Catchup with Family and Friends

Authored by Andrew

Cervia, Italy - Ironman

After nearly 4 weeks of house sitting and dog walking in Mallorca and Cyprus we needed a well deserved a break! Fortunately some of the old Perth crowd (Deon, Lauren, Tom, Kate, Earl and Jan) were to be in Cervia, Italy to compete in an Ironman just as we finished Cyprus so was an opportunity that couldn’t be refused.

Lauren and Kate had set the goal and paid pre-COVID the Ironman and this was the first opportunity to compete. The forecast on Friday was for a cyclone level storm to hit the town late Friday/early Saturday (the day of the race), hard to believe as the weather was sunny and very stressful for the competitors. Fortunately the organisers heeded the advice and postponed the race.

The storm was as bad as forecast and there was significant damage to the town and race facilities. Amazingly both the town and course were cleaned up overnight to enable the race to be held on Sunday

Race day was sunny again, so whilst Tom and I worked hard on the inspiration, principally drinking and eating interspersed with some cheering and encouragement, Lauren and Kate worked on the perspiration! Both achieved their goals for the race - full Ironman!

Tom did his own Ironman - 10m barefoot dash between bars! See background of Lauren photo!

Rachel and Zach Visit Barcelona

We flew back to Barcelona with one day to prepare to greet Rachel and Zach. We had last seen each other Christmas 2020.

I got to the airport to welcome them to Spain, it was fantastic to see them both after such a long time. We’d setup a shared online itinerary plan - so after a quick shower, breakfast and coffee, it was time to start hitting some of the Barcelona sites, starting with a walk up to Montjuic Castle, then a cable car ride down to the beach for a well earned Sangria! On the way back, a walk along the Rambla with a stop at Mercado de La Boqueria for Zach to get a snack or two.

Over the next week, we did many kilometres walking (Rachel and Zach have the step stats!) to see the sites arounds Barcelona including; La Segrada Familia, Guell Park, Montserrat, FC Barcelona, Gothic Quarter, Picasso and MOCO art museums, and many more.

Rachel was great at discovering and organising the many restaurants and bars to visit.

Whilst Sue and I took a siesta, Zach took Rachel to our local restaurant and sprang a surprise proposal - whilst very nervous, I don’t think there wasn’t any question of a rejection. The owner was delighted to act as official photographer and gifted Cava (Spanish champagne) to celebrate. I’m sure they’ll have a long and happy life together.

Rachel and Zach then went off for a four day visit to Madrid and Seville but there was no rest for us - Deon and Lauren were visiting for three days.

Deon and Lauren Visit Barcelona

Deon and Lauren came for a three day visit and it was great to catchup in a more relaxed environment before they headed back to Oz. Luckily we had a pre-prepared Barcelona itinerary for where and what to see (saved for future guests) - we just needed to cram all the sites into a shorter period, which basically involved a lot more walking each day, interspersed with eating and drinking!

Rachel and Zach - Mallorca and Farewells

We had arranged to meet back up on the island of Mallorca for a long weekend in Porto de Soller. It was a great place to relax for a few days, soak up the last of the sun, take a swim, and of course, some eating and drinking! Zach finally managed to get the traditional paella dish - which was “best on island”, well so the waitress said!

We returned for the last couple of days back in Barcelona before we had to say our goodbyes to Rachel and Zach, they were jetting off to Italy to continue their eating, drinking and sites tour.