What day is it again?

What? You came to the office yesterday hoping to ease the kick-off of the week by reading some silly stories about me and didn't find anything new on the blog? Well, it's tough when you're on holiday to remember it's Monday! Teresa is my only reminder that normal people actually go to work in the morning. Have to say though that Teresa is actually doing the "Jornada intensiva" which means starting at 8.30 an work with no breaks until 3.00 and then go home, have some food, a bit of a siesta and off you go!

well, as said earlier in the blog, we're having our first batch of visitors here in barcelona. Even though we're still in a (very) small temporary flat, we've managed to squeeze in. I'd like to tell you just one small detail about one of the visitors. I don't like to name the people I speak about, but Marco Fallas has been the first person I've ever seen asking for his drink to be a bit more charged... In Spain??? You have to be crazy! These people will happily pour large amounts of whisky in your drink... Asking for more is asking for trouble, and that's what Marco got! -sorry Marco, had to cover this in the blog. By the way I'm writing about this only because I know it'll take a couple of weeks for him to actually check out my blog, so I'm safe for now!

I also received some feedback about the Notting hill carnival. Michelle mentioned another festival going on during the August bank holiday. Here is the link: www.getloadedinthepark.com have to say it's got a nice lineup and I wouldn't mind changing the beach in barcelona for a good day out in london (just for that one day though). As we're talking about festivals, I'd like to mention what I found to be one of the coolest (or most refreshing) way to spend a summer day in london. I know you've just missed it but it's still worth mentioning (maybe for next year?). It's organised by the Innocent people (the smoothies guys) and it's in regents park. It's FREE and it's got a very nice vibe, bookmark this link so you're sure not to miss it next year: www.fruitstock.com And just to finish the festival discussion, if you really want to get plenty of music in your ears, a nice tan and lovely food, then there's only one way forward (and again if you missed it this year think about it for next year) www.fiberfib.com www.fiberfib.com Great bands, sunshine and gigs going on until 6am. It's brilliant to see British bands playing there because they're just not used to play so late at night by the time they're on they're all very very drunk.

This blog is not supposed to be about festival, but getting used to living in barcelona! Walking around here is very weird in August. Typically, anyone who can escapes the city for at least 2/3 weeks in search of fresh air or empty beaches. So who's left in barcelona? Not many people. If you get out of the tourist areas, you'll find empty roads, closed shops and restaurants and a very strange feeling of emptiness. Italy has got a very similar problem (cities getting empty in the summer) and I still remember when I was a kid you could find in the newspapers the list of shops open in Rome in the national newspapers. Not kidding. It was tough to survive. Nowadays things are slowly changing but August is still the biggest holiday month. Can't remember why I was telling you this (sorry guys I just woke up) but the point I wanted to make is that you only see tourists or local people who are pissed off for not being somewhere else. What I wanted to say is really about something else. Walking around barcelona there are 2 things that will be following you everywhere: groups of tourists and the constant smell of fried fish... When it's really hot and that smell is a real killer, believe me.

Right, time for me to go. Take care and see you soon.

PS I don't want to say anything until the deal is completed, but it may look like we've found a flat we like. Now the difficult bit of the process starts: re-visit the flat to make sure we really like it, try and get the price down and then find somebody crazy enough to leave us the money to buy it. I'll let you know how it goes but for the time being forget about it, I'll deny having talked about this under torture if I need to!