I'm a passionate biker from Sweden. I love to travel, preferably on my motorcycle.
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In a life with too many loose ends, I had to start somewhere and take control. So I booked my flight to Estonia. Now I know for sure that I can make it to the rally. Sadly, there won’t be an epic ride crossing Europe, getting lost, having break downs, with camping and running in new exciting places. But when life is too complex, something has to give – this time it was a matter of lack of time and money. As the rally is in the third week of July, it would mean turning down job opportunities so I could ride the 3400km to Estonia. In Spain, August is the holiday month so in July I’ll hopefully be able to pick up some work at summer camps and I can’t afford not to try.
So, flying to Estonia means leaving the bike in Spain, which in turn means that I’ll have to import it back… which also means that I’ll have a bike to ride in the Pyrenees in August when the country shuts down and it is impossible to find work.
Coffee trip to relax and soak up the sun. Photo courtesy: Christopher Harry Calvert
Time flies past in a stressful life where nothing really happens. I started my new job and quit again within a week – lesson learned, if it seems too good, it usually is. Now I have a new job coming up for the month of April, just a short gig but an interesting opportunity to teach in a Swedish environment. I was hoping to pick up something for March as well, but it seems like a dead run now despite ongoing attempts.
There haven’t been many opportunities for riding but my running is coming along nicely. It feels great to be back again, it has been rather a struggle after a longer period of fatigue and now I pace myself to not exhaust my energy levels but instead enjoy a shorter run – quality instead of quantity. Our new accommodation has a rather nice city run down along Passeig de Sant Joan, past Arc de Triumf and down to Parc de la Ciutadella. There are always lots of things going on in the park, practising acrobats or spontaneous dancing, so it makes for a nice loop and then I head back up again. Best of all, running is for free. Hopefully, I can make it down to the beach for a run soon as well. Poco a poco as we say in Spanish – a bit at a time.
On one of our rare excurcions we went to Esglesia del Sagrat Cor, with the intention to enjoy the view over Barcelona and the sea. Surprisingly enough, we enjoyed the church more than the view, partly because it sky clouded over while en route, but also because it was the first church on top of a church that we have ever seen.
Overall, life has been very much about being an immigrant since arrival, trying to fix accommodation and job while taking on the paperwork. It often feels like a task from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, it is difficult to know where to start. Now at least we have accommodation where we can register, which will make things easier, a bank account has been organised and lost papers have been retrieved. Immigrating is hard work at the best of times. I came here because I wanted to, nothing forced me to, nevertheless, sometimes it feels like a struggle to understand the order of things, but that is the essence of culture clash. They are often daunting, like when my director of studies tells me to buy sweets for the students as a way of motivating them to behave in class – a perfectly acceptable way of classroom management in Spain it seems, however, it clashes with my culture where sweets are for the weekend and to give sweets to someone else’s children is just pure wrong (for health reasons among other things), especially in the role of a teacher. A more pleasant side of a culture clash is being woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside the balcony and finding out that it is the saint’s day of this particular district of Barcelona. Later the same day, we enjoyed a parade with riders and horses, drums and trumpets, and showers of hard boiled sweets which made the children and elderly alike crawl on the ground in pursuit of them. Sweets that made the streets sticky and caused my shoes to squeak all the way back home.
Quite a different awakening and a very exciting start of the day.
Finally, some sunshine and time to get the wheels spinning. It is now three weeks since Lazy Cat and I arrived in Barcelona and there haven’t been many opportunities for riding. In fact, the only times the bike’s been used is when we had to move hostel, we’re now in our third hostel. As we are hoping to find accommodation in a shared apartment, we only book short periods and then we try to extend, so if the hostel is full we have to move. Tiresome business but I must add that our third hostel is so much better than the previous which was very noisy with music and parties all evening and construction work during the day. It wasn’t optimal for me, who was quite under the weather with a cold and therefore terribly tired.
Stay cool at Don Moustach Hostel
But now things are looking better, the weather has improved and the rain and cold that ruled our lives for the last two weeks are gone. Furthermore, we had a reason to celebrate. Although we have been luckless regarding housing, the work side of things is looking better. I’ve managed to land a teaching contract and will start working on Monday. Until now, my goal has been to find a job, a few classes here and there I was thinking – and then boom – I get a near full time contract. After 2 ½ years of studying and motorcycle vagabonding this will be a shock to the system. Needless to say, I feel quite stressed, and what could serve better as a chill pill than a ride out. Some time away, enjoying the coast and the mountains and dust off the bike. Apart from a need to disconnect from the daily chores of organising our life here in Spain, it is evident that I needed to reduce some stress in my life, a terrible rash has flared up on my torso and arms and it is ever so itchy. A sign that it’s time to relax and enjoy the good things in life, not sweat the small stuff, after all we’re doing well. So, we left Barcelona and slowly made or way up north along the coast to Tossa de Mar, a small seaside village that has withstood the touristification that has destroyed so many similar villages along the coast. While there, we indulged in some delicious seafood as a celebration of my new job and of life in general. To quote my dad – it is better to get a job than accommodation, because with a job it is easier to find accommodation. This is indeed true, and for the coming month we will be staying in an AirBnB room, so I can relax a bit and fully focus on getting into my job and all the challenges this new career will pose for me.
Grilled cuttlefish and langoustines make Christopher happy as a creamy cat.Seaside coffee break – what would we do without our thermoses?
The ride today was lovely, we even took advantage of the mountains and rode some serpentines. Along the route, we met quite a few other riders, no surprise, the weather was perfect for riding. No need for cold weather riding gear such as thermals or heated vest today. I even had to open the vents in both jacket and helmet to cool myself a bit, and it is February – I like it!
