Lisa, Jordi & Sucio

Gràcies! Thank you!

2009-08-14T19:00:00.009+02:00

JUST MARRIED!

2009-07-08T21:40:00.004+02:00

Ja estem casats! Va ser el 13 de juny! I després de molts mesos força liats…actualitzem de nou el blog! La mala notícia és que encara no tenim les fotos del casament, però tan bon punt en tinguem, en farem un resum i les penjarem. La cerimònia va anar molt bé, amb nervis, però bé. El dinar també va anar molt bé, especialment el conill, cap inclòs, i l’esqueixada, la qual cosa va deleitar la troupe anglesa. Després de fer una mica de descans, vam anar al Max a fer unes poques cerveses. L’Eloi, la Sorcha, el Saül, el Ricardo i la Ness també s’hi van apuntar un rato. Tot va ser força senzill…i seguint la màxima de la pachorra. Estigueu atents, que en breu us comentarem el viatge de noces a Islàndia. Gràcies a tots.

We are married now! It was on the 13th of June. And after a few busy months, we update our blog! Bad news is that we do not have the pictures of our actual wedding yet, but we’ll post them as soon as we get them. The service was great, we were a little bit nervous, but it was alright. Lunch was great too, especially the rabbit –head included- and esqueixada –raw fish-, which delighted the English bunch –not. After siesta time, we went to Max for a few beers. Eloi, Sorcha, Saul, Ricardo and Ness also joined us for a wee while. It was all an easy-going party. Stay tuned, we will let you know about our honeymoon to Iceland shortly. Thank you all!

Gone With The Wind...

2009-01-27T20:38:00.002+01:00

Després de l’huracà que ha destrossat part de Barcelona, el nostre pati està fet un fàstic, i sembla el plató de l’escena final de 28 Días Después, més que cap altra cosa. Però nosaltres estem bé. Gràcies als que heu trucat per comprovar que no havíem començat el viatge de noces abans d’hora. El dissabte vam anar a sopar a casa la Montserrat i el Gigi. Acabaven de reformar la cuina i el bany, havien posat parquet, i també portes noves. Els ha quedat molt bé. Per sopar ens van introduïr al món de la raclette, desconegut per nosaltres, i al cap de deu minuts la Lisa ja en volia un per Reis.
En segon lloc, us informem que tot està més o menys a punt pel bodorrio. Només falten…ELS ANELLS! No, encara no hem parlat amb la persona que els ha de fer. I Frodo estava molt ocupat amb el seu, jeje. També falta quadrar quatre detalls però a poc a poc es farà. No patiu.
La Glòria està a punt de parir. D’aquí a 6 mesos aproximadament tindrem oficialment 15 nebots. Per la Lisa, cap problema, per mi tampoc, però el canvi és brusc.
Avui hem aconseguit que, per un cop a la vida, una administradora de finques no faci el que vulgui. Al final, el Sucio seguirà tenint casa.

After the hurricane that destroyed part of Barcelona, our skyline is a mess, and it looks more like the studio where the last scene of “28 Days After” was filmed, more than anything else. We thank all of those who phoned to make sure we didn’t start our honeymoon before time. We went to Montse and Gigi’s for dinner on Saturday. They just reburbished their kitchen and toilet, put wooden floor and changed the doors as well. All those changes look great. We were introduced to the raclette world, unknown for us, and Lisa was asking for one for Christmas ten minutes after.
Secondly, we inform that everything is more or less for the wedding. We only need…THE RINGS! No, we haven’t spokent to the person who is supposed to do them yeat. And Frodo was very busy with his, hahaha. We also need to sort out a couple of things, but we’ll do it slowly but surely. Don’t worry.
Glòria is due soon. In 6 months time approximately, we will have officially 15 nieces and nephews. It’s ok for Lisa, although it is some sort of change for me.
Today we made, once in our lives, a real estate agency not do as they please. And, in the end, Sucio will keep his place.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday...

2009-01-08T10:07:00.010+01:00

El Cagatió va fer la seva feina, i Santa Claus també va portar regals. I després els Reis. Després d’uns quants dies passant les festes nadalenques a Anglaterra amb els Freeman, ja s’ha tornat a la normalitat. Va ser una setmana per mi, i un parell per la lisa, de molta cervesa i molt menjar. La vigília de Nadal vam anar de compres per Redhill, per acabar d’ultimar alguns detalls. De nit vam anar al club social, on hi tocava el grup Rockaboogie, que, segons el Brian, al cap d’unes quantes pintes sonen prou bé.
El dia de Nadal vam passar-lo a cals Freeman amb la Barbara i el Brian, la Shelley, la Carol, el John, la Sarah i la Shannan i l’Abbey, i la Win. Un cop ben farcits i ativorrats abase de vedella i capó rostit, amb un plat que semblava una muntanya, vam començar a obrir la gran quantitat de regals que Santa Claus havia deixat sota l’arbre. A la Lisa, cal destacar, li van portar una Nintendo DS. Però el moment àlgid va ser quan la Barbara va obrir un regal que era un ordinador portàtil, i després la Wii, que va quedar arrodonida amb el joc de Wii Fit. Val a dir que la Barbara fins i tot va plorar de l’emoció. Total, quan el Jez i la Rachael van arribar, vam gaudir el vespre jugant als diversos jocs que li havien portat a la Barbara. Al dia següent per això, tots estavem amb agulletes.
La Shelley, la Carol es quedaven a dormir a casa la Barbara i el Brian, i van muntar el llit inflable a l’hivernacle, la qual cosa va fer que passessin força fred. La Win va dormir a l’habitació de la Lisa, i nosaltres havíem d’anar a dormir a ca la Rachael, però al final ens va fer mandra sortir al carrer amb aproximadament 1 o 2 graus de temperatura, i vam dormir al sofà.
El dia de St Esteve, en Brian, la Janet i companyia ens van passar a buscar, ja que ens van convidar a passar la nit a casa seva. Una altra sessió de Wii, on vaig demostrar les meves habilitats golfístiques (sic). Altre cop, va ser menjar força i beure més. I va ser una nit molt divertida, alhora que relaxada.
Uns dies atrafegats, durant els quals també vam veure el Bill i, per fi vam conèixer la seva xicota Vicky, tot i que estavem força cansats i fou una visita breu!
Una gran setmana de veritat, i donem les gràcies a tots els Freeman per l’hospitalitat, un cop més, pels regals, i per bons i divertits moments.

Cagatió did his job, and Santa also brought lots of presents. And the Three Wise Men afterwards. After a few days spending the Christmas Holidays in England with the Freemans, we’re back to normal. It was a week for me, and a couple for Lisa, with lots of food and beer. On Christmas Eve, we went to Redhill to do our last bits of Christmas shopping. At night, we went to the Social Club, where Rockaboogie band were playing, who are pretty good after a few pints.
We spent Christmas Day at the Freemans with Barbara, Brian, Shelley, Carol, John, Sarah, Shannan and Abbey and Win. Once stuffed with roast beef and turkey, whose dish look more like a mountain, we began to open the huge amount of presents Santa left under the tree. One has to highlight that Lisa got a Nintendo DS. Peak time was when Barbara got a laptop computer, and a Wii, to be completed afterwards with the Wii Fit game. Barbara even cried! So, Rachael and Jez got there afterwards, and we enjoyed all evening playing Wii games, although we all had pins and needles the morning after.
Shelley and Carol stayed at Barbara and Brian, and they put up their inflatable bed in the conservatory, which made them be pretty cold at night. Win was sleeping in Lisa’s bedroom; and we were meant to go and spend the night at Rachael’s, although we felt lazy to go outside when the temperature was approximately 1 or 2ºC, so we slept on the couch.
On Boxing Day, Brian, Janet and their family picked us up, since we were invited to spend the night at their place. Another Wii session, where I showed my golf skills (sic). Once again, we ate and drunk a lot. It was a very enjoyable night as well as relaxing.
Busy days, but we had time to see Bill and, at last, we got to meet his girlfriend Vicky, although we were pretty tired so it was a quick visit.
The truth is that it was a great week, and we thank once more the Freemans, for their hospitality, their presents, and for the good and funny moments!

La Nova Imatge del Sucio

2008-12-17T20:18:00.007+01:00

Per cert, sucio ja té logotip. Visca el merxandatge i altres sinònims del capitalisme global. Gràcies al Francesc pel disseny. Eres bueno tío!!!

By the way, sucio has a logo. Long life merchandising and other icons of global capitalism. Thanks Francesc for the design. You're good man!!!

Tsunami de Visites

2008-12-17T20:12:00.003+01:00

Després d’uns quants dies fora de servei, tornem a la càrrega. La setmana passada, van venir el Jorge i la Bine des de Madrid a veure el Barça-Madrid. Per fi van poder gaudir d’una victòria culé…tot i que vam haver de patir. La setmana anterior van ser l’Emmet i el Rory qui ens van venir a veure des d’Irlanda. Vam anar al Barça-València…que no vam patir tant, i el Rory pot presumir d’haver vist jugar dues vegades el Tiaguí Anguí, i les dues vegades ha fet un hattrick, que ja és difícil…sobretot avui en dia.
Ara ja estem preparant les vacances de Nadal a Anglaterra. Passarem fred…o potser no…jejeje farà una mica de frescota. Però segur que estarà bé.

After a few days out of service, we’re back on track. Last week, Jorge and Bine came from Madrid to go to El Clásico. At last, they could enjoy a culé victory, even though we had to suffer a little bit. The previous week it was Emmet and Rory who paid us a visit from Ireland. We went to Barça-Valencia match, and we didn’t suffer at all, and Rory and show off seeing Thierry Henry live twice, and both times scoring a hattrick, which is pretty difficult, especially nowadays.
Now we are planning our Christmas holidays in England. It will be cold for sure, or maybe not. Here’s the link if you want to understand the joke in Catalan.

Les Properes Setmanes

2008-12-04T17:20:00.004+01:00

Després de la visita d’en Jez i la Rachael amb sopresa parentil inclosa, ara toca la visita dels irlandesos Emmet i Rory. Vindran a veure el Barça València, i espero que aquest any puguin veure una victòria del Barça. Ens ha pillat que també tenim un dinar familiar el dissabte, ja que és Sant Nicolau, el del meu pare. O sigui, que ens reunim tots, i és una cita inel.ludible, i més pensant que no hi serem per Nadal. La setmana que ve, ja a punt de Nadal, tenim la visita germano-madrilenya del Jorge i la Sabine (no respectivament) en la tradicional visita pel partit del Clásico. Després, ja gairebé estem, i Nadal se’ns tirarà a sobre. Dinar d’empresa de Nadal, i dissabte dia 20, els papes que vénen a dinar a casa (uns sandvitxos van bé no??? Jeje). També, el Consell de Sabis d'Hortaleza dels Rentaconys es reuniràn en breu per ultimar tot el que seria Cap d'Any. I ja està…entre tot això…no sé si tindrem temps per visitar els Reis Mags i Papa Noel per passar-li’s les cartes de cadascú eh?

After Jez’s and Rachael’s visit, including a parental surprise, now it’s time for the Irish brothers Emmet and Rory. They’re coming for the Barça Valencia match, and I hope this time they can see Barça win. However, we also have a family lunch on Saturday, since it’s St. Nicholas’s day, my dad’s. So, we all get together and it is some sort of a must, especially knowing that we won’t be there on Christmas day. Next week, closer to Christmas, we have a Madrid-German visit with Jorge and Sabine, with their traditional visit for El Clásico. After that, we are almost done, and Christmas will be around the corner. Christmas staff parties, and Saturday the 20th, my parents are coming home for lunch (sandwitches will be enough I guess hahha). Moreover, the Rentaconys Wise Men of Hortaleza Council will meet in order to agree on what to do for New Year's Eve. And that’s it, all in all, I don’t know whether we’ll have time to visit the Three Wise Men and Santa Claus to pass them your letters! Oh! By the way, we have two bank holidays: Saturday the 6th, and Monday the 8th.

It's Christmas...

2008-11-25T09:55:00.007+01:00

Ja és Nadal a cals Mora Freeman. Si, és veritat, ens hem avançat fins i tot al Corte Inglés, però no teníem alternativa. Resulta que la Rachael i el Jez vénen a fer una visita aquest cap de setmana, de dijous a dissabte. La setmana següent vindran l’Emmet i el Rory d’Irlanda a veure’ns i aprofitarem per anar al Barça València. I després, pel Barça Madrid, la visita tradicional d’en Jorge i la Sabine. Per tant, els tres primers caps de setmana de desembre estarem ocupats i okupats; i només ens deixava el penúltim finde lliure per posar l’arbre. Però com que el dia 23 marxem cap a Anglaterra, doncs més ens val posar-lo abans, que si no només el gaudirem 2 dies! Ens hem avançat a l’Ajuntament yuju yuju!!!

It’s Christmas at the Mora Freeman’s. Yes, we know, we’re kind of ahead in time, even more than El Corte Inglés (I’d put some British megastore, but I think we’re not that ahead), but we didn’t have any other choice. Rachael and Jez are paying us a visit this weekend, from Thursday to Saturday. Next week, Emmet and Rory are coming from Ireland to see us and to go to the Barça Valencia game. After that, we get the traditional visit from Jorge and Sabine for El Clásico. So, the first three weekends in December we will be kind of busy ; and that only let us the last but one weekend free for Lisa to put the tree up. However, we are leaving to England on the 23rd, so we’d better put it up a little bit earlier, otherwise we would enjoy it for 2 days only! We beat the Council now!!! Yipeeee!!!

Rehab and Petit Eloi

2008-11-17T11:23:00.003+01:00

Ja fa un parell de setmanes que la Lisa va a recuperació. Entre això i el tractament de sulfurat de no-sé-què que li van receptar, esperem que el genoll dret deixi de donar guerra. Al menys, ara per ara, nota dolor després de l’exercici que ha de fer, però res de l’altre món, però es nota la cama més forta. Poc a poc, veurem com evoluciona, i esperem que millori.

Ahir volíem fer ruta de nouvinguts al món. Volíem visitar l’Erika i el Juanto que van tenir la Claudia ja fa cosa d’un mes, i encara no els hem anat a veure. Un desastre. Però es veu que no podien quedar. Però sí que vam anar a veure l’Alberto i la Irene, i, òbviament, el seu fill de dues setmanetes, l’Eloi. Qui em conegui ja sabrà que sóc un sapastre amb això d’agafar nens petits. Però els seus pares, i la Lisa em van obligar a agafar-lo, per perdre-hi la por. Doncs això Eloi, ara ja saps que ets el nen més petit que he tingut en braços. Tot i que tu et vas passar la tarda dormint. Que bé que viviu!!!

It’s been a couple of weeks now that Lisa started going to rehab. With this, and the something sulfurate she was prescribed, hopefully her right knee will stop giving her grief. At the moment, she gets pains after the exercises, but nothing major apparently, and she also feels her leg a little bit stronger. Step by step, we’ll see how this evolves, and we hope this improves.

We wanted to go on visiting newborns route yesterday. We wanted to visit Erika and Juanto, who had Claudia around a month ago, and we haven’t paid them a visit yet. Such a disaster, but they couldn’t meet yesterday. But we did go to see Alberto, Irene and obviously their two week son Eloi. If you know me, you’ll also know that I’m a cacked-handed by means of holding babies. But his parents and Lisa made me hold Eloi, so I wasn’t afraid. So I’ll tell you something Eloi, now you know you are the youngest baby I’ve ever held in my arms, although you may not realize because you spent the whole evening asleep. Your life is great!!!!

Dia De Paperassa

2008-11-13T17:14:00.000+01:00

Avui hem anat al Registre Civil, a la Plaça Duc de Medinacel.li per tal que el jutge ens autoritzés a casar-nos. Com diuen en els parts, no hi ha hagut complicacions. La Montserrat, la meva germana, ha vingut a fer de testimoni. Res, bàsicament els ultims passos per acabar amb la paperassa. Ara hem d’esperar un mes aproximadament per tal de recollir l’ofici que expedeixen i portar-lo després a la seu del districte de Sants, on ja hem entregat les còpies dels DNIs dels respectius testimonis el dia de la cerimònia.
Allà també hem vist la sala. Sembla més una església que cap altra cosa, però ja està bé. Per tant, tot sembla seguir el seu curs i la data del 13 de juny ja està confirmada. Per cert, també està reservat el viatge a Islàndia. La família de la Lisa també ha estat movent fils al Kingswood Club per la festeta anglesa més endavant.
Intentarem que estigui tot fet més o menys abans de gener. Sense estressar-nos, la veritat.

Today we went to the Registry Office, at Plaça Duc de Medinacel.li for the judge to authorize our wedding. As they say when a birth takes place, there were no complications during the process. My sister Montse came with us as a witness. Nothing but the last steps of paperwork basically. We now have to wait for a month approximately so we can collect the certificate they issue and take it to the Sants Council, where we already handed copies both witnesses’ Id cards.
We also saw the venue. It looks more like a church than any other thing, but it’s ok. So everything looks keeping its way and 13th of June is already confirmed. By the way, we also booked our honeymoon in Iceland. Lisa’s family is also sorting out things at Kingswood Club for the English party later on.
We will try to have it all sorted out by the end of January. No stress though, hassle free.

L'efecte Giggle Loop

2008-11-12T13:44:00.000+01:00

Parelles (Coupling) és, sens dubte, una de les millors sèries britàniques que han arribat al nostre país durant els últims temps, amb el permís de Little Britain. En aquest sketch, Jeff intenta explicar l’efecte “Giggle Loop”, alguna cosa així com gir rialler. Es tracta d’un efecte on, en situacions realment serioses, com és ara un funeral, et ve la imatge d’un nu, o bé d’alguna cosa que, en el passat, et va fer partir de riure. Un cop ha començat l’efecte, és imparable, ja que només pot anar a més.

Això és el que li passa a aquest periodista, que entrevista a una persona a qui van castrar per error i, entre d’altres, la seva veu en va sortir més que afinada. Gràcies Shelley pel video

Coupling is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best series to reach Spain in the last few years, along with Little Britain. In this sketch, Jeff is trying to explain the “Giggle Loop” effect. This is meant to happen in really serious situations, such as a funeral. You think of nudity out of the blue, or something that made you once piss yourself laughing. Once this starts, it can only go worse.

That’s what happens to this TV presenter, while interviewing some geezer who was castrated by mistake and his voice came out rather tuned after that, among other things. Thanks Shelley for the clip.

On The Road To Andorra

2008-11-11T10:15:00.000+01:00

El dissabte vam anar a Andorra. Com sempre fem, vam imprimir la ruta proposada per Viamichelin. I com sempre fem, ens vam acabar equivocant en algun punt del recorregut. Total, que hora i mitja conduint per acabar a Manresa prenent un cafè. Però, al final, cap allà a les 14h vam arribar. Vam veure tant de trànsit i tal, que només creuar la frontera, vam veure un centre comercial i allà ens vam quedar.
La veritat és que el Punt de Trobada (el nom del centre comercial) és bastant com les botigues d’un aeroport, però amb la gent més barriobajera. Et venen el tabac amb tot de regals i la distribució és molt semblant a la que et pots trobar a la botiga aquella tant gran que hi ha a l’aeroport d’El Prat. No ens va agradar gens. Però això no va impedir comprar tabac a meitat de preu per carregar el magatzem. L’alcohol estava bé de preu. Però el problema era que, abans d’anar a Andorra, no vam passar per cap super local per comprar-los, per tant no vam comprar-ne. Només hi havia, com a gran ganga, una ampolla de whiskey de 7 o 8 litres. Aparentment escocès. Segurament produït il.legalment en alguna masia d’El Bages. 6€ que valia, massa sospitós per ser veritat. Allò segurament no era res més que un derivat de matarrates.
Ens va sorprendre, per això, que la gent encara comprava sucre en grans quantitats…2 o 3 caixes de 12 paquets per persona. Potser el sucre no té límit d’entrada. A nosaltres, ens va parar primer una treballadora del Ministeri de Turisme per fer-nos una enquesta. I ens va dir que, entre tots els enquestats, sortejaven un cap de setmana a Caldea amb totes les despeses pagades. També ens va parar la Guardia Civil per veure quina quantitat d’alcohol i tabac portavem. Tot dins dels límits (tampoc va mirar gaire), per tant, ens van deixar tornar a entrar a Espanya.
En total, un dissabte de conduir molt. 420 km vam fer. I el Sucio ja té més de 228000km a les seves rodes.

We went to Andorra on Saturday. As we always do, we printed out the suggested route from Viamichelin. And, as we always do, we took the wrong turning at some point. All in all, this meant driving for about one hour and a half just to end up in Manresa having a coffe. But we got there by 2pm. We saw such traffic that we saw a shopping centre after the border and we decided to stay there.
The truth is Punt de Trobada (meeting point –that’s how the mall was called) is like the airport shops, although the people look more dodgy. They sell you cigarrettes with all sorts of presents, and the layout is really similar to that big shop you can find at El Prat. We didn’t like it at all. However, this didn’t prevent us from buying cigarrettes to stock up our warehouse. The price of alcohol wasn’t really bad. But the main problem was that we didn’t check prices at home before going to Andorra, so we didn’t have a reference. So we didn’t buy any. As a big bargain, we only found a 7 or 8 litre whiskey bottle. Scotch apparently. But probably illegally manufactured in a cottage in El Bages. That was €6, too suspicious to be true. Probably that was only some kind of rat poison.
We were surprised though because people still bought large amounts of sugar. 2 or 3 12 pack-boxes per person. Maybe there’s no limit with sugar. We were stopped by some employee of the Tourist Office first, for a survey. She told us that we entered a draw among all the people surveyed of a whole weekend all inclusive in Caldea. The Guardia Civil also stopped us to check the cigarrettes and alcohol we were bringing into Spain. Everything was within the limits (he didn’t make any effort to check either), so we could get into Spain again.
All in all then, we drove 420Km on Saturday. Sucio is now more than 228000km old on his wheels.

El Dia D, Ja Es Coneix

2008-10-20T16:48:00.000+02:00

Després d'un cap de setmana amb els amics a Platja d'Aro, discutint sobre diverses obres poètiques medievals, entre d'altres, na Lisa i jo ja tenim data pel nostre casament, i també lloc. Serà el dia 13 de juny a l'ajuntament de Sants.
Aquest cap de setmana ha vingut la Sarah i en John a gaudir d'uns dies de Barcelona. I hem estat detallant quatre coses per la festeta que es farà a Anglaterra. La d'aquí, més o menys ja la tenim.
Però, finalment, ja sabem, també, on anirem de lluna de mel. Gràcies al sistema laboral espanyol, pel qual podem gaudir de 15 dies extres de vacances per no començar la nostra vida de casats com a treballadors. Passarem 8 dies a Islàndia, fent una ruta en cotxe llogat pel sud de l'illa, acabant, òbviament a la Llacuna Blava, un resort amb un gran llac blau d'aigües termals.

After a weekend with the lads in Platja d'Aro, discussing on medieval poetry, among other important issues, Lisa and I already have a date for or wedding, and so the venue. 13th of June at Sants council.
Last weekend, Sarah and John came over to enjoy a few days in Barcelona. We have been working on a few things for the reception in England, since more or less we have an idea on what we want in Barcelona.
Finally, we also know where we are going for the honeymoon. Thanks to the Spanish working system, for which we can enjoy of 15 extra holidays so we don't start our married life as working class. We are spending 8 days in Iceland, travelling by car around the South of the island, ending at the Blue Lagoon, some resort with a blue lake of termal waters.

Shopping Spree

2008-09-14T09:39:00.000+02:00

Durant els mesos de juliol i agost, hem adquirit uns quants DVDs i CDs que aquí llistem:
We purchased some Cds and Dvds during July and August, here’s the list:

DVDs:
- A Few Good Men
- Bridget Jones’s Diary 2: The Edge of Reason
- What Women Want
- Platoon
- Some Kind of Wonderful
- Cold Feet: The Complete Collection
- Family Guy (Series 1 to 3) -Lisa's present

CDs
- Tom Petty: Damn the Torpedoes
- Ryan Adams: Gold
- Aerosmith: Permanent Vacation
- Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill
- Chas & Dave: Greatest Hits

Notícies

2008-09-11T14:25:00.000+02:00

Després d'acabar el reporte (finalment!!) de les vacances. Tenim unes quantes notícies que cal anunciar:
- ja hem començat els papers per casar-nos!! això si, per ara només hem anat al Consulat Britànic de Barcelona. Cal esperar que Sa Majestat dongui el vist-i-plau, per què després, l'altra Sa Majestat dongui el vist-i-plau definitiu
- en Sucio ja ha fet 227000 kms. Podem dir que és un home???

After finishing our report (finally!!) of our holidays. We have some news for you:
- we started doing all the paperwork to get married!! however, we have only been to the British Consulate in Barcelona. Now we have to wait for Her Majesty to agree, so His Majesty can finally agree as well
- Sucio is 227000 kms. Can we say he is a man already???

Villeneuve-Loubet, Cannes, Monaco, Saint Tropez, Montpellier, Tamariu

2008-09-11T14:05:00.000+02:00

De Milà vam anar cap a França, tot passant per Ventimiglia. Era el dia que teòricament havíem de fer més kilòmetres, i per tant, calia deixar reposar el Sucio durant una bona estona durant el viatge. De Milà fins a Villeneuve-Loubet Plage, al costat de Niça. Tot i que ens va costar una mica en trobar el camping, cap a les set ja estavem fent un tour de reconeixement per Niça. Villeneuve-Loubet és un poble de segona residència, molt de iaio, molt tranquil, però a prop de moltes atraccions varies, com Cannes, Saint Tropez i Mònaco. La Côte d’Azur respira glamur per tots els costats. Vas al super i et trobes tant nois com noies que pertanyen a la biutiful pipol.
El primer dia ja vam fer la ruta de Cannes i després cap a Mónaco, amb beguda inclosa al Café de Paris, just davant del casino. Tot i que una cervesa valia 8€, ja no ens estranyava, doncs a Venècia eren 6€ que havies de pagar per un refrigeri, però amb la diferència que a Mònaco, envoltat d’Aston Martins, Lamborghinis i Ferraris la hòstia no fa tant mal…com si ja estiguessis preparat per rebre. Cannes en canvi sembla més normal. Segur que hi ha llocs molt cars, etc, i que els iots són impressionants. Però en el fons, no deixa de ser un lloc una mica glamurós de la part alta de la Costa Brava. Saint Tropez ja és la crême de la crême. La gent bevent xampany (si xampany, no cava) al iot mirant la gent que els mira mentre passen per davant del port, i fent denteta a la plebs en general. Noies sexys pujant a iots amb un llibre ple de fotos del pal “despulla’t que jo et faré una estrella”, i tota la merda que normalment córre per aquests móns de Déu.
Quan vam sortir de la Côte d’Azur, vam tirar cap avall…fent parada tècnica a Montpellier. Bé…el terme municipal de Montpellier, perquè ens vam passar la tarda a l’hotel que estava a les afores descansant, a més tampoc feia temps per sortir. Els Formule 1 estàn molt bé pel que pagues. Tot i no tenir dutxa privada, per 32€ tens una habitació prou comfortable amb tele. A l’hora de sopar, no vam poder resistir-nos de provar la cadena de brasseries Courtepaille. Quina carn!!! Que bo que estava tot!!! D’acord, direu, que només és carn a la graella, i no us ho negaré, però venint d’Itàlia on només menges pasta i pizza…al cap d’uns dies s’agraeix.
En sortir de Montpellier plovia com mai. Anavem xino xano per l’autopista direcció Tamariu. Vam arribar al migdia a Tamariu, i plovia tant com a Montpellier! Vam decidir anar a menjar alguna cosa i esperar que l’administradora de finques obrís, per donar-nos la clau del pis del Liam.
A partir d’aquí, ja , vam vegetar i gaudir de la tranquilitat de Tamariu, només estroncada per una plaga de meduses que ens va amargar un dia de bany. Però tampoc tant!

From Milan we headed towards France, through Ventimiglia. That was the day to drive for more miles, so we needed Sucio to rest for longer during the trip. From Milan to Villeneuve-Loubet Plage, besides Nice. Although having difficulties to find the camping, by 7pm we were getting familiar with Nice. Villeneuve-Loubet is a second home village, plenty of old people, but quiet, and close to several attractions such as Cannes, Saint Tropez and Monaco. You can breathe all sorts of glamour in Côte d’Azur. You can go to the supermarket and see boys and girls belonging to the beautiful people.
The first day we did the route from Cannes to Monaco, with drink at Café de Paris included, just in front of the Casino. Even though a beer was around €8, we were not surprised, as it was €6 in Venice, with the difference that you expect a kick in the nuts in Monaco, surrounded by Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. The hit doesn’t hurt that much, as if you were ready to get kicked. On the other hand, Cannes seems more normal. I’m sure there’s plenty of fancy expensive restaurants, etc, and yachts are impressive. However, it’s only a bit glamorous place of the highest lands of the Costa Brava. Sain Tropez is crême de la crême. People drinking champagne (yes, champagne, not cava) on board staring at people who stare at them while strolling around the promenade, and making normal people feel jealous. Sexy girls getting on board carrying books full of pictures of themselves get-naked-and-i’ll-make-you-famous style, and all that shit that usually is around this world.
When we left the Côte d’Azur we headed towards south, with pit stop in Montpellier. Well, the borough of Montpellier I guess, since we spent the whole evening resting in the hotel placed in the outskirts, and the weather wasn’t good enough to go for a walk. Formule 1 hotels are pretty good for what you pay. Although you don’t have a private shower, you get a pretty comfortable bedroom with TV clean as for only 32€ a night. At dinner time, we could not resist to try the brasserie chain Courtepaille. The meat!! Yum! Ok, you’ll say now it’s only grilled meat, and i won’t say no, but coming from Italy where you are only allowed to eat pasta, pizza, and one cornetto-give-it-to-me…you are kind of grateful after a while.
It was pissing down with rain when we left Monpellier. We were heading towards Tamariu. We got to Tamariu in the afternoon adn it was raining as much as in Montpellier. We decided to go for lunch and wait for the agency to open so we could collect Liam’s apartment keys.
From now onwards, we only rested and enjoy the quietness of Tamariu, only broken by a jellyfish plague, which spoilt one day’s swim! But not that much!

Venezia e Milano

2008-07-27T13:13:00.000+02:00

Després de certes amenaces per part de certs membres de la família per part de la núvia, seguim amb l’aventurilla. Amb l’ànim d’acabar-la. Va per tu Brian.

Ja havien passat els dos dies a Florència i havíem d’anar tirant cap a Venècia. Vam sortir si fa no fa cap a les 12 del migdia. El més estrany de tot era que els transportistes estaven de vaga a Espanya, però podem assegurar que no estaven de vaga a Itàlia, ja que mai havíem vist tants camions junts. Convois de 20 camions, un rera l’altre, en una autopista de dos carrils, amb pujades i baixades, i camions avançant altres camions a 10 km per hora. I un sol senyal que deia Venezia, i era ja a Bolonya, que vam veure per casualitat.
Vam arribar a Venècia cap a les 3 del migdia. En arribar al camping, el recepcionista va cridar Jordi!!! Cosa que donava a pensar que no tenien gaire feina. Mala senyal per un camping. I així va ser. El camping era depriment.
Tan bon punt havíem deixat els trastos al bungalow que havíem reservat, vam agafar l’autobús cap al Centro Storico. El primer que havíem de fer era dinar. I així va ser, en un petit carreró vam gaudir de pasta –per variar- i allà, tot fent el cafè va aparèixer en Jesús un altre cop. Vam passejar per la ciutat pels canals, Piazza San Marco i tots els altres reclams. Una visita massa ràpida potser, queda pendent un cap de setmana diria. Hi havia botigues de masqueres per tot arreu. Algunes només per turistes, d’altres d’artesanals que impressionaven força. Un cop vam fer mitja ciutat, en Jesús ens va convidar a prendre algo. Havia de marxar aviat per anar al seu camping, però abans de tirar cap al Piazzale Roma, em va avisar “No et diré quant m’ha costat una cervesa, però t’aviso”. Ens vam quedar amb el missatge que era força car.
Un cop en Jesús havia marxat, nosaltres també vam començar a tirar cap a l’estació d’autobusos. Tirant tirant, vam veure que ens havíem perdut, i s’acostava una bona tempesta. En veure que no sabíem on erem i que començava a pedregar ens vam refugiar sota un pont, al costat d’un canal. Ja havíem estat caminant mitja hora sense sort. Quan va parar una mica, vam entrar a un restaurant i, mapa en mà, vam preguntar-li a l’home on érem. Evidentment, estavem a l’altra punta de Venècia. I ens va indicar com havíem de tornar a l’estació d’autobusos.
I al final vam arribar al canal principal. Després de tanta pluja, la Lisa volia assaborir un dels seus últims machiatto i jo, per variar una cervesa. La broma va sortir prou cara la veritat. Finalment vam arribar al camping, cap a les 11 de la nit. Al dia següent tiravem cap a Milà.
El camí de Venècia a Milà era fàcil. Milà és una ciutat força semblant a Barcelona, molta gent demanant pel carrer etcètera. Vam poder fer una visita ràpida a la plaça del duomo, i també les famoses galeries, on fins i tot McDonald’s canvia els seus colors per adaptar-se als estandards. També vam poder veure el Castello Sforzesco de lluny. A la tornada ens vam liar una mica amb el tramvia, ja que estaven fent obres fins l’1 de juny. Vam preguntar-li a una noia i va dir “Ui però això és Itàlia”, per tant, vaig deduïr que no només la semblança amb la llengua uneix italians i espanyols. La noia, molt amable, ens va guiar, ja que anava en la mateixa direcció. Molt bona noia, tot i que preferia Madrid a Barcelona.

After some threats by certain members of the bride’s family, we keep on with this little adventure. With the will to finish. That’s for you Brian. Don’t need to kick anybody’s ass.

After the two days in Florence we were heading towards Venice. We left by midday. One strange thing is that lorry drivers were on strike in Spain, but they were surely not in Italy, since we had never seen so many lorries together in our lives. 20 lorry convoys, one after the other, in double-carriageway, with ups and downs, and lorries taking over other lorries at 6 m.p.h. And only one signing saying Venezia, already in Bologna, that we saw by chance. We arrived at Venice by 3pm. When we got to the camping the recepcionist cried out loud “Joooordi!!!!”. So we grasped he didn’t have much work. It’s not a good sign for a camping. And so it was. The camping was depressing.
Once we left our staff in the bungalow we had booked, we took the bus towards the Centro Storico. The first thing to be done was lunch. In a tiny alley, we enjoyed some pasta –as usual- and there, while having the coffee, Jesús turned up again. We strolled along the city, the canals, Piazza San Marco and all the touristic musts. Maybe too much of a quick visit, as I’d say there’s a weekend pending. There were mask shops all over the place. Some were for tourists, some others handcrafted, which were quite impressing. Once we had done half the city, Jesús invited us for a drink. He had to leave early to the camping, but before heading to Piazzale Roma we warned us “I’m not going to tell you how much the beer was!”. We took a hint that was pretty expensive.
Once Jesús had left, we also started heading towards the bus station. Going along, we found out we got lost, and a storm was getting closer. When we made sure we didn’t know where we were, we sheltered under a bridge next to a canal. We had already been walking for half an hour with no luck. As soon as it stopped a little bit, we entered a restaurant and, with the map, we asked where we were. Obviously, we were right on the other side of Venice. And he told us how to reach the bus station.
Finally we got to the main canal. After so much rain and hailstone, Lisa was willing to enjoy one of her last machiatto and I, as usual, a beer. This was pretty expensive. We finally got to the camping by 11pm. The following day we were driving towards Milan.
The way from Venice to Milan was pretty easy. Milan is a city similar to Barcelona with lots of beggars, etc. We could take a quick visit at the duomo, those famous galleries, where ven McDonald’s changes its colours to follow the brand standards. We could also see Castello Sforzesco. When it was time to come back to the hotel we were a little messed up with the tram, as there were building works until the 1st of June. We asked some girl and she said “Yeah, but this is Italy, you know”, so I grasped the idea that Spanish and Italians are quite similar, besides language matters. This girl, very kind, guided us as she was going to the same direction. Very nice girl, although she preferred Madrid to Barcelona.

Firenze

2008-07-05T15:26:00.000+02:00

Després de llevar-me a les 7 del matí per anar a registrar-nos al camping i entrar el cotxe, vaig tornar al llit, ja que la lisa encara estava dormint. Vam despertar-nos cap a les 12 del migdia, ja per la calor. Fins les 9 del matí havia fotut molt de fred. Un cop arreglats, vam anar al bar del camping per gaudir de la oferta d’un esmorzar italià, gentilesa de la casa, amb capuccino inclòs.
Un cop esmorzat, vam tirar cap a la ciutat on vam disfrutar del Ponte Vecchio i tots els carrers i carrerons que la història hi ha deixat. Florència és un lloc per visitar sens dubte. De fet, us sorprendreu en saber que no vam entrar a cap museu, ni la Galleria dell’Uficci. Vam veure que la ciutat en si és el propi encant. Vam visitar tot el centre, i un duomo que no era EL duomo, si no un altre…però això ho vam saber al cap d’una estona.
Durant la nostra visita vam gaudir del primer àpat estrictament italià…pasta, como no? Una mena de self service que estava prou bé i bé de preu. Després també vam gaudir d’una altra especialitat d’Itàlia, els gelats. Boníssims, cremosos i es desfeien de seguida, tot i que no feia molta calor.
Entre pitos i flautes vam tornar al camping cap a les 6, ja que estavem cansats, i volíem sopar tranquil.lament. I vam aprendre la lliçó que a Itàlia no es ven gel. Això ens van dir al súper del camping. Però vam comprar quatre coses i la Lisa va vendre un paquet de tabac a una irlandesa (per confirmar) per 4 euros. En sortir del super, va començar a ploure i, enlloc de córrer els 50 metres cap a la tenda, vam fer els 2 metres fins el bar. Vaig anar a demanar i mentrestant la Lisa va conèixer un noi de Platja d’Aro, que es trobava camí de l’Eurocopa. Jesús es diu, molt bon tio…i na fent na fent…vam sopar junts un arròs al curri i una pizza, i cervesa. Tot això amb el futbol de fons.
Al dia següent, més del mateix, amb el Duomo i Battistero inclosos, amb la intenció frustrada d’anar a Pisa, a la nit a sopar un altre cop amb en Jesús

After waking up by 7am to check in properly and bring the car in, I went back to bed, since Lisa was still asleep. We woke up by midday, as it was too hot. It had been really cold up until 9am. Once sorted, we headed to the bar to enjoy an offer of Italian breakfast, capuccino included.
Once we had breakfast, we walked to town, where we could enjoy the Ponte Vecchio and all the streets and alleys History has left. Florence is a place to visit without a doubt. Actually, you would be surprised to know we did not enter any museum or Galleria dell’Ufficci. The main attraction is the city itself. We visited the centre, and a dome that was not the actual Duomo, but another one…but we didn’t find out until later
During our visit we enjoyed our first strictly italian meal…pasta….in a kind of self-service which was pretty good food- and pricewise. We also enjoyed another Italian speciality…ice creams. Delicious, creamy and rapidly melting, even though it wasn’t that hot.
All in all, we we headed back by 6pm, as we were tired and wanted to have dinner calmly. And we learned that lesson that says that you can’t purchase ice in Italy. That’s we were told in the camping supermarket. But we bought a few bits and Lisa sold a packet of cigarrettes to an Irish girl (to be confirmed) for €4. As we got off the supermarket, it started pissing down with rain and we ran 2 meters until the bar, instead of running 50 to the tent. I went to order some drinks and in the meantime Lisa met some geezer from Platja d’Aro who was on his way to the Euro 2008. His name’s Jesús, good lad he is and all in all, we had dinner together : rice curry and pizza…all marinated with beer. All these with the footie in the background.
Following day was a little bit of the same, with the Duomo and Battistero included, with the frustrated intention of going to Pisa, and dinner with Jesús again

El Ferry / The Ferry (part II)

2008-06-24T17:06:00.000+02:00

Així que el ferry va sortir a les 3am. Vam prendre alguna cosa en un dels dos tristos bars que hi havia a bord. Ja que l’altre estava tancat. Sense res més a fer, vam passar les 21 hores de viatge passejant, sortint, fumant i dormint. Res més…ja que no hi havia res més a fer. La nit va ser una mica dura, ja que la mar estava mogudeta i de tant en tant et despertaves del moviment.
Ens vam despertar cap a quarts de dotze del matí. Vam descobrir que, tot i que el vaixell havia sortit a les 3 de la matinada, l’esmorzar s’havia servit només fins les 9 del matí. Molt bé, doncs anem al trist bar a comprar un cafè amb llet i un croissant. En quedaven dos. Vam tenir sort.
I així vam passar el matí, el migdia, tarda i nit. Amb els respectius àpats entremig. I ja està. Fins que cap a les 12 de la nit vam atracar a Livorno. El Sucio, brut de la sal, entelat i bé. Anar tirant fins a Florència. Per sort, en sortir del port, ja ens deixaven encarats a la carretera cap a Florència. Per desgràcia, al cap d’una estona, vaig agafar una sortida equivocada que ens va fer recular i tornar a entrar a la mateixa carretera.
El viatge ens el vam prendre amb calma. Poca llum, boira i tots els vidres entelats. Havíem de passar per un poble que es deia Ganduzzello. I vam anar tirant recte fins que vaig veure un senyal cap a Piazzale Michelangelo. Buf…ja sabem que anem bé més o menys. Perquè, a qui pots preguntar direccions a quarts de 2 de la matinada a un poble més aviat petit. I vam arribar al camping…a les 2. Al fin!!!

So the ferry departed at 3am. We had a drink in one of the two sad bars on board. The other one was shut. Nothing else to do, but spending the 21 hours of this trip rambling, getting outside, smoking and sleeping. Nothing else…as there was nothing else to do. The night was pretty tough though, since the sea was a little bit rough and you woke up from time to time due to the movement.
We woke up by half eleven in the morning. And we found out that, even if the boat departed at 3 am, breakfast was served until 9am only. Ok, so we go to the sad bar for a coffee and a croissant. They only had two of them left. We were lucky.
So we spent the morning, afternoon, evening and night like this. With them meals in between. And that’s it. Until we arrived at Livorno by midnight. Sucio, dirty from the salt and completely steamed. So Florence here we go. We were lucky that as we left the harbour, we got the motorway to Florence straight away. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn that lead us back and take the same road again. We took the trip rather easy. No light, fog, and steamed windows. We had to pass by a town called Ganduzzello. And we continued straight ahead until we saw a sing towards Piazzale Michelangelo. Then we knew we were on the right way. Mainly because you are not really sure whether you can ask anyone for directions by 1.30am in a small town. And we got to the camping…by 2am. At last!!!

El Ferry / The Ferry (part I)

2008-06-22T14:35:00.000+02:00

Si algú ha vist els anuncis de Grimaldi lines i està pensant en agafar un ferry per anar a Itàlia, que s'ho miri força bé abans de comprar el bitllet. Al menys per anar a Livorno. No té ni piscina, ni gimnàs, ni jacuzzi, ni discoteca, i evidentment no té casino.
Tot va començar força malament. El ferry havia de sortir a les 23.59 del dissabte dia 7 de juny. Però a les quatre del migdia vam rebre un sms dient que sortiria a les 3 de la matinada, pel mal temps se suposa. Ens ho vam prendre amb força calma, no teníem res més a fer.
Cap a la una de la matinada, vam agafar el Sucio cap al port. I no sabíem per on havíem d'entrar. Li vam preguntar a un empleat del port, i ens va dir que podíem entrar per allà i que anessim fins el final i a mà dreta trobaríem el ferry. Allò semblava més Sospechosos Habituales, al port, ple de containers, nosaltres sols, ningú per allà. Només faltava una limousine esperant-nos i quatre matons amb fundes de violí.
Total, que vam tornar per on havíem vingut, i li vam preguntar a un altre empleat. Molt amablement ens va dir que havíem de tornar enrera. I així ho vam fer. Fins que vam trobar molts cotxes, i un empleat ens va preguntar per on havíem entrat. Però bé, al final ens vam posar a la cua i vam esperar fins que vam entrar al ferry. El qual era força petit. I no semblava tenir gaires distraccions, la veritat. A més a més, el Sucio havia de passar la nit fora. Un cotxe a la intemperie enmig del mar, durant 20 hores. Això no és gaire bo.
I vam entrar a coberta i tal, buscant la distracció. Ja eren quarts de quatre. No tenia res. Dos bars -un tancat- i una petita botiga d'uns 10 metres quadrats. I punto. Sort que vam agafar camarot, perquè lo que era el pont, era el bar. No hi havia cap lloc amb butaques pels passatgers que no en tinguessin.

If any of you has seen the Grimaldi Lines ad and is thinking about taking a boat to Italy, check all details before purchasing your ticket. At least if you are going to Livorno. It's got no pool, no gym, no jacuzzi, no night club and obviously there is no casino.
It all started pretty bad. The ferry was scheduled to depart at 23.59 on June 7. But we got an sms by 4pm saying that the ferry was departint at 3am due to bad weather, apparently. We could do nothing else but taking it easy.
We took Sucio to the harbour by 1am. And we didn't know where the entrance was. So we asked an employee, and he told us we could enter through there itself, straight ahead and do a right, and we would find the ferry. That looked more like The Usual Suspects, on the harbour, full of containers, nobody around. The situation only needed a limo and a few thugs waiting for us holding fiddle cases.
Anyway, we got back the way we came from, and we asked another employee. Kindly, he answered we had to turn back. And so we did. Until we found more cars, and another employee asked us where we got in from. But, in the end, we got in the queue and waited until it was time to get in the ferry. Which was pretty tiny. On top of that, Sucio was sleeping outside. A car in the open in the middle of the sea for 20 hours. That cannot be good.
So we got in the ferry looking for some distraction. It was already half past three. Two bars -one of which was shut- and a tiny 10sq.m shop. That's it. We were lucky we got a cabin, because the deck was the bar. That is, deck passangers had no proper place to sit and rest.

Hem Tornat - We're Back!

2008-06-21T17:33:00.000+02:00

Hem tornat de vacances al cap de dues setmanes de viatjar pel nord d'Itàlia i sud de França. Vam marxar el dia 8 de juny de matinada, i vam tornar tot just ahir al vespre. També vam fer una paradeta a la Costa Brava. Per tant, podem dir que hem recorregut bona part de la costa nord del mediterrani... Florència, Venècia, Milà, Niça, Mònaco, Cannes, Saint-Tropez i Tamariu són les poblacions que hem visitat. Per més inri, vam tornar i vam tenir la notícia que seríem tiets...un altre cop. Demà el primer capítol del viatge.

We are back from holidays after two weeks travelling around North Italy and South France. We left early hours in the morning the 8th of June, and we were just back yesterday evening. We also stopped in the Costa Brava. Therefore, we can say we have been in most of the North coast of the Med. Florence, Venice, Milan, Monaco, Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Tamariu are the towns where we have been. As if this wasn't enough, we found out when we got back we would be uncle and auntie again. First chapter tomorrow...stay tuned!

Sucio Canvia de Cara

2008-05-22T15:34:00.000+02:00

Demà, el Sucio canviarà de cara. Estarà més guapo i més net, així ja podrem dir que està tunejat. Després de trobar-li unes esquerdes a la lluna davantera, el portarem a carglass i li canviaran el vidre. Aquest és l'últim procés per posar-se en forma pel viatget d'aquest estiu, després de canviar-li els neumàtics, arreglar el rellotge i el radio-cd i passar la ITV. Demà intentarem penjar una foto de l'abans i el després

Sucio is to change its face tomorrow. It will look better and cleaner, so we can say it is customized. After finding some cracks on its windscreen, we'll bring it to carglass and it will get it changed. This is the last step to get fit for this summer's trip, after changing weels, fixing the clock and the stereo and pass the MOT. We'll try to post a picture of the before and after.

Hello Hello Hola!!!

2008-05-21T18:48:00.000+02:00

Benvinguts al nostre nou Blog. En temps de modernització i globalització vària, tots aquells que per hach o per b volíeu saber quelcom de nosaltres i no sabeu, a partir d'ara podreu anar consultant aquest noticiario universal de na Lisa, un servidor i el Sucio, el cotxe de la família. Com que ara estarem més dissenyant, o intentant dissenyar...o més ben dit, barallant-nos amb l'ordinador, només publiquem aquesta petita nota per tal d'anunciar-vos que estem en camí de fer un blog com déu mana. Sisplau, tingueu paciència...poc a poc tot anirà a millor.

Welcome to our brand new Blog. In such times of modernization and globalization, all of youse that for whatever the reason were willing to know about ourselves and could not, you can do so by checking this sort of e-newspaper about Lisa, myself and Sucio -the family car. As we'll be designing, or rather trying to or...fighting against the computer, we only publish this short piece of news so we can officially announce we are on our way to build a proper blog. Please be patient, it will improve at some point