24 October 2006
The Boomerang Effect
Here we are... Back in Sydney! Of course this was not planned, but it has happenned. After fighting with the Spanish bureaucracy for a while and realising that we were misinformed by two official bodies about the procedures to get a residence permit for Karthik "on the spot"... We are back! Not for good, as we will be in Sydney for only 3 weeks (although staying longer is tempting, now that summer is coming!)
So... What's our next stop? We think (hard to be sure about anything nowadays!) it's going to be UK. This has nothing to do with our original plan, but it seems that, given the circumstances, it is the wisest option, as the residence-work permit can be obtained in Australia in 10 days, so we can start working as soon as we land there... and find a job! (the latter, we believe, was necessary in any case).
Better not to think of the cost of this "change of plans"... Let's instead focus on the joy of meeting our good Aussie friends and being in beautiful Sydney (we were missing it a lot, by the way!)
Our plan is to leave Sydney on 8th November... That is, in two weeks we become a boomerang again, as there is no doubt that sooner or later, for a short or a long period... We will be back!
01 October 2006
Been a long time...
Hello from ESPAÑA (note how we can use the "ñ" on the keyboards here!)I guess its time we got our act together seeing that we haven´t updated the blog for over a month since the virus attack. If you have been to the Spanish version of our blog, you probably saw that Isabel has been a bit more consistent...now we know which one of the two is the journalist ;-)
Anyway, a quick synopsis may be in order to bring you all up to date since our stint in Mumbai; so here goes:
- AUG END: Virus attack in Mumbai cut short our visit by a week. Had snippets of the Ganesha (Elephant God) festival, which is huge in Mumbai; snaps yet to be uploaded. Managed to squeeze in atleast one whole day around town, stayed overnight at the Intercontinental to get over the previous bed-ridden week and a great catch up for lunch with friends on the last day.
- SEP WEEK 1: Reached Madrid early September via Qatar (5 hours in the airport...nothing much to report) and after a night there, headed to Isabel´s parents´seaside home in Santander.
- SEP WEEK 2: Awesome weather, great food and catch up with family and friends. Visited the family home in the country and spent a blissful 4 days in the village and surrounding country side enjoying the peace and quiet and the local delicacies
- SEP WEEK 3: Started the boring task of gathering or should we say getting our head around the paperwork for visa, work permits, etc.
- And then :- LONDON AND DUBLIN!!
We headed off to Guildford first, just outside London city where we were pampered and taken care of by Isabel´s brother Angel and his wife Maria. Had a fantastic party at their place to celebrate their birthdays with lots of their friends.
Next day they took us for a guided walk around the Wey riverside into the country which was fantastic. A bit of walk around London town before some curry for dinner. Early start next day for Dublin.
DUBLIN : Our first investigatory trip to the Emerald Isle. We can now say that we have entered the phase of finding our "place in the world" after almost 3 months of pure travel and tourism.
Hectic 5 days in Dublin, checking out apartments, job markets, prices, etc. A very vibrant city indeed and unbelievably a melting pot of people of all cultures...and that´s saying a lot for someone from Sydney, Australia. Struck us as a place with loads of potential...even headed out of the city centre to check out the surrounding sea-side suburbs (including one called Sydney Parade...nostalgia??). Love the fact that a suburb pronounced " Dun Leary" is spelt DUN LAOGHAIRE
We were lucky to have good weather and decent amount sun! Pretty pricey though...they say that the salaries are relatively good as well! (if one gets a job and the work permit quickly)
COULD WE LIVE THERE?
Well, we are back in Spain now to put our heads together and assess our first impressions and facts, so...
Stay Tuned
