Arrival in Girona, Spain – 15th to 16th August

To make getting to their house as straight forward as possible, this meant getting a lift over to Stansted Airport so that we could fly direct into Girona on Tuesday evening.  There was no delay but it was still 1040pm by the time we had collected our baggage and got through passport control to see a beaming Jacqui waiting to pick us up.

We headed straight back to the house where we were given the tour and caught up over a beer.  Paul was in the UK until Thursday evening so it was just the three of us and the dogs, Levi and Ike, who seem to have settled in well.  We had to call it a night or we would have been chatting into the 16^th and the plan was that Simon and I would both accompany Jacqui into Girona town in the morning to get a taste for the City and the shop straight away.

Wednesday 16^th August.  Luckily, the lifestyle in Catalonia is much more laid back than in the UK.  Business hours in the City do not start until 10am but consequently this means later opening into the evenings following siesta.  We got a lift with Jacqui into Girona leaving the house at 9am which gave us time to stop in Independence Plaza for a coffee and croissant for breakfast.  Then we were introduced to the shop which opened at 10am.

Jacqui all ready to welcome customers into the shop

A birds' eye view of the shop from the upstairs balcony

The second room of the shop

Can Ike (translation - house of Ike) is in a great location, in the old town on a corner within a very touristy area.  So there is a lot of foot traffic passing by and coming in for a browse. Jacqui and Paul should be really proud of what they’ve achieved here. The shop is really well presented with some great displays and special offers and it is larger than it appears in photographs so there is plenty of scope to add more stock.  It was also very sociable.  Lots of friends or other shop-owners kept popping in with their dogs. There is an upstairs mezzanine for the dogs and extra humans to relax in!  Our most important job was popping out to buy coffee from a cheap cafe down street. And keeping out of the way.  We wanted to help but it is difficult to assist customers in a different language and when you don’t know the stock you are trying to sell.  Jacqui was much better at that!

It was all a bit much for Ike.... time to chill

The shop shut for siesta from 2-4pm.  The routine them seems to be to take the dogs for a walk followed by a late lunch at the Irish Bar on Las Ramblas, the main pedestrian area in Girona (same name as the matching area in Barcelona).  Jacqui went off to her Spanish lesson so we took our time with drinks before wandering to the Information Centre.  We had discovered to our delight that Girona was used to film a number of episodes of Game of Thrones (GOT) – most notably for areas of Kings’ Landing and the ‘shame’ steps outside the Red Keep (those of you who don’t watch will have no idea what I’m on about, but it’s a very significant scene involving nudity and rotten tomatoes!) .  Striking lucky at the Visitors’ Centre (YET AGAIN!!) we were given a map on which they ringed the relevant GOT locations for us.  We went for a stroll around the old town – partly to see these locations, partly so that I could get some practise using my new flashy camera.

Beautiful view of the colourful riverside houses and the Eiffel bridge

Yes, that's ME on the iron throne!

The 'shame' steps!!

We paid 2.50 Euros to each have a go sitting on the iron throne which is also visiting Girona currently, it’s the thing to do this summer. There is no doubt about it, Girona, especially the old town part, is incredibly pretty with some stunning architecture and scenery.

Back in the shop, Levi guards the dog food

And it’s HOT!  I’m talking mid-thirties at the height of the day, so we returned to the relative coolness of the shop when we had worked up a sweat wandering the streets.  We took the opportunity to go and get some groceries to take back to the house.  We had agreed a figure we would pay as a contribution to the upkeep of the Gibbs’ house on a weekly basis but we also wanted to make sure we were catering for ourselves.  When the shop shut at 830pm we struggled somewhat to carry our 6 heavy grocery bags back to car between us with the two dogs in tow as well! However, the plan for dinner tonight was to drive to a Pizza takeaway place where we had a beer whilst they were cooking, before taking the pizzas back to the house.  Jacqui and Paul have struck up a close relationship with a young Australian cycling couple who live in the same street.  Girona is a Mecca for cyclists, I’m told, because of the winding and mountainous country roads which are excellent for training purposes.  Mel and her fiancée Rohan are both Olympic cyclists,  though Mel has recently had to retire due to injury.  Whilst Rohan is off competing in the Vuelta a Espana (the Spanish equivalent of the Tour de France), Mel is invited to join Jacqui and Paul most evenings along with their seven-month old Japanese Akita puppy called Willis.  

Willis chilling in the shop

He is a bit of a handful despite not being full size yet and is part of the reason that the Gibbs and the Aussies have struck up their relationship!  We chilled out in the house in front of Star Wars – the Force awakens whilst keeping an eye out on the dogs.  It was a late night.  This working for a living (if you can call what we did that) is exhausting!

Pre-Girona plans.

So that was our plans for October onwards starting to take shape. Closer to the present, we had flights booked and paid for to visit our friends Jacqui and Paul in Girona, Spain on 15^th August.  In a lifetime first, we didn’t have any return tickets! How exciting?!  We had left it open as to how long we would stay with them, although it was clear that their new life in Catalunya was not completely smooth-sailing.  They had been so busy in getting their new business, a dog food and accessory shop, off the ground that we had struggled to get hold of them for a face to face talk.  Eventually making contact it became clear that the pressures of their new life were taking a toll on them both.  The shop was doing okay, but not well enough for them to make a living and so, as of the beginning of August, Paul had returned to work with the Met Police on compressed hours.  This meant he was flying back to the UK on a Monday morning and working pretty much solidly until Thursday afternoon when he would fly back to Spain for the three remaining days of the week.  This left Jacqui flying solo in the shop for four days a week.  We asked if we should change our plans.  Maybe this wasn’t the best time for them to receive visitors?  On the other hand, maybe this was the perfect time?!  The aim of our visit was to be of help to them, whilst also experiencing living in a different country and culture and brushing up on our Spanish (and Catalan to a limited extent!).  If Jacqui was on her own a lot maybe I could help her through this transition whilst they worked out how to boost the business?  We could help out at the shop or in their house.  Whatever was best. We had explained to them we weren’t setting out on a site-seeing tour of eastern Spain.  I’m sure there are some amazing things to see, but we really need to retain what’s left of our travel budget for more of the far-flung destinations that we have the opportunity of visiting.  If we get the chance to see a few sights then great.  The plan is hopefully to give Jacqui and Paul some time out from the shop, maybe a girls’ trip away for a couple of days for Jacqui and I and Simon and Paul have discussed the possibility of heading to the Formula 1 race in Italy at the start of September.  Whatever,  we shall see when we get over there.  Jacqui reassures us that they will be happy to have us staying so we are going ahead with the plans and used the week beforehand for the usual prep of ordering Euros, washing and packing.

An example of why being a dog owner is a pain sometimes.... Ralph found himself a lovely muddy puddle to cool off in so that'll be a bath when we get back to the house....! He clearly thought this was great.  Last walk before Girona.

Week 4 (4th – 11th August)

This week began with a pleasant surprise.  We received an email from Campers Inn in New Hampshire saying that someone had made an offer on the RV!! This was the first contact that we’d had from them since entrusting them with Harvey on 6^th July.  The email was very positive. They explained that they had been showing the RV regularly but this was the first offer.  However, it was a low offer that would mean we would not be paid the amount previously agreed between us.  The Manager said we were welcome to accept the offer but suggested they could do better for us.  The RV hadn’t even been on sale for a month.  We discussed our options but agreed that we would rather wait to try and realise the full value of the RV rather than having to take a cut of a few thousand pounds this early on.  We just had to be patient.

We slipped back into more normal day to day duties whilst continuing with our home decoration service. I could babysit for my sister so that she and her husband could go out for a night.  Okay, so that hardly makes up for nine months of absence, but it was important for me to try and make amends! With such a small family as ours it is a point of guilt for me that we have chosen to disappear for extended periods when my services would be gratefully received in Hertfordshire.

We were keen to head back to Norwich to see Abi and Alwyn (or the ‘A’s as I refer to them as).  Since we’d seen them and found out about the seasonal issues with our next travel plans we’d had a complete rethink of our potential route and wanted to run it passed them.  So, South Africa would be best left until February 2018 at the earliest.  What to do with the next six months of our lives?  We can’t waste this time off work that we have been lucky enough to get.  Our thought process was as follows:  It’s winter in the UK and the Northern hemisphere so where do you go?  The southern hemisphere of course!  We would turn our plans on their head and do things in reverse, heading initially to Australia and New Zealand (the most expensive places we’re warned) before heading, possibly penniless, to Thailand where you can still live cheaply.  Due to our advanced years we cannot apply for working visas in Oz anymore.  That means the maximum time allowed there is 90 days on a visitors ESTA so we estimate that 3 months in Oz, 1 month in NZ and about a month in Thailand would tide us nicely over to March 2018.  The perfect time to rock up in South Africa for a touch of diving and/or flying fun! If the ‘A’s can join us around then it will be a great bonus but it is just too early for them to be able to predict their movements next March!

Another important reason for us to return to Norwich was to pick up my new toy.  Yes, my ancient compact Fujifilm camera had done well considering the amount of use and abuse it had tolerated Stateside but it had its limitations.  Having especially enjoyed trying to capture wildlife and scenery on film we have decided that if we don’t upgrade to a decent SLR camera now, then when will we?  As luck would have it Norwich is home to Wex photography specialists where we spent a significant amount of time after our first Norfolk jaunt, bending their ears about what equipment would be right for us. We had reserved a second-hand Nikon camera body and a brand new all-encompassing lens and returned on 9^th August to collect them.  Check out the novice photographs messing around with the settings.  I will get better….

Isn't Ralph handsome? 

'Cartoon' option

The old classic B+W

The day after we returned from Norfolk we were off on another road trip down to Southampton to visit the Matthewses and their new addition - Flo (right).  This fitted in nicely with us subsequently gate-crashing some other friends’ caravanning holiday in Bournemouth, where we went right back to basics spending a night under canvas in our old tent.  It was interesting to get a taste for a UK campsite having spent time on so many US ones.  We even had to put shoes on and walk five minutes to get to the toilet block! Happy to be back living the outdoor lifestyle though.

Life on a UK campsite.... below, the Nuth's are shown the obligatory travel photos!

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Week 3 (27th July – 3rd August)

This week contained some very important social events.  Mostly gigs.  Seeing the Smyths back at the 100 club almost a year on from their last appearance was always going to be a great night.  Then, we had to check out how our old band were getting on without us.  Turns out…. Quite well!  They had a gig at the end of Southend pier.  I should add it was inn a function room, not just playing on the wooden planks!  I would’ve liked to be able to say I’d done a gig on Southend pier…  Anyway, it was a windy but fair day for a stroll long the mile-long landmark and the gig went well despite the turnout not being great.   

 

Start them young... Jude enjoying his Dad's singing

They now do an awesome version of the Eagles classic ‘Hotel California’ thanks to their new guitar and bass players having far better skills than Simon and I. It was good to see them enjoying themselves and doing well.  They even get PAID for most of their gigs now, a radical idea that we never experienced!

It had been at least a month or two since we’d last seen the movie ‘The Goonies’.  Those of you who followed our American adventures will be aware of our visits to relevant film locations in Oregon and our efforts to recreate important scene backdrops to compare with the originals. AND visiting the Goonies museum in Astoria.  So why on earth would we turn down the opportunity to go and see it, yet again, but this time in the great outdoors, namely Hockley Woods in Essex?!  Maybe the unreliable British weather should have put us off.  Despite some heavy showers forecast, the showing went ahead with the organisers warning people to be prepared.  We were treated (again!) to our tickets by Stu and Jo who had also taken the pilgrimage to Oregon when they joined us, despite it being a very very loooooong day for them from Seattle!  It was a very different experience to watch a film in the open air and we managed to keep warm with the assistance of hot chocolate but if they could have arranged a clearer night I would have preferred it!

Enough socialising.  It was time to knuckle down and do the work we had promised to do for Simon’s parents in lieu of paying them any rent.  We had made the offer whilst they were staying with us in Canada.  Despite having paid to get some of the walls in the entrance hall and stairway of their home plastered in mid 2016, they had not had the time or the workforce to get the decoration finished.  We knew when we returned to the UK that the hallway would look exactly as it had done nine months earlier.  We felt it was only fair for us to pull some weight whilst living for free in their house.  It rapidly became clear that Ray has very high standards of decoration so this would never be allowed to be a ‘bodge-job’!  The preparation of numerous doors and frames and covering the new plaster with two base layers before it would be ready for the final emulsion layer went on to take up most of our spare time over the next couple of months.  But hey, if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well, right?!