Paella and Bovril

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 a...

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...