Friends & Fun

We've had a lot of fun with visiting friends the past week or so. Susan's long-time friend, Holly, and Holly's long-time traveling buddy, Brent, were here for two nights. Holly and Brent spent a few days in Croatia and then took a cruise from Venice to Barcelona. They went on a Holland-America ship and had only good things to say about the cruise. Brent had traveled with them before and said they are the best in his opinion.
We took Brent and Holly to some of our favorite places. We spent an afternoon at Scala Dei and Siurana followed by dinner at the only restaurant here in El Masroig. The next day we went to the Mercat Central in Reus and had lunch at my favorite tapas place. I'm so happy Lizarran opened a branch in Reus because no one beats their tapas for flavor, creativity and presentation. I could live on their tapas. We went to the beach after lunch.
Susan went to Barcelona with Holly and Brent and spent the night. The three of them went to Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell the following day.
Our next event was a dinner party with some of our neighbors from the old neighborhood. Francesc has been in town looking after his mother, Maria. Maria had surgery last week and is recuperating well. Our other guest was Ariadna. Ariadna lived around the corner from our old house and she helped us find our present place. She is studying in Barcelona and will finish her degree next year. She speaks good English and has been a tremendous help to me.
Finally, our friends Neus and Barry from Barcelona were here for two days in celebration of Neus' birthday. It's the same as Stacie's so I got to sing twice. The dogs are still howling. We always have a great time with Neus and Barry and they have also helped us a lot. We took a hike that was recommended by Ariadna on a path down by the river. There is an old dam and what was once the village swimming hole before they built the luxe piscina.
I've been working in the vineyard almost every morning and it's looking a little better. I've got another three or four days work on my current project. We will take a road trip to Granada on Monday and return Thursday. Susan wants to see the Alhambra and I haven't been there since 1977. I'll keep you posted!