive trampoline in the garden, bounce down on to his bum and bounce back on to his feet. All in one go. My dad (initial) failed and took him three attempts. Here is mine..

Check out the celebration.

Some lowlights.

Drinking everyday. I’m not a huge drinker of alcohol. Just a social drinker. Except since being in England I’ve seen different people each day in different social situations….and drank at all of them. Don’t think my body can take much more.

My trainers. I came over with just one pair of trainers. Early on in the “holiday” the sole on my left shoe became unglued and now slides down my foot by about an inch or so. That means that when I stand (which is something I’ve done a lot in pubs and bars) my heel rests on the edge of the thick sole giving me a sore heel. Unfortunately all my other shoes are back in Spain.

Insect bites. Since living in Spain for about 16 months I’ve been a bit lucky and only had a handful of insect bites. Being in England for a few days I’ve received a back full of bites. I guess that might have something to do with the fact that there is more skin on offer in Spain and in England all skin is covered up under jumpers and coats at the moment, so any exposed skin for any amount of time, say a topless guy doing some lawn mowing and gardening for his dad, might get a load on his back.

And that’s been it. Apart from the big wedding at the end of the “holiday” I have not much else planned. eat a pasty, maybe a KFC. Speaking of which I haven’t even had a single sandwich yet, should really sort that out asap. Perhaps tomorrow when I’m in Liverpool (which is home to my all time favourite sandwich shop).

And I have to do it all again in a few weeks time when I return in November.

Going on a summer holiday

At the end of the week I head back to the Homeland for some catching up, cooling down and a wedding.

The thing’s I am mostly looking forward to in my three weeks in the UK are cheap stores, cheap video games, sandwich delis, cordon bleu (+mash), KFC, McMuffins and thick based pizzas.

Outside of food I’m looking forward to the weather. Despite living in a country most Brits visit for their hols and living in weather conditions most Brits want, constant 30+c heat is not all it’s cracked up to be. I really can’t wait for a little bit of rain R&R.

It’s also going to be good catching up with old friends.
My last two visits to the UK I’ve not really tried to get hold of anyone, well my last visit was only for 2 days so I couldn’t. This time round I’ve sent numerous requests on facebook to catch up with old friends.
And there is where I’ve come to notice some differences between how me and my friends arrange drinks/nights out and how the missus and co do their planning.

The missus will (and has) had most of her visit back all planned out. What she is doing, with who and when. This has been done for months. In London due to the sheer size of things, location, commutes, friend circles, office hours it can be hard to pin down friends.

Where I’m from in a small town up North that’s not how we roll. Everything is last minute. In fact you could just call up a friend and actually go out and meet them later that day. I know it might sound like a crazy idea to those reading this in the capital but it can happen.

Sometimes this annoys the missus as she likes to know what is happening and I always tell her nothing is planned (she has not learnt not to ask this and just go with things)

Although this way of thinking was made more apparent when I recently got in touch with some friends about meeting up in less then two weeks time.

 
Exhibit 1. Having told a friend I will be back in Runcorn next week he assumed I meant the following day and arranged a date. We just don’t think about making dates that far in advance.

 
Exhibit. Having told second friend that I will be back next week, his reply is to not even think about making a date and arranging it later. We just don’t consider making dates this far in advance.

Apart from all that, I’ve read up on advice for some deep and very long Japanese RPG game (Final Fantasy III) for my DS and stuck a few seasons of Family guy on my N95 as well as some new albums (if you haven’t heard them already I strongly recommend you check out Girl Talk and Santigold) which should cover all my time on planes, trains and automobiles.

All that is left is to pack the suitcase.

Since I’ve been gone

A few days ago my 1 year since moving here anniversary passed. Me and the missus didn’t do anything to celebrate, I had family visiting so we were probably out anyway. But some thing’s haven’t really change here that I wished had.

The biggest thing has been the let down that Spanish culture has yet, well at least here, to embrace the fantastic idea of sandwich deli’s. I love a good deli. I love a good sandwich. But I don’t have the patience for all that preparation to make the type of selection they have in deli’s. Or the knowledge. If anyone can teach me to make that chicken mayo fusion filling that you get in deli’s I’d be more then thankful.

There was some interest in one starting up but that never materialised.
One restaurant that does serve tasty, but slightly expensive, sandwiches had stopped. Although I have seen they stuck their sandwich board outside again.

But it’s not quite a deli.

I’ve resorted to having to find different, simple, fillings that I can stick between my two slices of Bimbo bread myself. I’ve starred at the meat counter for far too long then is allowed for a health sane person to.
And the best I could come up with is having corned beef filling. But I never really know what to have with corned beef, apart from salady stuff but at least it’s a change from having ham and salady stuff.
So I was doing at little investigating to see what I could have with my new meat and found some simple sandwich ideas that all ended with toasting the sandwich.
Which made me remember, I saw an advert for a genius idea on the TV the other day. You guys back in the UK now have the fantastic invention of Tostabag.

What a great idea. Any sandwich filling can now be doubled thanks to the easy idea of toasting your sandwich in a little sleeve and using a toaster, which I assume is in every home in the World. Ever. By law.

Amazing stuff.

But not only have the UK made advancements in dinner time snacks since I’ve been gone. No. You’ve also improved breakfast.
Watching some more English TV the other day, I promise, English TV is something that I see very close to nothing off. These are the only two things I remember watching. I don’t even remember what shows I was watching at the time, just the adverts.
Anyway, I now learnt that you have Weetabix Bitesize.

Now this is more of an “about time” invention then a “bloody marvellous” like the first one but I could so do with Bitesize Weetabix over here due to the fact that we have tiny tiny little bowls. My Weetabix look more like Weetastax then Weetabix in these tiny bowls.
Plus it means the bottom one gets very soggy and not very sugared and the top one is dry and over sugared.
I just want my Weetabix side by side.
Or in BiteSize.

Christmas in England Part 2 The South

Our second week in England was a lot more quieter and calmer. It was good to have a power shower back (the one problem about staying in my mums is that her shower has as much pressure as a balloon). Although the missus parents shower can sometimes be TOO power shower and take off a limb.

We do do a lot of playing out in London and my alcohol tolerance had improved somewhat so I was able to not get too drunk, phew.

But there was a lot of pointing...


The missus points


I point

And kissing (maybe too many festive parties was the problem)


The missus friends kiss


I kiss not one...


but two friends.


And my friend kisses the barmaid (which is often referred to as a "normal night out."


Look, presents
I did get a present of my friend, some marbles, which we then played in the corner of the bar. I won. Of course.

But there was also even better times at the missus which included eating Christmas Roasts!

Tuck in

But then it was time to leave. And after booking an additional suitcase on the return flight due to the missus clothes shopping and Christmas presents we went the airport.

Our plane

And I decided to play about with the missus present a little more.

Big plane taking off

And after horrible horrible weather all week, catching two mini colds and having a horrible runny nose we arrived back to Spain to find this.

Hardly a cloud in sight

And this is the view from the coach off the coast as we pulled back in to Nerja

Glad to be back

Slideshow from two weeks


But despite having missed all my family and friends for the last year and all the fun I had in those two weeks in England I am really pleased to be back in Spain.