Barcelona

We're back!!! What an amazing week we've had!!!
Dennis and I had such a lovely time away in Barcelona! It was a perfect balance of busy city break mixed with relaxing beach holiday! We got to spend some time together (It's been a while as Dennis has only just got back from his latest cruise ship contract), we were able to forget about work and any stresses we may of had, and......... we got to eat a lot (and I mean A LOT!!!!!!)

Now I know it can be a little boring when somebody gets back from holiday and they insist on showing you the 'holiday snaps'. I'm Sorry..... I simply can not resist!!! :-) 

I won't give you a day by day account, just a selection of some of my favourite memories.

So pretend to be mesmerized, nod and acknowledged in the correct places and I'll take it as a sure sign that your enthralled by the pics! :-)

The first thing I noticed (apart from the heat) when we arrived in the city, was just how lively it was. Soooo many people, street artists, musicians and painters It was really quite exciting!

We stayed in a hotel on  'Las Ramblas' probably the busiest street I had ever seen. It was a tourists haven. Packed full with souvenir stands, artists, market stalls and restaurants.

 

 It also held some lovely looking shops.

and a great big fresh produce market:

I personally found 'Las Ramblas' a little too touristy and overwhelming at times. What I did love about it though was the little side streets that led from it. 

It was amazing to me how you could be on a jam packed street one moment, then in a quiet and secluded side street leading to some amazing local shops and architecture. 

Of course hidden away in one of these beautiful streets we found the yarn store. They had a great selection of colourful yarns and was the cutest shop ever! It was called 'All You Knit Is Love', so true :-)

Now you've probably noticed already just how beautiful and artistic the buildings and monuments are. Really....some of them were truly breathtaking.

Here are some of my favourite places that were were lucky enough to visit.

Guadi House.

 

La Sagrada Familia Cathedral

The thing I loved about the city's architecture was the little details you would spot every now and then.

Intricate designed floor tiles:

or gorgeousness hiding underneath a balcony:

We were also lucky enough to visit the Olympic Stadium. It seemed very appropriate, what with the Olympics taking place right now. 

We had a lovely day in the city's park. What a beautiful park it was!

We walked around the lake.

Watched a group of tap dancers.

And had some fun taking pictures of each other.

We spent lovely days at the coastal town of Sitges. Enjoying the beach and the lovely friendly atmosphere that the town had to offer.

 

The beach was lovely, the park was lovely, the architecture was lovely, the food was amazing!!!
My favourite thing about the whole holiday was dinner! (is that bad)
Each night Dennis and I would find a cute little traditional Spanish tapas bar. We would spend hours eating a variety of tapas whilst sipping on yummiest cocktails. It really was heaven!!!

We both had such a fantastic time! 

A city I would definately love to visit again! It was a very delicious city!

I do hope all you lovely, gorgeous people are well? Dennis and I missed you whilst we were away! 

Matt xxx

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Knitting challenges!

Hello everyone!

I'm home! After 4 months on board I'm back in Hamburg with Matt!
It's been a great time but I'm happy to have a little break! And little it is, I have 3 and a half weeks holiday before I start rehearsals again for my next ship! I'll be leaving the 1st of September, and will be going to the USA and Caribbean on my next contract!

I have never sailed this route so I'm very curious! We'll be visiting New York, Baltimore, Port Canaveral, Miami, Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad, Grenada, Isla Margarita, Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba!

But enough ship talk, time for some projects!

Before I left for the ship I did some major knitting again! Well, it was pretty major for me, because I made my first ever sweater! I decided on a pattern by Jared Flood called Cobblestone.
It's a pretty basic sweater, but I really liked the way it looks and it didn't look too hard, all though I was a little bit scared...

So, I bought some lovely yarn from Cascade Yarns: Heathers, in a very muted blue color. Off I went to knit, knit knit! I knitted hours and hours in a row because I was so excited, and I have literally no patience at the beginning of a project! I got most of it done within a couple of days, but than I got a little bit lazy again. I find it hard to do something twice, for example the arms. After making one arm, I could get myself to make the other one, which is quite essential ;-) But I pushed through and got it all done!

The receiver was of course Matt! So I really hoped it would fit! And it did! A little bit of pulling it in shape on his body and all was good! He wore it for days in a row! I was so proud having finished my first sweater, and having Matt wearing it as well!

Another project I've made is a shawl. Another pattern I chose by Stephen West: Vulpix. I was so excited after seeing the pictures of this scarf, that I had to make it! I bought some yarn from Malabrigo: Arroyo. It's a little bit heavier weight than sock, but comes close. The feeling of the yarn is just amazing, and the stitch definition is beautiful! And than there's the rich and warm color of the red/brown!

The challenge of this scarf was working with Japanese short rows! I had safety pins hanging everywhere on my work, but somehow it all came together! The color work also wasn't as hard as it looked!

I started my Vulpix about a week before going on board, continued on the long bus ride to the ship and finished it in the first week on board! What a pleasure! Too bad that I had no room to block it on board, so I had to wait till I got back home! Yesterday evening I did my little blocking process and today it was already dry in the morning because of the sun shining through our windows!

It was a little bit hard to photograph since it's a very big big big scarf!

I actually did some more knitting and crocheting on board but I sadly have no pictures of my finished projects since I gave them away! I already asked one of the girls to send me some pictures of the product I made for her! The other girl I will see again on my next contract and will take some pictures of her wearing her new scarf then!

I'm going to enjoy my free time now and look forward to our holiday in Barcelona!
Have a lovely sunday everybody!

Dennis xxx

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