Author: Kate Wilson

An early swim

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

FRIDAY
We had a lovely day. First we went to meet up with Oreneta who is another blogging friend, i.e. we met first through our blogs and eventually got together face to face too.  These connections are very important to me here and it was great to see where she lives as well as meet the famous Chuck!  As well as being beautiful he was totally charming in spite of having three four legged females arrive in his home

The dogs all had a walk together round the village and then while Blue rested on the patio we went up into the hills which are easily accessible without having to drive or cross a major road. Not surprisingly I had a long fantasy about living there but unfortunately there is not a good connection to Granollers and for the moment at least we need to have access to school.
Afterwards we drove down to the coast to have lunch – early!  It was about 1.30pm

There is a lovely restaurant right beside the sea in between Premia and Vilassar. (If you are wondering how we managed with three dogs – we left Blue and Duna sleeping in the car and took Bonnie inside for a treat. It is a dog friendly place)

Then we all walked down to the sea. It was sunny, the water was aquamarine and unusually calm, I went for a paddle with Bonnie and suddenly realised it wasn’t too cold. Without taking time to think I threw off clothes and dived in. That must be the earliest swim I’ve ever done

Not long after the shadows started to lengthen and we made our way back up the beach

I wonder if you are thinking ‘how idyllic’?  If so then let me add that the less than wonderful part of the day was the fight that Duna and Bonnie had on the beach

Bonnie gets excited playing and that seems to wind Duna up so she pounced and teeth were bared and blood drawn. This time it was someone else’s turn to get his hand bitten as he tried to separate them. It’s a worry – it’s not something I have had to deal with ever before. Or not with dogs anyway

We are now keeping Duna under close supervision and she is always either muzzled or on the lead in the house. There is always something interesting to deal with here! Something new. Something challenging. As a friends aunt once said “You have to laugh!”


Three Golden Balls

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Congratulations to Lionel Messi for winning his third Balon D’Or which names him the top footballer of the year.  True to character he said in his acceptance speech that he would like to share it with Xavi, his team mate from Barcelona FC.
He’s not only the best but the most easy to like footballer that I know. Watch him speak and see him smile and you know he is intelligent as well as funny and charming. He’s only 24!

If you are like me and don’t know what the Balon D’Or is then here is the explanation.
If you’d just like to see him in action then try here.  I love watching him run with the ball – and look at his long hair!

Meal time

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

I was thinking tonight about the difference in eating habits here and how easily I have settled into a new pattern although there was much I found strange when I first arrived.
I want to try and describe those things which are typical rather than idiosyncrasies of this family I have joined.

Breakfast
Many people don’t eat too much first thing in the morning. A coffee and perhaps a little muffin or Madeleine will do.
Around 11am many people take a break called Esmorzar which translates as breakfast. Now is the time to have a sandwich or a pastry or croissant.

Lunch
This is eaten much later than I was used to. I remember the first time a friend invited me to lunch with her at 3pm I thought all the restaurants would have stopped serving. But no – lots of people sit down to eat anytime after 2pm and before 4pm. This is the largest meal of the day and if you eat from the Menu in a restaurant (often the best way to get good value) you will have three or sometimes four courses followed by a coffee. The menu price includes bread and wine but not the coffee at the end. In many local restaurants the bottle of wine will be left with you at the table so you can refill your glass at no extra charge. But I think it would be thought rude and uncouth to just guzzle your way through the whole thing!

Teatime
This is a little snack called Berenar which is taken around 6pm, and not everyone does it but it’s amazing how often you fancy a little something around this time!

Supper
This could be as early as 9pm or as late as midnight. When I first arrived, used to eating my main meal at the end of the day, I would cook something complicated for supper. Gradually i realised that it is fine to offer pizza or soup or a toasted sandwich. I like eating lighter at the end of the day and the late hour doesn’t bother me at all. This however is the meal most visitors complain about when they arrive. Having eaten their lunch far too early and not eaten enough, the stretch until 9 or 10pm feels unbearable to them and they end up making something to eat around 7pm and can’t understand why everyone else isn’t hungry.

I didn’t mention the siesta or migdiada or as it is called in Catalan. If you have the time and are in the right place there is nothing nicer than eating your full lunch then settling down on the sofa with a friend and perhaps a book, to rest and let your digestion do its work in peace. It is a little time out when I feel that god is in his heaven and all is right with the world.

Guess Who Goes to Barcelona?

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

If you take the train that travels from Sant Celoni to Barcelona Airport, passing through both Granollers and Barcelona on the way, I challenge you to stay awake.  There must be sleeping gas or a sedative essential oil or an aroma of chamomile tea slowly released into the carriages to make everyone fall gradually asleep or at least go into a deep meditative state

I almost always start nodding off around Mollet and only wake up at Clot-Arago which is a blessing as I have to get off at the next stop, Passeig De Gracia.
Today though, I was in charge of one slightly nervous border collie who was making her first visit to the great city.  I had to stay alert. It was her first ever time on a train!
She wore the muzzle she had practised with on the ferry to the Isles of Scilly and perhaps because of the somnolent atmosphere in the carriage, she was very calm and happy for the whole journey.

After arriving in Barcelona we walked along Carrer Valencia all the way to my friends flat on Diagonal


Bonnie then led the way into the lift and we went up to the third floor.  She spent four hours being a model dog while we had lunch.   Afterwards we walked back down  C/Valencia and, totally in her stride now, when we reached Passeig de Gracia, she happily jumped up onto one of the Pere Falques seats to be photographed

We met another friend for a quick tapas in a bar called Cosmo on Enrique Granados then walked back to the train station to jump on the Sant Celoni train. This time it was much busier but she lay down with her head on her paws, only her pricked ears showing she was watching and noticing everything.
The woman opposite had put her bag down on the floor which I found worrying in case there was a peeing accident (it had been 5 hours since the last one due to a lack of grass in this area of Barcelona) but we arrived in Granollers without incident. People here are always telling me it is unlucky to put your bag on the ground but happily this superstition was proved wrong.
Bonnie is such a good companion and it was lovely to be walking with her down these familiar streets. The dog from Lamorna finally arriving in my favourite city!  I am so proud of her.

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There was only one problem that we need to work on.

Bonnie has always hated skateboards and unfortunately Enrique Granados is a pedestrian street with a lovely slope….for riding down again and again and again…. to the sound of hysterical barking which we now know she can do even through the muzzle!

Virtual Botifarra

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

After the vermut perhaps you’d like a bite of botifarra?

It was in a bagette and almost filled the whole length.
I know I have relaxed my vegetarian-ness but not this far and I had one with cheese in it!
Botifarra is an important presence in Catalan cuisine – it is a sausage – obviously – and comes in various forms such as white with no blood in its mix, black and botifarra catalana.
Botifarra i mongetes is a classic Catalan recipe of sausages and white beans.
Perhaps this time next year I will be munching on my own sausage sandwich!
Animal news
We went for a walk in the hills and there were no fights or even growls. We are trying to become leaders of the pack and keeping the two combatants separate – if not in different rooms at least one of them is on a lead and under control. So far, so good.
The pigeon is at the vet – we found one  local practice that helps abandoned or wild animals and birds. They get a payment from the Protectora de Animales which I think is a kind of charity which receives grants from the council as well as donations from the public. Amazingly they were happy to include a street pigeon in this scheme and we are waiting for news of her wing and if she has hope of flying again.


In the current financial crisis many of these groups have had to close their centres including the one near Granollers and the animals were dispersed around the region. At first it looked like they had been ‘disappeared’ but it seems they were taken to other centres.  And it seems a new centre may open around here again soon. There was a big protest about the closure and perhaps it has had a positive outcome.