Tom and Gemma

All’s well in Barcelona

Tom — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:16:24 +0000

Gemma and I have had a great winter. We spent New Year’s Eve in Devon, and have been lucky enough to go skiing three times in Port del Comte, in the Catalan Pripirineu.

For photos of our exploits, check out our Flickr page.

Amsterdam

Tom — Sun, 13 May 2007 14:50:31 +0000

Gemma and I recently enjoyed a sojourn in Amsterdam. It’s a wonderful city, full of beautiful people, canals and Van Gogh.

Itran

Gemma — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:27:44 +0000

I hope you all remember the fabulous band we had at our wedding; Itran.

Well, here you have a picture presentation my dad, Jaume (this is Gemma writing, by the way…I know it doesn’t happen often enough) did for my lovely cousin Cristina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I66xZRwoAI

Honeymoon photos #1

Tom — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 12:15:02 +0000

Hi all. I’ve managed to upload the first half of photos from our honeymoon. Click here: http://www.thebadrash.com/thailand1 to see some pictures from our wonderful trip to Thailand.

Tom

Wedding photos

Tom — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 07:05:09 +0000

Hi all,

We’re really sorry for not updating this site in a more organised way! We were so happy to see such a large number of family and friends at the wedding that words fail us.

If you’d like to see hundreds of photographs of the wedding, go here:
http://usuarios.arsystel.com/jaumebrey/

Our trip to Thailand went very well. The country, and Bangkok in particular, is filled with an array of delicious food, friendly people and incredible shops! We’ll try to post some photos from the trip to either this site or Tom’s homepage very soon.

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the big day, we understand completely. But watch out! You’ll probably end up with a couple of house guests at some point in the next couple of years!

Love and best wishes from Tom and Gemma xx

Earthquake, bichus and jazz: our honeymoon pt I

Tom — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 10:09:09 +0000

We’re currently in Cha Am, a very quiet beach resort 3 hrs south of Bangkok. The hotel itself (consisting of individual chalets scattered about a large, well designed garden and resort complex) is not exactly what we had in mind but it’s not bad either. We are going to ask the holiday rep if we can return to Bangkok early and stay there for a few nights as there’s not much to do here but eat, swim and drink.

Last night, I was awoken from my fitful sleep (I’d taken an anti-histamine to help my body deal with the mosquito bites it had been subjected to) by the entire chalet shaking in a most disconcerting way. The earthquake only lasted for about ten seconds and probably didn’t score much on the Richter scale but it was an unpleasant experience.

Bangkok is a great city. Though we only spent 2 1/2 days there, we managed to see all the major sights, eat in a very swish modern Thai restaurant and party in one of the best bars we’ve ever been to. The city has a population of about 6 million andÂ has no real ‘city centre’ but we were lucky enough to be located within walking distance of some key sights and spots.

For dinner on Friday, we ate at ‘Curries and More’, a smart, modern restaurant with delicious food. After that, we walked to Brown Sugar, Bangkok’s main (only?) jazz bar and had an awesome time, ending up dancing with the band and their mates, followed by chatting with UN employees.

The country seems to be doing fairly well for itself. I’ve got lots to say about the political situation here but that can all wait until we return. Having a great time though!

Less than a week to go!

Tom — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 08:02:46 +0000

Well, time flies when you’re busy organising The Most Important Day Of Your Lifeâ„¢.

We’ve arranged practically everything, and we’re happy to say that 88 friends and family will be helping us celebrate in the gorgeous surroundings of Tarragona’s Ajuntament and the FortÃ de la Reina.

For those around on Thursday evening, we’ll go for some informal drinks and food somewhere in town (probably ending up at el Cau).

Latest news

Tom — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:14:27 +0000

Gemma and I have completed the latest round of official papers we had to sign and as far as I can tell, the next bunch will be our actual marriage papers. To give you a clue as to how complicated the process has been, I have taken about four days off work, spent about 300â‚¬, have sworn an affidavit, have signed dozens of letters and documents and have shouted at two civil servants. And this is with the help of enchufle (that is to say, contacts) helping us out with the process.

We’ll be tasting the menus at FortÃ de la Reina soon, and trying to decide what people will enjoy most. Apart from this, we’re enjoying a gorgeous early-summer here in Catalonia, swimming in our local pool and watching the World Cup!

Sorry for not updating too regularly, but we really are making loads of progress on things, so fear not!

Where to stay…

Tom — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 11:37:06 +0000

Being a popular tourist destination, Tarragona is replete withÂ aÂ wideÂ rangeÂ of accommodation options. We have selected three hotels which provide differing levels of luxury (and prices to match).

The Husa Imperial Tarraco is a very smart four star hotel with rooms overlooking the Mediterranean.Â DoubleÂ roomsÂ startÂ atÂ aboutÂ 65-70Â â‚¬Â perÂ night.

Hotel PlaÃ§a de la Font is a pleasant one star hotel located in the PlaÃ§a de la Font, the same square where we plan to marry. The rooms overlook this attractive square and go for about 40â‚¬ for a double.

Hostal Forum is located almost directly opposite the Hotel PlaÃ§a de la Font. At only 17â‚¬ per person, per night, Forum is a great budget choice and has a popular restaurant on its ground floor. Telephone (+34) 977 23 17 18. Or contact us, and we can handle the booking for you.

Immediate family from both sides will be accommodated privately. Please contact us if you think there’s going to be a problem with accommodation… we may be able to organise something for you!

How to get there…

Tom — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 11:17:02 +0000

Tarragona is a fairly large city one hour south of Barcelona. It’s really easy to get there.

The best option for family coming from outside of Catalonia is to fly to Barcelona airport. From here, there are buses from Barcelona airport four times daily operated by a company called ALSA. A return ticket costs about 22â‚¬.

A good alternative, if you can find a flight, is to fly to Reus airport. This is Tarragona’s own international airport, and is only ten kilometres from the city centre. From here, a Taxi or bus can easily be found to take you to the city centre.

Other airports, including Girona (sometimes referred to as Barcelona-Girona), Valencia and Alicante are really too far away from Tarragona to be of any use. This is not a small country, and the trip from Madrid to Tarragona would take upwards of eight hours.

Once you’ve booked your flights, please let us know when and where you’re arriving. We’d like to be able to meet as many of you at the airport as possible!