Sunday 23 September 2012

Barcelona!

Such a beautiful horizon...

Last week we came back from a wonderful holiday in Barcelona. It was much needed as it had been a year since Lucy and I had been on any kind of holiday (Butlins with 40 of other people's kids in October doesn't count!) and we have both been working very hard recently. Also it was a kind of first year anniversary present. I'm not going to bore people with huge paragraphs, so here are a few of the best/most interesting points.


  • It's so easy to travel these days! As I sunbathed and Lucy swam in our rooftop pool I realised that only 3 hours ago we had been in Birmingham. Traveling around the city was a doddle too, as we hoped from Train to Taxi to Metro to Tram.


  • We swam in three different hotel swimming pools, a huge spa complex and the Mediterranean sea, I honestly have never seen Lucy as happy as she is when she's in the water ..._[:]-) (scuba smilie)


  • We walked and climbed all over the city too! Three walking tours (see below) up and down La Ramblas, through markets and...




...attempted climb up to Guell Park...





... and round Montjuic - two steep hills in the hight of the midday sun... we just couldn't get the hang of the siesta period




  • We learnt lots from our three friendly guides on Discover Walks free walking tours. We saw the Gothic Quarter with its Roman ruins and medieval churches, Gaudi's famous architecture and the Cathedral Sangrada Familia, and through "Picasso's Barcelona"











  • Speaking of which, we spent a very nice morning in the Picasso museum, with Lucy telling me all about his women (from the Stage2 play last autumn) whilst I listened to the audio guide







  • We ate lots of nice holiday food. A huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge meal on our first night (which filled us up for the rest of the holiday) and other meals of tasty tapas and paella. Lucy taught me how to peel the giant prawns, and we had muscles, clams, whitebait, calamari, cheeses hams, chorizo, patatas bravas, olives, and everyone's favourite starter... tomatoes rubbed on bread (?)


  • A good thing to see at night is the magic fountain, that had colourful displays to music. 


  • Everywhere you look there is something to see, but with our tour guides we learnt more about the Catalan culture, their protests for independence and their traditions which include human castles. We also saw lots of tiny details which only a Barcelonean can point out. 


  • Despite the huge city, this was a relaxing holiday, with both of us reading books and sunbathing by the pool or on the beach. 

  • There genuinely are only a few people I would NOT recommend this city to!
PS. You may have noticed these are Google Images - our phone batteries ran out on the 3rd day and we realised we didn't actually own an adaptor plug, and couldn't find one anywhere!

Saturday 8 September 2012

Growing up!

So this week marked the end of my life as a Student!

In the last hour of my final shift, I got that single signature that shows I am safe and have the good quality of character to be a registered nurse!

I was pretty sure that I would be signed off as my ward manager has given me a job on the ward I've spent my management placement on over the last three months - so I knew she was confident in my abilities. It's been an interesting placement; one shift suddenly something clicked, and I realised I could look after 9 patients on my own. One of the best things about nursing is that you're always working in a team, so if you're unsure or need help there will always be someone there. There's a huge network of people involved of the care of each patient, so it's not all down to you! Now I'll be a Staff Nurse I'm sure there'll be a steep learning curve as I loose my supernumerary status, but that's all part of the fun!

There is no way I would have done it without Lucy, even if sometimes I just needed someone to vent to! Seriously though, having the stability of our home life has made the stresses of a busy 3rd year much easier to deal with. I'm lucky I haven't had to be searching for housing, sharing with people I barely know and hoping that there will be a job at the end of it.  Once my fist paycheque comes through we'll be equal breadwinners :)

Monday 3 September 2012

One Year On!

Emma and I have been Married for a year and our Wedding day is still fresh in our minds some more pics here.