The 80s Neighbours Star incident

Since the "80s Neighbours Star" incident* in 2002, I've felt the same about going to the hairdresser as I do about going to the dentist - very nervous! Just before Christmas my favourite hairdresser moved on from the salon I used to frequent, so I had been putting off having The Big Chop. This morning, with great trepidation, I finally made an appointment at my local salon with The Scissors (cue scary music...)!

I perched anxiously on the fancy couches waiting for my "personal stylist". As I watched all the dolled up WAGs having their hair cut, coloured, primped and preened, I vowed not to wear my comfy walking shoes next time - I have to constantly remind myself that we live in "The Village" now and one must keep up appearances!

Having your hair cut is a bit like watching a work of art in progress - you are hoping for a Banksy - funky and in vogue, but there is a risk that it will be a Dali - kind of strange and stare-worthy (not in a good way). Either way, things were shaping up pretty well until the stylist said "it's not supposed to be perfect". Cue increased heart rate, hands gripping chair, clenched teeth, and forehead creasing frown... I'm an engineer. I don't do "not perfect".

I paid quickly and rushed home into the bathroom where Phil and I did a thorough post-cut review. You'll be pleased to hear that I think it looks okay. It's quite short at the back, longer at the front and it isn't level on both sides, but you can get away with a lot when you've got curls.


Mission accomplished... for another couple of months anyway :)

* The "80s Neighbours Star" incident that has scarred me for life happened after an overly enthusiastic hairdresser snipped and clipped and blow dried my hair into a curly frenzy. When I got home Phil's first comment was "You look like an 80s Neighbours star". Now most men would be lucky to keep attached to their balls after a comment like that, but he was so spot on that I could only laugh, agree with him and jump in the shower to mitigate some of the damage!

Spain Part 5 - The Guggenheim

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was the place that initially attracted me to seeing northern Spain. The building is so impressive - designed Frank Gehry, it comprises gracious curves of titanium, glass and steel representing sails, fish and the natural world. Inside it hosts modern, surrealist and American art in multiple soaring display rooms.

The building really is a wonder, but I'm afraid my appreciation of the displayed art was a little lacking - even having seen Salvidor Dali's abode and the weird and wonderful creations of Gaudi in Barcelona. To me, a row of different coloured square is not art! However, it does make me think that maybe my limited artist talent shouldn't hold me back ;)

It was a great end to a wonderful week away. It was fabulous to have Dad along for the ride and we're looking forward to having him (and Mum) along again hopefully some time soon!

I'll leave you with two of the funnies we saw this trip...

... they breed their cows smart in Catalonia - they can read the signs about where they cannot pass - whether they follow them or not is another whole story...


... and secondly, when is Europe going to learn that Aussies don't drink Fosters?!!!

Spain Part 4 - Party town

On Friday we hit Party Town (as Dad has dubbed San Sebastian). Our new and trusty Tom Tom (creatively nicknamed Tommy) directed us into the centre of this large resort town on the northern coast of Spain near the French border. We piled into the tourist information office just before midday closing and booked a room in a nearby pensione for two nights. The pensione had recently been redecorated, but there were some alarming cracks in the wall giving the impression that the front of the place was going to tumble off into the street below!

I imagine San Sebastian is heaving with visitors during the summer months - it has a charming old town, lots of stylish clothing shops, a wide seaside promenade for relaxing meandering, multitudes of patisseries and a great nightlife.


The bars in the old town are laden with delectable looking tapas from about 6pm, and you are encouraged to tapas-bar-crawl until around 10:30pm when the restaurants start serving dinner! Lets just say that by the time you'd filled up on tapas treats there was no need for a full meal. After that the partying continues well into the wee hours of the morning, but as Dad noticed, by the time you get up the next morning the streets are pretty much spotless!

We did the proper touristy thing and caught the motorised choo choo train around the city while it drizzled, but the next morning brought the sunshine, so we trekked up Mount Urgull to get a look at the statue of Christ that overlooks the city.


No... that is Phil... the statue is coming up!!

The statue has his hand raised in blessing, but it has a lightning rod sticking out of it, so I thought he looked as if he was smoking!


For lunch we lazed in a chic little cafe admiring the view over the bay and then rested our dazzled eyes in the city's aquarium below.

Two thumbs up for San Sebastian as the resort town of choice - history, atmosphere and style all rolled into one.

Spain Part 4 - Running of the bulls

Okay, so the bulls weren't actually running when we were in Pamplona, but we made sure we followed the route shown in our guidebook despite the rain! I can't quite picture how you escape the dangerous horns and the trampling during the real event - there aren't that many escape holes.

We had a fabulous meal in an Spanish-Asian-Fusion tapas bar. Phil was a little horrified when I ordered a 6 euro bottle of still water, but we now have a lovely Norweigen Voss bottle to keep our water cold here! We really needed it in our hotel room, as they had the air conditioning off because it was winter, but the room was stifling even with the window open and the heater off.

We walked around the citadel gardens and exclaimed like true tourists when we first saw the crossing lights where the little green man is properly animated, but we didn't do a lot of sightseeing because I had a nasty cough and had lost my voice. I did manage to buy a lovely black leather handbag in a small bag-lovers dream shop on our way out of the city.

Spain Part 3 - Mountain scenery

I was most looking forward to the mountain scenery on this trip, so we spent a good portion of the week traversing the Pyreneen mountain roads. One moment we would be cruising through a picturesque valley admiring the endless green pastures and cute mountain cattle. The next we'd be holding our breath, hearts racing, knuckles white, eyes plastered on the road, as we rounded tight switchbacks near the top of a snow capped mountain with sheer drops waiting to swallow us whole if we met a car coming too fast in the other direction.

I would not recommend this route for the faint hearted, but if you can hold your nerve and bear to trust your driver to watch the road while you glance around, the reward is absolutely spectacular scenery. One afternoon we were treated to an aerial display from 16 golden eagles riding the thermals up through a valley. Later that day while we watched the sun set over the town of Alcazar, hundreds of eagles and hawks glided in slow circles above the town for an hour or so.





The next day it snowed for hours as we drove along the route to Pamplona. Spying the sign for what we though would be a pretty monastery, we turned off the highway onto a smaller side road leading up into the mountains. As the snow on the road got gradually deeper we slowed to a crawl until we rounded a bend and found a man whose car had bogged in the snow. After much signalling (he didn't speak English) and with the help of some 4-wheel drivers who came up behind us, we managed to turn all the cars around and get out safely. Perhaps we'll see it next time...

Spain Part 2 - Salvidor Dali's home

It is always nice to have some personal recommendations for places to visit while on holiday. Knowing the people who give you the advice means that you are pretty much guaranteed of not ending up at some dirty tourist-ridden attraction that is a let down during your precious holiday time.

At the suggestion of one of my workmates, we made a detour up the coast to Cadaques, a small seaside holiday town wrapped around a beautiful bay. Just over the hill from this town is Portlligat, the longtime home of Salvidor and Gala Dali - the famous surrealist artist and his wife. The place is now a museum. As you might expect from an inspired surrealist, it is full of weird and wonderful things - like the tiny cicada cages on the walls so the couple could hear their chirping close by and the sea urchin shaped room that served as Gala's private sitting room. This is the pool-side relaxation area...


My favourite room was the artist's studio - a large light filled white room with huge windows looking out into the bay.

It feels a bit odd oggling at someone's personal possessions, traipsing through their bathroom and peeking into the private nooks and crannies of their well loved home when the person is not there. (Not that I do that when people are there!) Hopefully they don't mind now that they are both no longer of the living.

Here is Dad soaking up the scenery...


A day after our visit to the Dali house, we followed the recommendation of the friendly waitress at our hotel and caught the rack railway to visit Nuria - an ancient mountain sanctuary more recently converted into a small ski resort. The waitress told us the area was very special to the locals as their ancestors had crawled up the mountain on their knees on pilgrimages to the sanctuary. Many of those who sought protection were shepherds, so the church there has stained glass windows depicting men with crooks and sheep. It was a lovely detour from our path.

Spain Part 1 - Tico tico in Barcelona

Phil, my Dad and I have just had a fabulous 10 day adventure in Spain. We rented an apartment in Barcelona for a weekend and then hired a car and drove across the top of Spain through the Pyrenees to San Sebastian on the north west coast before flying out of Santander. There is so much to tell, that I'll have to split it over a couple of posts.

Barcelona is a beautiful city with wide streets, friendly people and great weather. We spent our time wandering down Las Rambles and through the old quarter, marvelling at the models in the Maritime museum and quietly snickering at the macho men being seasick on the golondrina boat tour while their worried looking girlfriends rolled their eyes!

The highlight of our stay was the Mercat de Sant Josep (aka La Boqueria) - a massive lively food market where the stalls are piled high with colourful fruit, an amazing array of healthy vegetables and juicy cuts of meat and fish.


Shopping there makes doing your weekly shop at the local supermarket seem so mundane - you miss out on the banter of the stall holders, the wonder of discovering a vegetable you've never seen before and the chance to watch the crowd while chowing down on some mouthwatering fresh-off-the-grill garlic prawns. Admittedly I've never had to elbow my way through the shoppefrs to the potatoes at Sainsburys or Coles, but hey, that is all part of the fun.

My advice for visitors to Barcelona is to skip the queue at the Picasso Museum (we couldn't be bothered to wait) and to do the tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana instead. This magnificent venue designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner is the only concert hall in Europe to be lit by natural light. The building represents a "garden of music" and it's centrepiece is a large stained glass window decorated like a sun in the roof of the main hall. It is shaped like a large drop of water hanging down into the space, symbolically providing sunlight and water to the garden. So clever!! You can't take piccies inside, so here is a view of the balcony from outside.


We had been slightly concerned about how Dad was going to fit into a "Phil and Katherine" holiday which usually involves endless hours of walking, tower climbing and meals at odd times, but he jumped right in with the fun! While dining in the Port Olympic harbour he ordered cuttlefish and sangria, and jigged along with the piano accordion playing entertainer after he'd requested the man play Tico Tico. Go Dad!!

Before I move on from Barcelona, here is a painting I bought from one of the stalls on Las Rambles...