Toulouse

On the 28th of March we packed our bags and headed for the bus station! We were off to spend the next few days visiting some of Chee Sing's friends in France. Ali and Aaron were nice enough to let us crash on the extra bed at their place (not to mention loan us a phone, keys, act as our tour guides on multiple occasions and even take us back to the bus station).

Long story short: Chee Sing is lying when he says he can't speak French, Chrissy is not (although she can read it with some accuracy). France is pretty darn cool.

The highlights of our trip included:

The Basilica of St. Sernin.

The Pont Neuf bridge (this is where Chee Sing points out "Pont" means bridge).

The Capitolium

The Hotel de Assezat


The McDonalds - Because Chrissy had to have a "Royal with Cheese" just like Pulp Fiction tells of.

Shopping and Exploring - Over half of the people could have popped straight out of various fashion catalogs. It was really fun to watch them and we found the most delicious coffee shop to sit at.

Parks! - The Jardin des Plants, Jardin Royal, and a couple of others that all linked together with cute paths and footbridges. Chrissy was jealous that Toulouse seemed to be greening much faster than Girona, but we enjoyed romantic walks and some well earned bench time.
Eating - It was great coffee, and the food was really tasty (even the Royal with Cheese).

Overall, we would really recommend a trip to Toulouse. It is great to explore, the people are friendly (and seemed much more social than in Girona, even with each other), and the weather is nice this time of year. We hope to go back and explore the Natural History museum (which like much of the city is closed on Monday).

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

P.S. Fanta limon is lemon here, not lemon-lime like in Chile...

Welcome to Our Blog

Benvingut!

It has been a little over a month since Chrissy stepped off of a plane and into Catalonia (it is April 18 today, but we are going to backdate this post to her arrival date). We have a cute little apartment overlooking the plaza with a branch of the local movie theater.


Luckily, Chee Sing managed to find an apartment with an "American Style" kitchen, so we don't cook in a closet, and a patio with walls so Chrissy doesn't lose the clothes she hangs on the line outside. (Note: These are all from before we moved in, we'll take some new ones soon)


After Chrissy's arrival, we set about making our little apartment a home with life's small pleasures like a coffee pot, a mixer, and even a tiny TV (we get about 30 free channels to augment our Wii time and help with Catalan practice!).

All of the language classes are booked, so until September, we can study online: www.parla.cat

We didn't have internet until this month (since the cheapest company never got around to setting it up). After a month and a half of waiting on Ya.com we decided to cancel and start fresh with Jazztel! It was a good choice, as a little over a week later we were up and running (and now here we are!).

Stay tuned for our Easter trip to France, some clips of the parade here, and a walk on the wall. We often forget our camera, but we're doing our best to keep you all informed!

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing