Barcelona: Out and About
Rather than try to compile a diary of “what we did every day”, which would not be all that interesting to most folks, I’m going to lump types of photos/experiences with a little info. I hope it will be a fun reminder of why the Basha and I love Barcelona so much. Places We have spent a LOT of time (mostly wandering or lost) in the neighborhood of el Born. It tends to be a maze of small streets and…
On the road again 🎵
It feels like it has been a REALLY long time since the Basha and I have been off on a travel adventure just for fun. The pandemic really put the brakes on travel for (what felt like) a gabillion years! Here we are in late 2022, and we are off to Spain for a while. The start of the trip will be in Barcelona with my mama (heretofore known as “Madame”). Basha and I have been to Barcelona before, however…
Things I see…
I think most of us snap pics on our phones, thinking that we will share them. I know I do, and yet I rarely get around to sharing. I’ve been going thru my phone pics and here are some fun ones: HOUSE – there have been lots of changes, and some stable periods. We are finally settling in and feeling like it is HOME. CAUGHT MY EYE – sometimes you say, I’ve gotta take a picture of that otherwise no-one…
Mas Construction
Forgive me if you speak Spanish – there should be an accent over the “a” in mas (meaning: more) but for the life of me I can’t make it work. Work, however, is AGAIN happening in the house. Every time we start getting settled, and enjoying that we don’t have workers traipsing in and out of the house all the time, we end up discovering another “project” that needs doing. Today began the demolition phase of some small projects on…
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Haven’t even finished getting ALL the construction photos up, I’ll get there eventually. Today we had a new, might I say refined (?), addition to the house. For those of you that have been here, you will easily see the magnitude of the changes. We ordered drapes and outdoor cushions for the house. Some windows have not had any covering since we moved in. Others were “the best we could do with what we had”. Living Room The drapes make…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 2: Architecture & More Art
The Orozco murals were AMAZING, however those were not all we had to feast our eyes on. More art: MUSA at the University of Guadalajara. A small but lovely museum. We really liked the art of Hector Navarro – and he was there talking with military cadets – we got to meet him!!! Architecture and beautiful things around Guadalajara Day trip to Tlaquepaque (say it out loud – it is FUN to say) We had an AMAZING time in Guadalajara.…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 1: Jose Clemente Orozco
I’ve been gone. Things have been happening. One was a trip to Guadalajara. This is Basha’s & my first adventure in Mexico outside of our new “home town”. Flights are inexpensive and easy. Our time in GDL was split between playing TOURIST with friends and shopping for FURNITURE at the International Furniture Expo. You can guess which was more fun! We stayed at a lovely little hotel in the historical centro called Hotel Mendoza. Our room looked out over a…
Some days don’t go to plan…
We bought the house in October. We started renovating in November. This has been far more stressful than I’d expected. The house is large, but we have been squeezed down into a small amount of space because multiple renovation jobs are going on at one time. We knew the palapa/roof construction was going to be disruptive. The palapa and pergola are DONE!!! The counter/bar is in, the stairs from ground to roof are done. YAY. We are paused on the…
Construction begins – Week 1
We’d only had the keys for the house for 2 weeks when the first load of construction materials arrived. Our FIRST priority with the new place – making the roof accessible, and having a comfortable place to hang out and watch the sun go down over the water. That is going to involve a lot of demolition and construction. This is going to be fun, right? 😉 Watching construction has always fascinated me. The calculus of what happens when, how…
Backfilling: October 21st
The last (nearly) three weeks have been a combination of spectacular highs – excitement, joy, disbelief – combined with exhaustion, chaos, and endless decisions. A potent cocktail!! In addition, we are STILL waiting for internet service at the new place – so all internet needs require a trip back to the rental house. Thank goodness we have the place until the end of the year!!! So… we closed on the house on October 21st. It was a thrilling and draining…