Round Three at R3

10.02.19 — Madrid

If you’ve been keeping up, you’ll all know by now that I am back in Madrid! This evening actually marks a week since my arrival, and so much has gone down since then that I still haven’t quite processed it myself whilst I sit here trying to figure out how to pop it into a blog post. I’ll just start and see where we end up…

Arriving to the city is a routine that I now perform from muscle memory, and so before long I found myself arriving at the door to the Airbnb flat that I’d booked for the first fortnight. After chatting to the couple I’m living with for a while, I unpacked the basics and then headed off to do something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while: a Mercadona trip!

Mercadona is the chain of low-cost supermarkets which I have always been rather fond of, but I restrained myself to picking up the basics on this first visit. Sunday was then spent doing quite a lot of nothing, but I had the pleasure of being reunited with my friend Napo as we headed out for a reunion tea of pizza and some drinks. After this, I turned myself in for another early night in preparation for my third first day at Erretres! Cue flashbacks to posts from both 2016 and 2017. I should also explain the name Erretres is Spanish for R3 – which I have decided must mean Round 3!

Cycling the streets of the city as the sun rises feels like a dream.

Before I knew what was going on I found myself being woken by my alarm for my first day back in the office. As I’d grabbed a rather central flat, I’d decided that the prettiest and most efficient way to get to the office would be on one of the city’s rental bikes, and so off I headed in –4°c.

A fading facade reads "Bodega" in old handwritten letters.

After somehow evading hypothermia in my poor bare fingers I arrived at the office, and it felt absolutely lovely to be back! As everyone arrived, I made sure to remember the protocol of hugs and kisses on the cheek, but I was soon thrown head-first into the chaos of projects and work to be done!

I trust by this point that I don’t have to repeat the age-old “I can’t share any of what I’m doing because of confidentiality clauses” spiel once more, but you get the idea. All isn’t lost, though, because I’ve also been up to a lot outside of my working hours.

This has, for the most part, involved wandering from one area of the city to another in between completing several rather uninspiring admin-related errands. Not all was lost, though, as I’m a sucker for a good photo when a composition presents itself, so I’ve peppered this post with such photos of the city’s ambience.

One night I did had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend, Leo, who I hadn’t seen for an age. During the evening I managed to get myself so tipsy on Venezuelan beer that I missed my Metro stop when returning home, but it was worth it for the good food and great company!

Another morning was also a lovely chance for a slight change of scenery, as me and Manu headed off to visit the new offices of one of our new clients. It was a pretty cool space, and as Manu had brought along his camera, I thought I’d take a few photos of him doing his thing for social media.

Shameless plug: go and give Erretres a like on Facebook if you can.

There has, however, been a big task looming over the otherwise fun this week: the need to find myself a place to live. I had decided that I finally wanted my own flat, and that I didn’t want to be too far from work, but I had been warned that it can take months to find something worth taking in the competitive market that is the Madrid housing game.

I went along to my first flat viewing on Thursday, a reasonably priced studio apartment in a quiet neighbourhood just slightly further away from the centre than the Erretres office. Upon arrival I found myself in a queue to view the place, and when it was finally my turn to have a look around, I found myself very underwhelmed.

That evening I felt rather deflated about the task ahead, and that was when my friend Bogar stepped in with a contact. He’d been looking for a flat too, and had already found one when an agency let him know that another one he’d looked at had been lowered in price. Needless to say, then, that I immediately got in touch and arranged to view the place on Friday after work.

Well, this second flat was completely different to the first! Newly refurbished, it had obviously been updated by somebody with a keen eye for design, and within five minutes of poking around the place I knew I had to have it. I told my guide from the agency as much, and before I knew it I was sat with the two owners (one of whom was a designer, I knew it!) and signing to move into the place in just a week’s time! How crazy is that?

Anyway, I’ll reign in my excitement and return to the present day. After signing my contract this morning, I headed over to Bogar’s flat to help him move his things a few streets down the road and into his new flat. After a few taxi runs with boxes full of his worldly belongings, I waited for him to bring in his last bit of washing, and then we headed over to eat noodles on the floor of his new place.

I seem to have run into an old lady hanging her washing out.

He’s living near where my new flat will be, so I took the chance to wander through what will soon be my new neighbourhood. Oh, and I also stopped for a few more things from the local Mercadona on my way back home. Start as I mean to go on, I guess!

That’s all for the past week, but my gosh has it been a busy one! I’m sure that things will keep picking up pace as I enter my second week, which will be ending with my move into my new place. I’ll be sure to put together a post with a few photos just as soon as I’ve moved in and bought a few plants to liven the place up a touch!

Leaving England

02.02.19 — Burnley

I begin writing this blog post from a quiet corner of Manchester Airport Terminal 3, where I’m rather content to have found a bench on which to set up my iPad. As zen as my little spot may be, it can only mean one thing: it’s time for me to move countries once more.

It’s quite lucky that I managed to make it here when looking at what the weather has been up to over the past few days, as my hometown has been getting progressively snowier as the week has gone on. The problem has been that the snow has been thick enough to cause disruption, but not quite dense enough to enjoy sledging and snow angels and other such frivolities.

My back garden is lightly sprinkled with snow.

Naturally I’ve been taking the opportunity to say goodbye to friends and family since I revealed my return to Spain, and I kicked things off with a lovely afternoon cake and coffee with Jess and Amber at a local pub. We had a lovely chinwag as we critiqued each item on our dessert sharing platter, and we all agreed that the BBC should really give us our own TV show where we discuss desserts. Watch out Mary Berry…

After we’d said our goodbyes, I was picked up by my dad and whisked off to see my grandparents in Bradford. We sat with them for a good while, chatting about my upcoming adventure and catching up over some delicious shortbread, but I we were soon on the move again.

As I was hobbling due to a minor operation on my toe, my family graciously made the quick trip over to Horsforth and dropped me off at my friends place. Here I spent the evening with Em & Lincoln before heading off to bed after a few ciders and an intense game of Catan.

An orange and blue sunrise behind a hill, with houses in the foreground.

The morning after hailed the arrival of Monday, so I left as the two of them headed off to work, checking myself into a greasy spoon for a sausage and bacon butty to start the day properly. After breakfast I caught a train into the centre of Leeds, settling in a coffee shop to relax until lunchtime.

I met Danni for lunch, which was a quick McDonalds in the train station due to the amount of time it’d have taken me to walk to her workplace. We had a good laugh over a burger, and then bade each other goodbye until Wednesday evening – but more on that in a mo.

After then spending another few hours in the coffee shop, I hobbled painfully slowly up to Belgrave, where I’d arranged to meet all of my uni friends who were still around in Leeds.

Once people began rolling in from work, we all grabbed ourselves a cheeky pint and a few slices of pizza, and reminisced about university life and how far we’d all come since then. All too soon, however, it was bedtime for everyone and time for me to catch the late train back to Burnley.

We all reminisced about university life and how far we’d come since then.

With my dodgy foot keeping me pretty stationary, the week was spent quietly preparing my move at home. On Wednesday evening, me, Danni, and Abi met up at a pub in Burnley for my last set of goodbyes, before winding up in McDonalds for a McFlurry. I did take a selfie at one point which, although it seemed passable in the dim light of the pub, almost gave me a fright when I looked at it on my iPad just now…

Thursday signalled the start of the serious preparations for moving to Spain, as I began to collect all the clothes, electricals, and books which I’ll need to survive out there. I had a treat lined up too, however, as my mum had managed to get us a table at a lovely little tea rooms just outside of Burnley.

A Victorian style British home interior.

I’d never been to Number 62 before, but all I’d heard about it were rave reviews from my friends and family – especially from my mum. I’ll admit now that it certainly lived up to the hype, as I was treated to what seemed like an endless stream of delicious food, all accompanied by a lovely big pot of strawberry and kiwi tea.

An afternoon tea topped with a lit sparkler.

Tomato soup in a floral cup, topped with croutons, cheese and chorizo.

Some personal highlights include a creamy tomato and mascarpone soup, homemade coleslaw, a chicken and chorizo sandwich, a warm scone, and a meringue filled with caramel, cream, and chocolate.

After devouring as much as I could, and boxing what remained up to have later at home, Thursday soon turned into Friday – my last full day in the UK. I can’t say that it was all too exciting, as I spent the day hurriedly packing my suitcase and obsessively weighing the thing – I didn’t want a repeat of last year’s baggage fine when I left Madrid!

Me, stood outside of my shed. There is snow on the ground.

I couldn’t leave without a photo with my shed.

As I sat with my neighbour in the afternoon to bid her farewell, I managed to completely miss a gorgeous purple sunset – but fear not, for my keen-eyed sister Ellie did me proud and snapped a few pics from my window. All credit to her, then, for the shot below!

A sunset of bright purple and orange colours.

As the evening came around, I finally finished my packing, and we settled down to my favourite meal for a sendoff tea – mum’s delicious stewed beef and onions with mushy peas and mash. We’d then to see her off to work for the night, and I headed off to bed after a couple of episodes of Nailed It on Netflix.

This brings us to the here and now, as I sit watching planes take off and land right outside the window. I’ve a timer set for the moment they’ll be announcing my gate, and I’ve picked up a bottle of water to see me through the flight – this flying lark is second nature to me by now!

Of course I’ve now got a crazy few days ahead of me, as I check in to my Airbnb this evening and spend tomorrow prepping to start work back at Erretres on Monday – it’s all going to happen so fast! As ever, I’ll be back with updates once things have settled down somewhat, and I look forward to sharing some updates from the slightly warmer streets of Madrid!

Even More Surprising News

25.01.19 — Burnley

Once again I find myself writing the words “surprise news” for a blog post title, and this time I’m beginning to worry that I’ll soon run out of the adjectives needed to keep the series running. It was back in January 2016 –three years ago now– that I first posted some exciting news on my blog, back when I first discovered that I had been accepted to complete six months as an intern at Erretres, a design studio I’d admired since beginning to look for possible companies to intern with.

Since then, safe to say, it’s been quite the journey! After my internship, I returned to England to complete my final year of university, and then wound up securing myself a graduate job back at Erretres in October 2017. The story’s latest update came just a few months ago in October last year, when I made the decision to leave back for England, where I’ve been and still am.

In the blog post announcing my move back to the UK, I noted my doubt that it’d be my last time living and working in Madrid, and how I knew I was sure to miss working with the great group of people at Erretres specifically. This has been true indeed, for although I have enjoyed prepping my new portfolio and this shiny new website, I have missed the people and lifestyle in the big city quite terribly.

Imagine the shock, then, as I now reveal the news that I have come to impart today: that I’ve just accepted an offer to return to Erretres!

It has all happened rather suddenly, I’ll admit, but I am over to moon to be heading back to Madrid. In the last post before I disappeared in order to update my site, my look back over 2018 posted on New Years Eve, I mentioned that I may have some exciting news to impart, and this was indeed it. Quite the start to 2019 I’ve had!

In terms of my next steps, I’ll be moving out of my cosy home village of Worsthorne and back to the kooky streets of Madrid at the start of February – three weeks to the day as I sit here writing this post (Saturday 12th January – I often write these things a bit in advance). I’m happy as that gives me the time to get myself organised, packed, and all my goodbyes said to friends both local and over in Leeds and beyond.

I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can!

Between now and then, I can’t say that I have all too much lined up, as I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can! If anything interesting pops up to report back on, you can bet I’ll be here with an update, but I suspect that the next time you hear from me may be upon my return to Spain.

Here’s to the next unexpected twist in my life, and a happy 2019 to everyone. I hope that your 2019 is as kind as you as mine has been so far to me!

Worsthorne Wandering

21.01.19 — Burnley

With my parents jetting off to Murcia for a few days, last week was spent home along and having to entertain myself. This gave me plenty of time to sit around and finish the coding for this new website, but I knew I couldn’t spend all of my day sat behind a screen, so one afternoon I timed a little amble with the setting sun.

Also, and during yet another little clear-out of my room, I’d found my old Praktica film camera, and noticed it was loaded with a film which had only been half-used. After not having used the camera for over a year, I took it with me during a trip to Clitheroe to finish the roll of film, and then proceeded to completely destroy the film: I’d forgotten how to use the thing on and accidentally opened the back before it had been fully wound on.

After this disaster, I decided that I was to cheer myself up by taking the camera out and allowing myself to use an entire roll of 24 snaps in one go. I did just that during the walk, and so this post is peppered with photos taken on the Praktica and from my phone. As you can see, the first couple I took on the Praktica feature some pretty cool light leakage…

Once I’d technically wandered out the the bounds of my village, Worsthorne, I was drawn over to a horse who was poking his head over a gate and into the road. I’m not usually a huge fan of horses –they kind of scare me– but this one seemed friendly and didn’t bat an eyelid when I wandered over. It did, however, start raring its head whilst I patted its mane, baring its teeth which allowed for some funny selfies when I decided to do the same.

The two of us bearing our pearly whites.

I also tried to take a couple of photos on film as I walked away, but both of them have come out slightly bizarre. The first was grossly overexposed, and the second was well-exposed but completely blue due to something beyond my control which I don’t understand. If you can explain why this might of happened, please do let me know!

I then continued my wander towards the neighbouring village of Hurstwood, taking a photo of some inquisitive sheep along the way. Once again, the mysterious blue haze descended, this time bisecting the image into a lighter and darker area. I quite like the effect it made, despite the attendant in the image processing shop warning me that “half of them haven’t come out quite right”.

Once I’d risked life and limb clambering down a wet and muddy embankment, I found myself crossing an old stone bridge over the confluence of two rivers. Here I took a few more photos, and my camera magically decided that it was going to ditch the blue tint halfway through one of the snaps.

Once I’d been chased by some ducks and sent a few silly videos to some friends to demonstrate how different life back home was to the big cities I’ve become accustomed to, the sun had begun to set and I had to pick up my speed in order not to get caught walking home in the cold and dark of dusk.

The last couple of photos that I got out of my film camera are of one of the strangest views along the way. Walking down one of the roads, you are presented with a view to the left which looks completely false: a smooth, undulating field bordered along the top with a dry stone wall and punctuated by a smattering of trees.

I took two photos of this scene using two distinct combinations of settings on the camera. The first is a much more accurate representation of how the scene looked in the fading light, but I do quite like the pinkish haze created in the over-exposed second shot.

After I’d snapped these, the advance film arm on my camera went limp and I knew it was time to head home. This all happened last week, of course, but just earlier today I had chance to nip into Burnley and pick up the developed photos.

The rest of this week will now be spent with my sister who has just returned from a busy week of university exams in Sheffield. I may have some updates as the week goes on, but failing that I have some big news which I’ll be sharing later this week – stay tuned for that!

Welcome Back

17.01.19 — Burnley

Hello to all of you that have checked back to see what’s going on, and to answer that very question: a lot has been going on!

As you can see, my blog has had a fresh lick of paint to start 2019 off with a bang. However, it’s not just the blog: my entire site has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up. Now, as well as pondering over the posts here on the blog, you might want to check out the work I get up to or just find out a little more about me.

If you’re a designer and/or a little bit technically inclined, you can read over the new colophon which explains how the site has been made, along with all the legal jargon that I should probably include. That said, the first time I proper tested the entire site was last night when I quietly launched it, so there’s the possibility that a few things might still not be working perfectly. If you do spot anything, please let me know.

That about concludes this quick blog post to welcome you to my new site, but be sure to drop by again soon – I’ve some very exciting updates coming very shortly. Until then, happy browsing!