Paella and Bovril

Good afternoon from a sunny Barcelona balcony. Spending a fair amount of your time contemplating on a balcony can result in an over active imagination and I suppose that is the reason for this weeks PnB. Sometimes the bests ideas are the craziest ones. Paella and Bovril Hidden contracts, presidents leaving the country, and missing millions have been all over the  front and back pages of the Spanish press. What exactly did a  certain Brazilian  starlet  get and where did this cash go? The figures they talk  about are beyond comprehension of a fan "diddy" team, several million here and few 100,000 there. These clubs are living and playing a  style of  fantasy  football . But maybe we should play a different kind of in a different type of league ? The Scottish game has changed a lot  over the past the decades,  divisions and clubs have come and  gone. Club's antics have not been confined only to  the back pages...

Hola everyone. Barcelona has returned to its overly laid-back self after a few folk were in town for a wee World Mobile Congress. It has been a while since I posted and I apologies! hope the wait is worth it he he he. This weeks serving of PnB comes from Tuesday nights 1-1 draw with Alloa in a rescheduled midweek game. Enjoy Sometimes 24 hours is just not enough for one day, your to-do list is just out-doing you, sleep is for wimps. Well maybe not that hectic but close enough. España is not known for it's chaotic lifestyle; the opposite in fact, a lazy morning  with a "cafe con leche in the plaza mayor" followed by a long sangria-filled lunch that comes with a siesta then tapas till midnight. I have to admit it is not quite like that but more of  a leisurely chaos timetable to the typical day. For many sport is a big part of their day, the forever busy "futbol mom" especially. It is not just football, tennis, roller hockey, water polo, basketball an...

Hola, I know this is not the usual post but I thought it could be useful. Over the next few days a few shed loads of people come into Barcelona to take part/visit the WORLD MOBILE CONGRESS Finding somewhere to have a good wee munch can be daunting in a restaurant filled city. Here are a few of my faves. For a nice and spicy authentic Mexican head to Poble Nou and Los Chiles Staying in Poble Nou, for an nice Catalan menu head to Xorus In fact if you are looking for a place with a wide variety of restaurants, Rambla Poble Nou and its neighbouring streets are a fantastic place to head. Indian,  Italian, Japanese, gourmet burgers and more. A great place near the centre of town is a  Peruvian eatery called The Market , my sister said it was "life changing cuisine", that is pretty good praise. Have fun while you are here!

Hola folks. Sorry for the long gap between posts. This is because of the terrible UK weather! The game against Alloa was postponed due to terrible rain resulting in an unsafe/unplayable pitch. Please keep an eye of for the next PnB after Valentine's day. Ciao.

It is coming round to that time of year when I book my wee trip to Bonny Scotland for my annual fix of Scottish Football. Once a year is not really enough but traveling back n forth from Scotland is not a cheap, or as easy, as it once was! This dish up of paella and b comes from the 3 all draw with local rivals, Cowdenbeath. Enjoy! A regular complaint about the modern game is kick off time. Some clubs and divisions suffer more than others. During Barcelona's pre-season there was a game that didn't start until 10 o'clock at night, and so it was going to be a struggle for many fans to get home using public transport.  The same problem had arisen the previous year therefore the club and Barcelona's metro, train and bus company, TMB, collaborated to keep the system running late enabling fans to come to the game knowing they can get home cheaply. Having to add a taxi ride home to the end of your game compared to the 90 cents city wide travel ticket makes a big diffe...

Happy new year and welcome to 2014 with paella and bovril. After a wee winter break Spanish football is back and so is Messi. FC Barcelona is buzzing with the return of el Rey . This dish of P n B come from the Raith game against Dumbarton. The home side came out on top with a 2-1 victory. Enjoy Doesn't matter how hard you try to avoid it is guaranteed that the conversation will come around to football. Even in serious business meetings the talk of future company projections will be halted so they can all have their two pesetas worth of opinion on the previous night's game. For some reason they don't seem to know much about my Raith Rovers tuppence worth I have to put in, they are learning though! After the latest derby match with Espanyol a few of the my Barcelona business students were curious about Fife's local rivalries. After several attempts at pronouncing the Kingdom's finest football teams a strange question was asked "which team is the most viv...

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...