Madrid maravilloso

Although it has been raining a lot during my staty here in Madrid, I must say it is a very beautiful city with a lot of fun things to do and nice food to eat!! Slowly I have been re adjusting to the life before the CFA and it is wonderful not having to study all the time!!

D has been showing me around the city and it has been very nice spending some time with him again. I got 2 (!!) nice presents from Tous because he thought I had done a really good job studying... very sweet!!

Tomorrow it's time to go back to London again. A short but sweet visit! Can't wait to come back here again!!

Feliz cumpleaños D!

Going for a retro look. My darling looks good in anything!

Miss you a lot!

Today is a very special day. Not because it's a sunny day in London - it's because it's my handsome hubby's birthday. Today he is 32 years young. But he looks like he just turned 25! I feel bad that I can't be there in Madrid with D today, because I would really like to celebrate his special day properly, but I will make it up to him after my CFA exam. I promise!

Hola

La Puerta de Alcalá in Madrid, Spain

It's been a while since I last wrote something... I think it's because of the lack of time and energy... Lately stuff at work have reached a crazy level and my studies have intensified massively. So I think I just lost my will to write something for a while.

A lot has happened lately. Not just the stuff a wrote about above, but for example: D is being transferred to Madrid through work. It's a good thing professionally for him, but that means - long distance relationship - yet again... I mean, we have a mortgage and we have to both be able to pay it otherwise the bank people will chase us down and beat us with their briefcases and worse... So I couldn't just leave London without having a job in Madrid.

Leaving London - I'm perfectly fine with that, given that I get a decent job in my next location. I have had fun and gained great friendships here but I don't feel that attached to the city itself. It's an amazing city and I know I will come back to see friends and go for shopping and culture, but I don't see it as my home. I never did.

Having said that, I don't really see any place as my home other than Stockholm and I don't feel the need to live there as I always go back there to see my family and friends. It will always be such a big part of my life anyway. The way I feel now, is that home is where D is. So when he leaves for Madrid - in the beginning of April, I will have the perfect excuse to just dive into my CFA books and not resurface until June, because by then I know I will have begun in my pre-exam panic phase ever so slightly, but noticeably. That will just get worse as the exam date gets closer and will culminate on the night before the exam, not to reappear again until the next exam. Good for D that he won't be here through that phase - it can be pretty rough if you're the boyfriend.

Well now I got started with the CFA and Madrid stuff on the blog, which made me a bit stressed about the exam... I have to go study some more now...

The big question is, will there be a "Englund in Madrid" blog continuation? Maybe soon, maybe never.

I just say: "Que será, será".

Art

The original

Not sure D's workmates have a lot to do at work... But one of them, G, certainly seems to have some some time on his hands to be creative. Quite good, I must say.

Prospero año nuevo!!!

The picture is of the Cathedral in Palma de Mallorca. Beautiful!

Yesterday was a tough one!! After many hours of travelling and some waiting in the Airport of Berlin, I touched down in the beautiful island of Mallorca.

After having had a wonderful dinner with David and his family we followed the spanish tradition of having 12 grapes during the last 12 seconds of the year - for good luck. We all made it even though most of us chewed and swallowed the seeds as well! After having toasted with champagne to welcome the new year, me, David, David's sister Aina and her boyfriend Alberto headed for the party.

We had a lot of fun and danced until 4 o'clock in the morning. It had been a very long day so I was knackered to say the least!!!

I hope you all had a great New Years Eve and that you will have a prosperous 2009!!