Livin' La Vida Loca

I spent last week in Andalucía, Spain, and for those of you who don't know, Spain is a country very close to my heart. I first went there with my grandparents in 1985 when I was just seven years old, and since then Spain has been a second home to me.

I decided to move there after university but seeing as I studied French at degree level, nobody could quite understand why I chose to go and live in Spain, and not France. Part of me wanted to try something different, but another part of me felt it was my "destiny" (or something equally cheesy) to learn Spanish, so that was a huge motivation for me too.

I flew to Spain in the year 2000 with Julie, my then-girlfriend, on an EasyJet flight with just a backpack filled with a miserable assortment of clothing and a few text books. Our intention was to live and work in Barcelona, and after completing a TEFL course there we began to search for work and accommodation. I had visions of working a 25 hour week, hitting the beaches in the afternoons, speeding round the city on mopeds and watching Barcelona play in the Camp Nou at weekends. But it was harder than we had anticipated. Barcelona was such a popular place that finding a flat was almost impossible for us, particularly as most of the accommodation in our price range was already taken by students. Add to this the fact that we couldn't speak Spanish (or Catalan for that matter) and you get an idea of the problem.

A few random train and bus rides later and we ended up in Cádiz in the south west of Spain, the complete opposite corner of the country. Renowned for its ship-building, flamenco and world-famous sherry, Cádiz is one of Spain's less affluent provinces where unemployment has been known to hit 40%. The city of Cádiz itself, the provincial capital, is surrounded practically on all sides by water and is home to one of Spain's best city beaches. Its inhabitants are also known to speak one of the most difficult dialects to be found anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world - gajitano - so if there ever was a place to learn Spanish, this probably wasn't it.

However three fantastic years later my priorities in life had changed and I left to go Japan. And now, four years on from that, I find myself rather unexpectedly in London. Julie for her part is still living in Cádiz, only a short walk from our first rented flat in the city. And now that I'm back in Europe on a full-time basis, it is my intention to get over to Spain as much as I can. I already have a trip to Barcelona in March and a family holiday in Alicante in May to look forward to. I also know that I can stay at Julie's in Cádiz whenever I like.

Life moves on and along the way it takes us to strange and unexpected places. Some places you can hardly wait to see the back of whilst others will live long in the memory. Spain, and in particular Cádiz, is one of the special ones for me, like a home from home.

Staying Alive

I'm not dead. I haven't thrown myself under one of the few Tube trains which actually run. I've just been taking a bit of break from blogging life.

Tomorrow I fly to Spain and it will be the first time I have been outside the UK (and the first time on a plane) in over a year.

It has been a dark, dark time, but things are now looking bright. I have an action-packed programme ahead of me which will include rum, sherry, roadtrips, anchovies and maybe a bit of fried fish.

P.S. To all the Royal Mail workers who have just embarked on a 5 day strike - stop being so bloody selfish and go back to work you lazy b*stards!!