45 hours with youngsters

Last Thursday and Friday I went on an excursion with the 5th and 6th graders at my school. We headed off to Barcelona at 4 am in the morning and most of them were chatting away, oblivious to the unholiness of the hour. Stopped at 7 am for breakfast on the road and afterwards they put on a movie, which none of them slept through. I, however, plugged in my earphones and went to sleep (they were showing Meet The Spartans).

We visited the Maritime Museum and went on a ride on Las Golondrinas, a kind of ferry that takes you around the port. I also fell asleep on the ferry but conveniently had my sunglasses to hide the fact. Then after lunch, we had a visit of Pueblo Español, which I would have fallen asleep during if we hadn't had to walk around all the time.

On the bus to Salou, where the hotel was, I also fell asleep. The kids didn't sleep though. They're insane energy machines. (At the hotel, which was full of fat tourists and pensioners, they put on an ABBA spectacle/dance at night, so we were forced to listen to ABBA for 2 hours before being able to fall asleep. The kids asked me the next day if we'd gone downstairs to dance after we'd sent them all to bed. I said 'Me? HA! I went to bed earlier than you.')

The next day we went to Port Aventura, a theme park about two hours from Barcelona. It's been about ten years since the last time I went to a theme park and I went on ALL the rides. It was awesome. On some of them, you get absolutely soaked. I don't remember rides like that from my childhood. Other rides were the same- the rollercoaster that goes at 140 km per hour, the one that lifts you up 100 metres then drops you (I remember learning about how that ride uses magnetic force in physics).

We arrived back in Logrono at 1 am on Saturday morning and even though I was exhausted, I'd gotten so used to the sound of children, it took me a while to get to sleep with the silence.

Farewell 2009

It snowed about two weeks ago in Logroño. Enough to make snowmen and snowballs. I made a snowball as a present for Beza and put it in the freezer, where it still is. Maybe in July we'll take it out and throw it, by which time it'll probably be ice and hurt a damn lot.

Beza and I went to Barcelona on the long weekend at the beginning of December. It was nice to get away from Logroño just for a few days but I'd forgotten what it's like to be in a huge city with a big crush of people. And Sydney never feels so crowded because the streets are much wider and it's more spread out.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2009 and I'm feeling ambivalent about my year. Was it a good year? Did I become wiser and did I learn anything new or was I too busy having fun? Or did I not have as much fun as I should have had?

Here are five highlights:

1. Beza. There many wonderful people in the world but it's not often that we get to know one well or the extent of their wonderfulness.

2. Travelling with my parents. During the month-and-bit we travelled together, I was reminded of how great my parents are and how much I love them. It's easy to forget when you're far away from someone how important they are to you.

3. Camino de Santiago. It was like being a turtle, where you carry your house on your back. And the only thing you have to worry about is the blister on your toe.

4. My nephews. I got to spend time with them in Sydney and they're hilarious little people. And I have a new one that I'm excited to meet.

5. Our flat. There are only two places in the world where I feel comfortable peeing with the door semi-open- my house in Sydney and my flat in Logroño. And we have Methuselah.

I suppose having five highlights is good. Some people only have three and call it a good year.

Some bummers include:

Total neglect of my writing. I haven't even written as many blogposts as I'd like.

Death of our two goldfish. Surprisingly traumatic.

Not being able to attend the wedding of my first close friend to get married. It made me sad that I couldn't be as involved in the lives of people who matter to me because we're in different parts of the world.

One lesson I learned:

When in doubt, make tasty food.

Back on the camino

When we arrived back in Spain, in Barcelona last Sunday, I nearly cried with joy. And when I arrived in Logroño and Beza was waiting at the bus station, I nearly wept for joy again.

I think my love of Spain is infectious. My parents are completely in agreement that Spain is ten times more beautiful than Italy, the food is way better (and more importantly they don't rip you off by making you pay for bread or service), the people are heaps friendlier and Italian ham has nothing on Spanish ham. And if anyone disagrees, they've obviously never tried good Spanish ham. Even the coffee is much better and everything is cheaper.

We're now on the Camino de Santiago, and will arrive in Santiago tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what the hype is about.