Paella and Bovril

The 5th of November is one of the nights I miss the most about the homeland of bonny Scotland.  It is not the same holding a singular sparkler on your balcony in 20 degree heat! This serving of Paella and Bovril comes from Raith's midweek game against Livingston. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME. Fashion, you are either with it or your not. " what colour will be this seasons new black?" What hairstyle is all the rage" or "what handbag will they be dancing round this summer?" But can these fashionistas keep up with the latest fashion, neoprene, Lycra and Vaseline. All over the world office water machines are the meeting point for departmental gossip, but lately the talk is not of scandals and drunken mishaps but of distances and times. Triathlons, marathons, mud-based torture runs are on the up and if you ain't doing it you ain't fashionable it seems. Associations all over the world are showing increase in memberships in their thousands

Finally autumn is here! The leaves are falling and the temperature is down to a cool 15 degrees I. The mornings. However a crisp autumn morning in Scotland is would be beautiful right now, Barcelona's trees just don't provide that colour! This Paella and Bovril comes from the home win 2-1 against Morton. This was my big game in a double header of games, the wee game being that little old el Clasico! Enjoy! PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME! More often than not it seems that the only club in town is FC Barcelona and not only in town but all over  Catalunya .  From the Pyrenees in then North to the Delta de  L'Ebre  in the South you will see the colours of  Barça  being proudly worn. Although over the past few weeks I have thought that the number of  Partick  Thistle fans in the Catalan capital had erupted as Barcelona's third strip is uncannily like the traditional Jags home strip. The Catalans are proud to wear their club on their  sleeves ,T -shirts, und

Time is a bugger, with all it's wiggly nonsense, and now it is finally catching up with me! In a dew days I will be doing my second  triathlon event, the sprint distance this time round. Giving it time to get the training right and patience  with my trainer have been a staple of the training, something g a football fan is not know for! This edition of Paella and Bovril came from Raith's home game against Falkirk that saw an early lead from Rovers and a late equalizer from Falkirk.  Enjoy! P.S Please support me in my triathlon. Check out my page. To say that football fans are a fickle bunch is very much a understatement. Supporters, whether they be the fanatic that knows every inch of their clubs facts and figures or the one down the pub who vocalizes his disgust at the recent performance they can be happy one  minute and seconds later threatening to never watch another game to milliseconds later naming their first born after the entire team, are as changeable as the Sco

Tarragona arrival of La Vuelta  I turned 3.........mumble mumble 2ish.......more mumbling this week and my lovely friends went and got me a personal trainer to get me through my last month of triathlon training! I must be mad cause I know this is going to hurt but I am excited to get my swim, run and cycle looked at by a pro!  Hope you enjoy this serving of P n B!  PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCH-DAY PROGRAMME!  With a family visitor coming to visit this week. Of course I am excited to have a guest but I am a little more than excited that within their suitcase should be a sparkly new  Raith Rovers replica shirt for me to parade around Catalonia.  With the impending visit I have been planning things to see and do. One of these is to be a day visit to the Roman city of Tarraco (now Tarragona). A day wandering round some ruins and a wee picnic-what's not to like? It also just happens of be the day La Vuelta cycle race rides into town. When I asked said family member i

A bicycle made for 1 (I have called it "Flying Scotswomen")  Today (27th August 2013) marks 40 days until I once more  swim, cycle, run for Raith! I have been training almost every day and with a little over a month to go I am getting excited. I have really been bitten by the cycling bug and have invested in a wee road bike, Flying Scotswomen. This portion of P n B comes from Rovers 0-0 with Dundee.  Enjoy PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME What a difference a few years can make. Early 2012 I was a more-than-over-sized sack of couch potatoes and was not bothered one bit. Then crisis hits Spain. Jobs are lost and time is suddenly not occupied with desks and piles of paper work but an abundance of free time and where better to spend it than in Barcelona trying to get fit (ish). The Catalan capital is oozing with those trying to get fit. If you are not "footing" (Spanish for jogging, I kid you not!) along the Oly

55,000, yes 55,000 tourist disembarked the multiple cruise ships last weekend. Luckily I live a little put of the centre so I could escape the madness of the tourists to the excitement of a new Scottish football season. Unfortunately after the high of the cup, Rovers could not kick off their season with a win. They went down 1-0 to visitors Hamilton.  This P n B comes from that match day programme. Enjoy! SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TEAM! "Closed for the summer" signs have made there annual appearance upon many a companies entrance. Now we are not talking a few wee days off for a long weekend, but all of August. Most business, companies, shops and of course the local government have ground to a halt and the staff have escaped the hustle and bustle of city life for their family holiday homes. This leaves Barcelona with just a lot tourists and some left over locals. I love it. The roads are clear, supermarkets resemble le Mary Celeste and everyone is happy and sun kisse

New season is getting well of to a decent start. The pundits sound up beat and fans seems to be enjoying the sunshine as well as the football.  Here we are having an even bigger heatwave temperatures yesterday hitting a nice 39 just perfect for a a wee cycle up Mont Juïc. So here we go the latest, and first for season 2013-14, Paella and Bovril from Raith's cup game against Queen's Park. A comfortable 6-0 victory for the Rovers saw them gain a wee trip along the road to Dunfermline in the next round. Enjoy this portion of P n B SUPPORT YOUR TEAMS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME! Barcelona is like a cauldron of soup at the moment. The humidity is boosting the temperature from a comfortable 31 degrees to a sweltering 39 plus. Doors are wide open and windows are never closed, anything to get a wee bit of a draught going! Even after several years here a Scotswoman just melts in this heat. I suppose it serves me right, a few weeks ago I was complaining about the terrible wet, grey an

Finally I am on holiday. Seems a bit strange as Rovers are back after there summer break! Just a wee note to say that the first paella and bovril of season 2013/14 has been sent off ready to appear in this weekend's match day programme.

Ten days in and I am still alive, but very aware of my legs, arms, toes, fingertips, pretty much everything hurts. https://www.facebook.com/TRIing4theRovers

It is finally here.......summer. Let the madness commence! The 15+ weeks of School holidays (yes 15 PLUS weeks) The past few weeks here have been building up to the big summer break. Schools have been operating half days since the start of June and my English students have started to fall by the way(beach)side. The big fiesta in Catalunya, that kicks of the months of sun,sea and sangria, is called Sant Juan. I would describe this like Guy Fawkes night but without the sparklers being held in a glove clad hand at an over stretched arms length. Firework code has not made it to Barcelona's shores. For the weeks leading up to the explosive event, wee kiddies (and oversized adult ones) can be seen tossing fireworks and bangers willy nilly, but 99.9% of the time safely. I of course cannot resits the chance to play with fire ! Off I go! With my rockets, fountains, sparklers a bag of coals and a few fire lighters, to the beach I go! As we party into the small hours and the fires are just

I am sure this will make some of you very happy that the weather in Barcelona has not been very summer like but finally we have some sunshine. This means a few things i can top up on my tan, sim with some fishes, listen to the Rovers on the beach and best of all I am training for my next triathlon. Last year I took part in the super sprint event (400m swim, 10km cycle and 2.5km run) to raise money for Raith Rovers Supporters trust. This year again I will be TRI-ing 4 the Rovers but this time I will be doubling my distance to the sprint event (700m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run). More details will follow. Check out the back issues of P n B to see how last year went. TRI-ing 4 the Rovers 2012 Carol xx

First of all I would like to all those who have tasted Paella and Bovril during the past season. I would also like to thank all the volunteers who make the match day programme at Raith Rovers one of the best in the Scottish first division. I am going to fill the void that football has left with training for a triathlon and for the first time I will be keeping Paella and Bovril going over the summer with a few wee side dishes being posted over the closes season. I hope you will join me. In the mean time why don't you look thru some old editions.

As  the season draws to a close and we start to plan our excuses for not doing something on Saturdays in the 3pm - 4:45pm slot. I for one will be filling my time with triathlon training for the next TRI-ing4theRovers Paella and Bovril this season has talked about changing the points system within the Scottish game in formulaic fun and debated whether we should subside buses to get the away fan back to the Scottish game. I hope you have enjoyed. I hope to keep it going thru the off season! If you are interested. With the invasion of German football on the Spanish game I have been hearing a different side to our commentators here in Catalunya and Spain. The Barca commentators were unhappy until Dortmund put 4 past Madrid after they had been pretty openly miserable from the night before.  This serving comes from Raith Rovers 0-0 draw with Falkirk in the final home game of the season. Paella and Bovril Spring is beginning to bounce around here in

 As the season begins to change from "winter" to what I describe as a Scottish tropical weather (sunshine and up to 28 at the high point of the day!) thoughts turn to what to do for the summer?    As you will read in this dish of Paella and Bovril school holidays here are LLLOOONNNGGGGGG. Holidays in general here are long. No-one local works in August and of course it is too hot to work all day in July. "What does one do with all this holiday  time?"  I hope to work some of it and enjoy the rest!   Enjoy this serving of P n B This first appeared in the match day programme of Raith's home game against Cowdenbeath. Rovers went down one nil after a lack luster performance from both sides really.  Enjoy!  Paella and Bovril What do you do when you team has the weekend off? I am accustomed to coping with the summer break but it is still a shock when there is no game on a Saturday.   The recent breaks have mainly been down to the

Celtic fans at Stark's Park.    Last night (Tuesday 2nd April) saw Rovers play host to Partick Thistle. This match was originally meant to be played after the cup weekend, but due to the weather the game was moved.  The rescheduled match was played end to end and saw both teams end goaless. This dish up of Paella and Bovril comes from match day programme due to be read after the cup match.  Enjoy Paella and Bovril On a Sunday in Barcelona, around 1, it’s normally the time for you to travel to your granny’s to have your lunch or still to be in your bed, not the normal time to be traveling to the football.   However last Sunday I broke the trend and traveled on the metro to watch a game. After a trying search, I finally found an Irish bar that would accommodate a Rover abroad and have the match on the big screens (not even the local Scottish bar was showing it!) Now it is not every day that you prefer Kirkcaldy to Barcelona but the Sunday