Our friends, Paula and Paul, arrived just as Deb and Rhett were leaving and the rains were beginning. It was great to see the rain (2012 was the warmest and driest year for 30 years) but the weather did slow us down a bit. We still managed to have some fun by finding the big market in Reus and keeping up with my wine projects. There were also some marathon wine-lubricated card games that went on into the night.
I got the irrigation systems in the vineyards winterized. It was a beautiful afternoon as you can see. The countryside was beginning to green up and I was able to see water running in the Siurana River for the first time.
We spent a day in Barcelona before leaving for home and saw some new sights. We also had dinner with our friends, Neus and Barry, who live in the Barri Gotic. At midnight we realized our flight was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. We arrived at the airport at 7:00 a.m. and, after four hours of wrangling, managed to re-route through Amsterdam with a flight to Houston the next morning. We had to drive home from Houston.
There were some silver linings in all the confusion. We met some wonderful people while waiting in line. One of them was Suzanne Grossberg of Woodstock, N.Y. We ended up traveling together all the way to Houston with her (she has a brother in Alief). She also went with us to a hotel in Amsterdam. If you ever plan a trip there, I can recommend the HEM(P) Hotel Amsterdam as a chill place to stay provided you don't mind a little herbal character in your accomodations.
All in all, we had a fabulous trip and everything went as well or better than I had hoped. The Barcelona Celler project is coming along and I hear good things about our carinyena and garnatxa in tanks and barrels.
Susan and I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement and enthusiasm you've shown for our new adventure. I'll be heading back to Catalunya in February and we hope to see you during the holidays.
