From Doug: An Apartment Finally!

After visiting what seemed like 90 apartments, we finally found the perfect one. We saw some we really loved, but were a bit pricey. We saw some that were cheap but in a neighborhood I wouldn't visit after dark. Last night we decided to go with one of the first ones we saw that was a good balance of price, location, and size. We told the contractor that we would take it pending some paperwork.

However, in our mad rush to find a decent place we had scheduled an appointment to look at an apartment later that evening. In an effort to leave no stone unturned we decided to look at this last place, even though we had already agreed to another one. Of course the last place we look turns out to be the best by far. This place had no agency fee, an extra bedroom, and looked like it came out of an Ikea catalog. We didn't need to talk about, we just looked at each other and knew this was the place. I think we had karma on our side, as the previous place we really liked got snatched up by the stupid brit who saw it five minutes before us. In our case, someone had seen this place earlier in the day and wanted to come back the next day to finalize. The owner said since they hadn't given him a definite answer it was ours for the taking.


So here we are. I guess it is for real now. We have an apartment in Barcelona. I don't think in my whole life I could imagine saying that. It is a huge responsibility, but so exciting. It is now even more urgent that I find a job. I have made some decent progress on that front. I have talked to three different club teams about swimming for them, as well as lined up a meet in Pisa next month. Also during the apartment hunt I found this cool website for apartments in an adjacent neighborhood (we live in barceloneta by the way). The really liked the design of this site (http://www.bornliving.com/) so I looked up who designed it. He had a website in english (http://www.miguelripoll.com/) so I sent him an email saying I really liked his work and would like to meet with him. He emailed me back the next day saying he had looked at my portfolio online and even watched some youtube videos of my swimming and although they didn't have any openings here he would love to meet with me. This is really exciting because Barcelona is apparently the center for design in Spain and all of the Mediterranean and he is CEO of a big firm here. We'll see how it goes...

Hasta mañana,
Doug

From KK: First day in Spain

So here goes. We are not going to Lleida anymore. Nope. We are staying in Barcelona. We have been looking for apartments all day. We are staying in Barceloneta, which is the neighborhood where all the ports are so we are about 1.5 minutes from the beach. It's basically like staying at Sea Side and walking across the street to get to the sand.




We are looking for apartments in this area, but looking alllllllllllll around the city as well. This has led us to some of the most terrifying moments of my life since going to Tangier, Morocco. We walked down scary alley #1 to get to scarier alley numero dos where a lady actually stopped. looked at us for a solid 28 seconds. raised her eyebrows with a "hmm" to follow, which made us feel right at home. We tried to run away before the Realtor got there and she caught us rounding the corner. We were in the apartment for 3 minutes, smiled and said we'd call her.



Have you ever seen the Tom Hanks movie BIG? Of course you have. Well, remember that hotel Josh stays in right when he gets to New York? Yeah. We went there today.



Other than that Barcelona is just as great as I remembered. I'll let you know if the food is as good one we have an actual meal. Thus far it's been bread with ham to-go, cafe con leche, beer and of course, my favorite, a schwarma...mmm...



We are having a wonderful time and getting to catch up with my friend Erin Mushaway, a Aggie who wear U of Texas shorts, who agrees that Texas isn't the South. She and I studied together in Granada and haven't seen each other since we were there two and a half years ago. She's taking good care of us and getting us settled here.



Oh! We have Spanish phone numbers now!

Doug is 011-34-697-712-395

I am 011-34-661-109-587



We also have skype so go download it at http://www.skype.com/ for free an we can talk on the voice over internet program for free!

Doug is creatively: dougvanwie

and I am conveniently from last time I was here: kkinspain



We also went to meet with a club team here in Barcelona where Doug can train. They looked at Doug with big eyes and said of course he can train there. We will hope for big prize money meets to follow shortly.



Hopefully after tomorrow we can tell you we found an apartment! Whatever we find, it will have a sleeper sofa at least so GET YOUR TICKETS AND COME VISIT!! Miss you all!

From KK: Our Tour of the South

These past few weeks of reitrement have been great. I would say lazy, but Doug is still waking up at 7-and-change to go swim. In the past couple of weeks we went to Auburn for the Tennessee game, to Panama City Beach with my sister and brother-in-law, Hunter and Tom, and Tom's brother Ray.

Then we went to Dothan to have one last round of Mama Rosas and Dothan folk and then to Birmingham for my cousin Ashley's wedding. We went from Birmingham to Charleston to see Doug's mom.

We spent the remaining days in Charlotte getting Doug moved out and packed up. For our one last hoorah, was rallied and went to NASCAR in Charlotte. We took a bus with about 30 people, only knowing Doug's roommate and his girlfriend. We realized shortly after getting on the bus that nobody knew each other. Two hours later we were hanging out, playing flip cup, pasting fake tattoos of bald eagles and American flags on our bodies. It was the perfect Southern experience to tie up our final tour of the south. God Bless America.

From Doug: Buen Viaje

Hello, This is Doug speaking. I'm new here so I thought I would introduce myself. That's me on the left. I'm a gemini, 24, and like long walks on the beach. Currently I am sitting in the Charlotte airport preparing to go Boston, Dublin, and eventually Barcelona. We will be residing in or near Barcelona, which I've heard is a lovely place this time of year.

With any luck, I will starting my own blog in the near future. No phony blogspot for me, I'm a designer and I'll make my own blog. In the meantime, I figured this was a good place to practice. This way if I make a fool out of myself I can leave it in the past and start over with a clean slate.

As far as my plans for Spain, I will be swimming and hopefully doing some graphic design. I recently heard from a club outside Barcelona that wants me to swim for them. There is also a team in Barcelona that I look will try and contact. Big shout out to my boy Dave Cromwell who I recently discovered was also swimming in Spain. Of course we are going to inject a little red, white, and blue flavor in to the Spanish swimming scene.

I'm not the biggest fan of blogs. I'm not dying to know joe 6-pack's reoccurring dreams, but for those of you out there that are interested in my inner workings here you go:

I had a dream last night that I was bungee jumping. Well, not me personally, but someone else who I was

watching in 3rd person. Anyways, said person's cord broke mid-fall and they dropped into a free fall. At

the moment their feet were about to break through the treeline, a safety net pulled them out of harm's way

normally I don't remember my dreams, but I remember this one seemed especially prophetic given our

upcoming adventure.

I only recount this dream to illustrate how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm pretty darn scared, but have butterflies from the excitement. I'm trying to bear in mind the advice my coach David Marsh would tell us before every big swim meet. Plan for the unexpected.

Until next time,

Doug

Travel Tips for Our Potential Visitors

I have been meaning to do it, so I'm going to start it now and just put some links to travel sites I have found useful traveling or planning. If you can find a cheap ticket, you have a free place to stay and you have a cheap(ish) trip to Spain!

I'll check my old journals when I get home to add some more, but here are a few off of the top of my head.

Cheap Ticket Sites:

http://www.1800flyeurope.com/
It's easier just to call the number and have an agent help you, but you can get some cheap tickets.

http://www.ryanair.com/
Although perhaps the most obnoxiously colorful site, I've flown from Granada to Dublin for about $10. It's got great deals, but beware, they get you on heavy luggage costs

http://www.whichbudget.com/
Great to compare cheap sites

http://www.vueling.com/
good for Spanish travel

http://www.edreams.com/



Best Travel Books:


Rick Steves.
End of story.

There are a zillion travel books to choose from, but often their recommendations aren't all that great. I agree with nearly all the recommendations Rick Steves' gives. We toted him all around Europe and found neat places to eat and stay, what can be skipped and what needs to be given more time.

Here is his website:
http://www.ricksteves.com/

I hestitated to even put him on here because, as one guy in Cinque Terra said, "Rick Steves preaches off the beaten path so much, they become the beaten path." But anyway, there you go.

My Favorite European Travel Spots...thus far:

-Edinburg, Scotland
-Granada, Spain
-Siena, Italy
-Lagos, Portugal
-Dublin, Ireland
-Amsterdam, Netherlands
-Asturias, Spain

No Soup for You!

Doug and I went to Washington DC for the weekend to get our work visas for Spain, but that was just a good excuse to go see his brother, Greg, and Greg's girlfriend, Caroline. We had a great time with them.




We got in late Friday and went out in Georgetown. Saturday, thanks to Tropical Depression/Storm/Hurricane Hanna, it rained and rained and rained on Saturday. It was perfect weather to stay in a watch Carolina Panthers football. If you missed that game, my condolences, because it was awesome. Because these crazy people up here don't show Auburn games on their stations, we had to venture out into the deluge and go to a sports bar that would have the game. I got to visit with one of my friends, Ryan, with whom I studied in Granada and hadn't seen since we left Spain two years ago.



After another Auburn victory (who cares that it was Southern Miss?) we went out for dinner at Madam's Organ in Adams Morgan. Get it? It took me a while. My advice: get the meatloaf and the mac and cheese. Delicious. We went out around that area and got home too late.



Sunday we went to Great Falls in Virginia. The storm had increased the water level and current drastically so we watched as some kayakers a great deal braver than ourselves threw themselves into the current and into the rock embankment, one after another. We got in the football season spirit and threw the ball for a while and hiked around and just enjoyed the beautiful day.




We played all weekend to take off Monday to go to the Spanish Embassy/Consulate. We got all of our stuff organized, filled out, checked off the to-do list and tucked neatly in a manila envelope, as I am so fond of doing. We were in there for about 73 seconds when she said, "This is all you have? No." Not a good sign.



The bureaucracy begins. Contrary to our Spanish employer's advice, we need a letter from the employer to the Ministry of Labor in Spain, who will then contact the U.S. Ministry of Labor. They will then contact the Spanish consulate in DC. In the mean time, the employer should contact us saying the forms are being processed. This process may take "one to two months." Thus far, we are just trying to get our jobs approved. We then show up in DC after this one or two months, deliver our passports in person with the other 100 stipulations. After at least a week, we have to come back to the consulate to pick up, in person, our passports, crossing our fingers a visa has been granted. If not, that's $100 for the process, two trips to DC and nothing in return.





You only have to have a visa if you are planning on being there for more than 91 days within a six month period, which we are. Our tickets are bought, and even though Doug didn't want to get them insured, I overruled that and they are insured, but we are going regardless. Here are our options:

1) We can stay for 91 days, then come home

2) We can stay longer and just hope it's OK, although the show "Locked Up Abroad" has me scared to death to break any sort of rules whatsoever.

3) We can stay our 91 days, fly back to the States, have the job approval process complete, and pick up our visas in DC, then return to Spain.

4) We can stay in Spain for 91 days, go to another country for 91 days, then return to Spain for another 91 days, leave again after another 91, etc.

5) Win the lottery and spend the rest of our lives gallivanting all over the world.



I'm all for #5, but we will see how that works out. In the mean time, we are going to whatever we can to get it taken care of and not stress too much about it.



Our plan is still to be abroad for about a year, but who knows. We are planning on coming back at some point anyway to meet my precious little niece/nephew who is due in March and see my cutie little- big sister, Hunter, when she is finally bigger than me for the first time since I was 4 1/2 years old. She's going to look like an olive on a toothpick and it's going to be precious. Doug's sister, Kara, who is about Hunter's size, is due this October with a little boy named Barton Hayes, only a couple weeks after we leave, so I'm not sure how long we can be gone with all these new babies in the family! If you know anything about me, it will come as no surprise that I am far more excited about these babies than any traveling we will ever do.



On the itinerary: a triathlon, a swim clinic, a 5k, a concert, whitewater rafting, all the check-ups and dentist appointments we can squeeze into the next 5 weeks, Charleston, Auburn v. Tennessee, Florida for a beach trip, baby showers, wedding showers, home to Dothan, my cousin's wedding in Birmingham, a trip to Carowinds Amusement Park, move out of our houses and into storage (feel free to volunteer), and at some point PACK! We are off in five weeks from today!

iVamos a España Pronto!

It's official! Doug and I are off to Spain October 14. We have our tickets to Barcelona...one way tickets. For some reason that has been the scariest part to me out of the entire Spain thing...one way tickets...

We are flying into Barcelona and one of my friends I studied with in Granada, in southern Spain, is picking us up and we will stay with her a couple of days before we head to Mollerussa, where we will be living.

I have to include these emails from Gemi, the lady with whom we will be living, working, etc. because they crack me up so much, probably because this is how I sound when I speak Italian. Here is her reply to my email with our flight information:

"Greatttt!!!October 15 at 10'30 morning I'll be there for pick up you. You can bring the dog, is she speaking spanish? I'm jocking, ha, ha.Yes I can help you to find apartment, don't worry there are a lots. I' ll be able to ask again about the Visas, I'll ask a good friend from Spain that he lives in Miami, he's working for the Catalonia governament there, I ask him, ok?"


The biggest issue thus far, to me anyway, is Mamie Clementine, my beautiful, precious little puppy. Quarantine laws have been lifted, as long as they are kept up to date on rabies vaccinations, heart worm medicine, flea medicine, etc. which she is. She also has to have a passport. That's right. My dog has to have a passport. She would also have to go under the plane because she weighs 34 pounds and the limit is 30 to ride on the plane. I am not sure what we will do yet, but I really want her to come and it will be very hard to leave her here.


We scheduled Oct. 14 mainly because we want to go to the Auburn vs. Tenn game (War Eagle) at the end of September, then to the beach, then off to Spain. At least we have our priorities in line.

Things have been sort of a whirlwind thus far, and probably will be until we are stranded in some foreign land and look at each other and are like "what in the world are we doing?" But we are both kind of excited about that aspect of it, too.

Yes, I realize we are not very realistic about things and one day will have to face responsibility and blahblahblah, but in the mean time we are going to live it up!