Sean & Graeme

Third & Final Wedding Picture Gallery

Are the shots of our guests.  Many thanks to Steve for taking them so brilliantly AND quickly, thanks to assistance from 'Best Man' Samantha!  Thanks again to every one that came, it was such a brilliant day, or four,  and we really hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.

Click here for the wedding pictures

Backtracking a little . . .

we have to re-wind to our wedding in October.  There were hundreds and hundreds of pics and we aren't uploading every single one BUT there are still loads with every one seen once ot twice at least.  This post / gallery are all shots taken on the day it's self, not posed, just snapped.  Click here for the gallery and Enjoy

 

Back In Beirut Baby

With a lovely sea view room. Thanks again to our friends.

We got married . .

a week ago yesterday, there are three photo galleries of that fabulous couple of days.

We started on the Thursday night, with a mixer at Hotel Liberty, thanks to Jon & Eddy.  Lunch on the day was held at Hao Jing Lao, chinese restaurant in Sant Pere de Ribes.  Many thanks to Sam for an amazing Best Man speech and to many others friends and family for guiding the group down the hill to the restaurant and getting them seated.

First one here is the 'Parties' one, various pics from a few different occasions.

We're getting married . . .

 . . in a week.

Blimey.

Cheers!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

So Graeme had a work trip, trade shows, to Prague & London.  Work in general was busy but has now kicked up yet another notch.  We started regular, free, Spanish classes.  Thanks to our local town council.  Then there has been general end of Summer tidying, sorting out, etc.

Though as it's still getting up towards 30 degrees here in the middle of the day, it's hard to think that it's mid-October.

All the while we've been finalising plans for our little do at the end of October.  When we get married!

If you haven't already sent us your flight/arrival times please do so.

Hommus Recipe

Having just made the 3rd kilo of Hommus in about 10 days, I have had a few people asking what recipe I use.  Here it is;

Hommus b'Tahini 

Makes approximately 3 cups

• 1.5 Cups of Chickpeas (soaked overnight) *see below
• 2 Teaspoons of Salt
• Approximately 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 3/4 Cup of Tahini
• 1/2 Cup of Lemon Juice (more to taste)
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Chopped Parsley to garnish
• 1 dash of Olive oil to garnish

 Drain the soaked chickpeas place in a pot and add three times their amount of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil.  Boil vigorously for about an 10 minutes, turn the heat down, cover the saucepan and simmer until the chickpeas are very soft - approx. 1 hour.  Drain liquid and reserve.

Reserve 1/2 cup of whole chickpeas for garnish.  Puree the remainder of the peas in a blender.

Crush garlic with the remaining teaspoon of salt, beat or blend into the puree.

Slowly beat in the tahini and lemon juice alternately.  Blend in a little of the reserved liquid to make the mixture a thick and creamy consistency.

Add salt and lemon to taste. (this is of course purely subjective)

 

*Soak the chickpeas over night in three times their amount of water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.

NB - this is the recipe I ‘use’ but normally use 500g of chickpeas and at least triple the amount of Tahini, Lemon, Garlic and salt.  I always add more too.

 

Cava Palaver!

Many thanks to those that turned up last night for our birthday drinks.  Henceforth, forever more, known as 'Cava Palaver!', thanks to our friend Ian.  Great fun had by all, we spent the day cleaning, cooking and gardening.  The food certainly seemed to be appreciated.

 

Alicante Adventure

We've just got home from a road trip down south.  We had no plans, and it is was a three-day weekend, so when we found out a friend was staying near Alicante, had a pool and space for us to sleep.. we hit the road.

The drive down was about 350 miles, not so far. It's been ages since we took the car out for a long run, I really enjoyed it.  We'd driven as far as Valencia before, but this was much further, and a lot more interesting, as well as far busier with tourist traffic. If Spain had a tax on overloaded speeding French cars, we'd be clear of the gov't debt.  

So we sped past the sights, saw lots of mountains, roadsigns in Arabic, the HKG-style high rises of Benidorm, and got to Elche in Alicante province in time for a swim before dinner.  

Big thanks to Dave for getting the BBQ ready on perfect timing.  It was great to spend a long evening drinking wine, catching up and being entertained by "The Ed and George Show". 

Sunday, after more pool time, we took our hosts out for Paella and then made our way back, a little slower than expected. We had thought about finding a hotel in Benidorm, but after a drive though, we saw enough and made a quick escape, choosing to spend the night outside Valencia instead.  

It was great to get away and fantastic to be able to spend time with a friend I haven't seen for too long, and get to meet his two sons.  I wish we had been able to go further South, but we've plans this week, so will have to pick up the road trip after the summer ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Busy, busy, busy . . . .

After a VERY quiet winter and then settling into our new home the last few weeks have been a complete gear change.

What with Pride, friends visiting town, or staying with us it has all been great fun but I think I am looking forward to a quiet few days next week!

We did have a quiet few days after Pride but managed to fit in a rather long lunch with John & Ian at a fabulous local Chilean restaurant, new favourite of ours, El Gauchito.  Michael and Andrew arrived but before we could get into trouble with them, as we usually do, it was Chris' birthday; a fabulous drinks and dinner at the Hotel Alenti in Sitges, followed by a few more drinks starting in Casablanca. We managed to get up just in time for Cava on Michael and Andrew's terrace on Sunday evening.

Tuesday we were in Sitges' marina, Port Aiguadolç, for drinks aboard Julie & Yvette's yacht before dinner in El Cafe de la Plata, again with M&A.

Wednesday , with at the invitation of our friend Maureen, we spent the afternoon exploring the wines of the Priorat region.  Further south and more inland, Siurana is an incredibly picturesque town . Perched high on a dramatic cliff the views are spectacular, the food was great too. 

Pictures from Siurana are here

Last night we were off into Barcelona, again with M&A, for the opening of an exhibition by Jean-Francois Rauzier, of his stunning Hiperfotos.  The show was held at the Museo Diocesano, next to the Cathedral in the old town. Many thanks to Jody & Bert at Villa del Arte for putting the show on. It also gave us a chance to catch up with Karen and Claire.

Hop skip and a jump from there was our dinner reservation at  El Rodizo , A Brazillian churrascaria.  Nice restaurant, fabulous food it's a meat lovers paradise!

Luckily tonight is a night in, as it's back to Barcelona on Saturday for Claire's farewell drinks before they pack up and move to Sydney!