I’m on a bus at Granada station waiting to go to Seville as we have gig tickets to see my new favourite Spanish band Marlango tonight.

This time last year in London, we’d have had to book a hotel, flights and time off work to have a weekend city break and don’t get me wrong, we loved doing it and often did, but now all we have to do is get a bus to go to Seville, one of my most favourite places in Spain.

After almost a year of living in Granada, I’m still surprised every day by the fact that my wife and I live here and that places like Córdoba, Ronda, Cadiz and Seville are now just a short(ish) drive away. One of the reasons why I’ve written a handful of posts on this blog about Things I Notice here is that I’m much more open to seeing and appreciating the little things which I would often have taken for granted when I lived in London. I guess after a year, we’re still in the honeymoon period of our time here.

Admittedly, getting a bus perhaps isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but this bus journey doesn’t feel like just any bus journey. I’m meeting my wife in Seville as she’s flying back from London at this very moment and it’s perhaps partly as a result of making this trip on my own that today especially, it feels like not only do we live here, but also that I live here and that feels good too as it had been on my mind for a few years.

The bus company ALSA has even given me a bottle of water and a small cake-like thing which is nice of them. Comfortable seat (38 Ventana), sunny outside and beautiful views to come and it looks like I could even watch some kind of Chinese martial arts film dubbed into Spanish which would be a first, but however attractive that may seem, I think I’ll just put my headphones on (Marlango, naturally) and stare aimlessly out of the window as the world (or in this case, Andalucia) goes by as that’s always a good thing to do.

As an aside, this is also the first post I’ve written and published on my phone (in case I’ve missed any typos). It’s quite a different experience on a moving bus with 3G!

Looks like, we’re off. Seville, here we come. Hope you have a lovely weekend too…