Day 351, The Last Post

El viaje se acaba. The journey ends. Day 351 of our grown up gap year, as Su calls it, dawned and we awoke to see sun-drenched French countryside through the window of our overnight train to Paris from Barcelona.

We chose to travel overland in the train-hotel so that the journey becomes an event rather than merely a means of getting from A to B.  You get dinner, breakfast and a cabin with two beds, a shower and WC. Somehow the planned leisurely 12 hour ride took 14 and a half. The crew had no idea when we would arrive. At 1015 when I asked the larger than life waiter in the restaurant car he told me "we are arriving" but we were still going at 1130.  Perhaps he was making a philosophical point - we had been arriving ever since leaving Barcelona. Perhaps he too has learned that life is about journeys not destinations.

Since we left work and the UK on 14 September last year there have been many obvious highlights such as spending time with  family in Cameroon, making two trips of a lifetime around South America and exploring Spain.  But the real luxury has been having time and space to recover from life in London where often the apparently urgent gets prioritised over that which is really important. Removing 50 hours of work per week and related stress revitalises the body and mind. I feel physically more active but less tired and mentally more stimulated in a mind less cluttered. It's also amazing what a year of good sleep can do.

It has been a great opportunity to think - to make sense of the past and work out what is important in the future, whilst always remembering to live in the present.

As the train finally reaches the end of the line, pulling in to St Pancras on the last day of this special year, we don't know what the next year will bring but whatever it is we are ready and looking forward to it.

First glimpse of London:
the Olympic Rings at St Pancras Eurostar Terminal

Barcelona: going back to the start

Our first taste of the Spanish Mediterranean culture that we are now so used to came back in 1992 when we first visited Barcelona.  It is fitting therefore that our final stop before leaving Spain is the same city.  Having left our car in Valencia we travelled here by train and at 9pm tonight we catch the overnight train to Paris in order to connect with the Eurostar.

Columbus points out across the Med

1992 was a seminal year for Barcelona.  It was the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus and it was to Barcelona that he returned to report on his trip to King Ferdinand & Queen Isabela.  His statue stands at the end of the Ramblas, pointing out to sea with his back to the rest of Spain - very much the Catalan view of the world.  1992 was also the year that Barcelona held the Olympic Games and put itself back on the map, and when FC Barcelona won the European Cup for the first time, at Wembley. Since then the explosion of tourism here has brought wealth and the city which has emerged from the shackles of Francoism to reclaim its proud identity, including its formerly banned language.  For me, the twin badges of this identity are the football club (now European Champion for a fourth time having, coincidentally, won at Wembley again in May) and Gaudí's incomplete church, Sagrada Familia.  Work on this incredible building began in 1892 but stopped on Gaudí's death in 1926.  Intermittent work recommenced in the 1950s but, when we visited for the first time 100 years after work had begun, it was really still barely a shell with a few dreamy towers.  Since then we have seen it grow on our many visits and it was finally consecrated last year by the Pope.  Much work remains however but completion is on schedule for the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death in 2026!

Sagrada Familia

We have visited this city more than any other so there was no need for much sight-seeing on our one-night stay.  Instead we retraced our steps to some favourite old places: Sagrada Familia, Los Caracoles, the cavernous institution of a restaurant we learned about in Floyd on Spain, and El Rey de la Gamba, the Barceloneta seafood restaurant with its improbably huge shellfish dishes.

About to do battle with the "Plato Real"

The formerly deserted beach is, like the rest of the city, crowded with tourists and illustrates how the city has grown up since 1992 - I guess we've grown up too.  An awful lot of water has flowed past the Columbus statue since then and a lot of (mostly good) things have happened to us.  This is the city that first drew us to Spain, even if Valencia is now our first love.  It remains a beautiful, lively and fascinating place, neatly encapsulated by the song recorded for the Olympics by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé, which still rings in our heads as we walk around.  It speaks to us of the things we most prize: love, happiness and optimism for the future:

"I had this perfect dream
This dream was me and you
I want all the world to see
A miracle sensation
My guide and inspiration
Now my dream is slowly coming true
Such a beautiful horizon
Like a jewel in the sun
Viva Barcelona"

Highlights of Spain

Now the travelling is over for the year we have put together a set of photos to summarise our time living here in Spain.  Between the four trips to Africa and South America we've been privileged to spend time in the area around our Monte Pego home as well as travelling around the country.


Some of the images illustrate the history of the country through its buildings while others are more about its culture.  The set therefore covers the remnants of long gone peoples from the cave paintings of the first íbero farmers from 8,000 years ago to buildings from the roman, Moorish and reconquest eras.  There are images of some of the pillars of modern Spanish society: religion, politics, sport, bull-fighting, fiestas, music, food & wine, nature, beach tourism and the architectural masterpieces of the modern museums. The slideshow will work in this blog but you can click on it too if you want the pictures in full screen and with captions.







We have had some unforgetable times in this beautiful, diverse and friendly country that we've come to love more and in which we feel very much at home.  When we return to London we shall miss the endless fiestas with their bulls and fireworks, the perfect light that falls over the Valencian hills before sunset and the full moon rising above our mountain in a clear night sky.  We shall miss the food markets, the local wine, the rice dishes at El Tresmall restaurant and the lapping of the Mediterranean on the soft, fine golden sand of Oliva beach which gets between your toes - and in fact just about everywhere.  We shall miss our home, our friends, walking in the mountains, running on the rice fields of the Marjal below Monte Pego and cooling off in the pool.  We've never had a quality of life this good and we've learned to enjoy it and relax.  We've never been happier.  

Hasta Luego, Monte Pego

In the year since we left our flat in Highgate, Monte Pego has been our home. Despite the journeys around Spain, South America and Cameroon we've spent a lot of time here and seen it in all four seasons. Last August the thermometer hit 43 degrees Celsius and in January we woke up to go on a walk at just above zero. But whatever the temperature the sun shines most of the time and that, more than anything, is what makes it a lovely place to be. Its tranquility and proximity to sandy beaches, mountains and the Marjal wetlands also helps.

Our many visitors from the UK - 26 different people have stayed here over the last year - have helped make it feel more like home.  Moreover we have got to know many people here, in particular during regular trips to La Cova bar. We shall miss them all, especially Alan and Keira, our nearest neighbours. But we will be back soon.

Alan & Keira outside La Cova

On Holiday

Strange though it may sound after several months spent in (what used to be) our holiday home, we've been on holiday here, hence the lack of blog entries.  The main novelty for us though has been spending the week with two small friends of ours, Amber (aged four) and Jasmine (six), which for confirmed non-parents like us has been very different, very enjoyable and of course at times quite tiring.  Fortunately our role has only been assistant parents as Richard and Tasha have been here too!

Its been nice to know that despite their young age, in a year's absence from Highgate they haven't forgotten us.  Indeed they were very excited and seemed to have a great time. We've had lots of fun doing the things that people usually do on a Spanish holiday like eating paella, barbecuing locally caught fish, splashing around in the pool and lying on the golden sand at the beach (we watched a fair bit of cricket and football on TV too - well done to the England cricket team).

Richard, Amber, Jasmine and me aboard the Boat Monster!

There has been lots of screaming to break the tranquility of Monte Pego - particularly when Richard flipped over our blow up dinghy which became the "Boat Monster" - ruthlessly swallowing up any children or adults in its path.  Su said the high-pitched screaming was pretty loud heard from the terrace, but for the four of us with our heads confined in the small amount of airspace between the over-turned dinghy and the surface of the water, it was deafening.  Great fun though.

Now our visitors have gone we are left with just a few days before it is time to pack up and return to London.  The rail tickets are booked to take us back from Valencia to St Pancras via Barcelona and Paris.  Bags are being readied to be packed and, like the end of any holiday, thoughts are turning back to the office.  It will soon be time to return and try on our old life for size - hope it still fits!

Wake up and smell the...rice

Running has been a major feature of this summer for us. We returned from our trip to South America after seven weeks on the road feeling a little flabby as a result of an awful lot of buffet hotel breakfasts, three course meals and local beverages. To give myself a target to aim for whilst getting into shape I've entered the Valencia Half Marathon, which is to take place on 23rd October.

But it's hot here, very hot, which makes running during the day hard work. Our plan has been to get up early and hope for some cloud. We occasionally get lucky but most of the time our 8am runs are in bright sunshine. Monte Pego is very hilly and our house is around 200m above sea level so in order to make the run more pleasant we drive down to the entrance of the urbanisation and start from there on the flat.

While Su heads up and down the cycle path that leads towards Pego, my routes venture into La Marjal, the beautiful local wetlands. At this time of year the short-grain bomba rice that is the staple of this region's most famous culinary creation, paella, is almost ready to harvest and the smell is amazing. It's like being in a kitchen when rice is being boiled (and as hot because of the humidity down there). The Moors started growing rice here hundreds of years ago, creating a system of channels to use the water provided naturally in the area to irrigate the rice fields in the centre of La Marjal. The farmers use pumps and sluice gates to drain and flood the fields at different times of year and the water level is also affected by the spring and autumn rains and the rivers that come from the mountains.

The area is naturally marshy having originally been a horseshoe shaped bay surrounded on three sides by mountains until a sandbar formed, creating a lagoon and later the marsh. These days the area nearest to Pego is cultivated for fruit and vegetables, especially oranges, while the wilder area nearer the sea is in a more natural state. The rice fields are between the two and various paths criss-cross the whole area. In winter my runs are lonely affairs but at this time of year, while still very quiet, I do come across other beings. There are two herds of animals that graze on La Marjal in summer, one of which is the motley crew of sheep and goats that pass our house on the other side of the valley during the rest of the year. The second flock is a less friendly bunch of brown woolly sheep. Both groups create significant obstacles if I run into them on the road - a problem I've not had in London. However, I can generally avoid them as I know where they live and roughly what time they go out for breakfast.  Experience has taught me that, if I do come across them, they pretty much scatter if you run at them.

The flock having a good munch on the Marjal

From time to time I also have for company the rice farmers, occasional fishermen, herons, egrets and other birds that like the wetlands. All in all running can be quite eventful and I've so far survived being attacked by an Alsatian and being sprayed with insecticide by a low flying helicopter. Fitness is improving and we will soon be running in the cooler climate of north London, probably without sheep and goats. And if there are helicopters it will just be the police chasing rioters.

Up the Junction

After nearly three months in Spain nostalgia for London was growing ahead of our three night visit there this weekend. Old songs such as Up the Junction by Squeeze and London Calling by the Clash have been featuring in the days before the trip.

Up the Junction was particularly appropriate as we spent Friday evening with Lee, Robin and Rosie in the Falcon, Clapham Junction then met Janet & Neville for Sunday lunch at the ever-brilliant Junction Tavern in Kentish Town where the welcome is always warm and the food first-class. The Falcon too is a decent pub but Clapham wasn't really our cup of tea. We really are north Londoners at heart.

The Falcon, Clapham Junction 

On Saturday came the main event of the weekend - Jay's 50th birthday party in Islington - when the arrival of Yvette's crowd from Chile meant a temporary return to speaking Spanish and a lively evening was had by all. The social whirl continued at full speed on Sunday when we dodged heavy showers to call in on Richard & Tasha and their beautiful daughters Jasmine & Amber and caught up with Conrad & Kathryn.

But having complained about south London on friday night it was soon north London's turn to show it's uglier side as we awoke to news of rioting, looting and buildings and vehicles on fire just three miles up the road in Tottenham. You could hear the sirens and the helicopters and the disturbances have now spread to other parts of the capital. Another Clash song comes to mind: London's Burning. They wrote that 35 years ago and the social problems they sang about that led to the riots of the early 1980s in Brixton, Tottenham and elsewhere are still there today. So when Boris Johnson says there is no excuse for rioting, I know what he means but he probably hasn't tried living there.

In less than four weeks it will be back to all this on a full time basis when the sabbatical year ends. If it wasn't for our friends it would be very difficult to come back. The heating is on in August, it is raining, the tubes are full, the traffic is dreadful and there is rioting in the streets. No wonder Cesc Fàbregas wants to leave!