Kelly and Hector

I received an email a few weeks ago from our long-time friend, Bill C. (Sharon's husband). He told me he had some friends who were coming to Spain. I was thrilled because it's been a little lonely around here since Susan left.
Bill's friends turned out to be Kelly and Hector and they are the most delightful young couple I've met in a while. Kelly is a physical therapist and Hector is a gas trader. They were on a whirlwind tour of the great cultural sights of Spain. It's a little difficult to appreciate how much there is to see here until you're on the ground. After a few days, it can begin to feel like you're living on chocolate cheesecake because the cultural richness is almost overwhelming. Sometimes, it's a good idea to get out of the cities and hunker down in a small town.
They accepted my offer of a room and a washing machine and I picked them up at the train station in Marça. We hiked out to the Ermita while the washer was running and had a picnic. The rest of the day was spent puttering around the house and we had an early dinner. We walked up into Masroig for the paseo and met some of the locals. We ran into our old neighbor Josep, the trumpet player. He had been practicing in the church and invited us back to the church for an impromptu concert with his buddy the organist. It was fantastic!
Kelly and Hector both speak Castellano so it was fun for them to be able to talk to the people in town. They slept in the next day while I went to Tarragona on business. We drove around looking at vineyards in the afternoon. The following day was the Catalan National Day (Sept. 11) and there was the sardine cook-off in the plaza. We walked up and Kelly and I ate salted sardines while Hector took some pictures and charmed the locals.
I drove them to the train station in Tarragona. They went on to Valencia, Madrid and Seville.

                                                   On the way to the Ermita.

                                                          Finca Alta.

                                            Dinner on the balcony. That Blanco is good!

                                                 What they give you for one euro.

                                               The young people's band plays the town song.

                           Kelly and Feliciano.