Nora's Visit

Nora is helping her friend in Switzerland who just had twins and is taking some online courses to finish her Master's degree in early childhood development. As previously mentioned, Nora was able to take a few days off to visit us in Spain. I was very happy to have such good company!
We enjoyed a quiet evening on Sunday and went to Falset to look around. I had some work to do at the Cooperativa Monday morning and then we drove over to the beach at Hospitalet. It was a nice, warm day and we were able to picnic on the boardwalk. We walked down the beach into Hospitalet and looked at the marina. Nora was able to dip her toes in the Med for the first time. She said it was cold and I believe her!
About 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning, a terrific wind storm swept through. There were sustained winds of at least 40 mph and it went on all through Tuesday. Did you ask "How windy was it?". Well,...let's just say it blew my chickens off the porch and almost blew my nipples off!!!
I felt bad for Nora because it was uncomfortably windy almost the whole time she was here. It's not much fun to play outside in these conditions. I went to the Cooperativa Tuesday morning to bottle some samples of Barcelona Tinto. Nora was a tremendous amount of help in getting them labeled. We went to Miravet in the afternoon and Nora was impressed. Tuesday night I took her to Isabella's restaurant (a.k.a. The Dog and The Cat). The pub downstairs was packed with local chicos watching the Barça vs Man City futbol game. They had it on in the dining room, too, so we were able to watch while enjoying one of Isabella's famous tortillas. You'll be happy to learn that Barça prevailed and Nora had a traditional Catalan experience!
Nora had to return to Eileen's Wednesday morning in order to catch a flight back to Lausanne. We stopped by Finca Alta on the way to the train station.
Nora and I had some wonderful conversations. She speaks often and affectionately of her family and our mutual circle of friends. I hope she'll come back to see us!

¡Amigos nuevos!

Nora, the daughter of our long-time friends Rick and Mary, is working and studying in Switzerland. She had a few days off and came to visit sunny (windy) Spain. She met her friend, Eileen, while working in Colorado. Eileen is from Costa Rica. Eileen then moved to Barcelona where she met and married Alex, who is Catalan.
Eileen and Alex have a 10 month old baby girl, Marianne. I suppose you could say Marianne is Catacostan or, maybe, Costacatalan but, whatever you say, she's a sweet and beautiful child. They all came to see me last Sunday.
We met at the Cooperativa and drove to La Figuera. I had a couple of things to do with my estate wines and we tasted through a few barrels. Alex knows a lot about wine and he liked what he tasted. Of course, that always makes me feel good!
We stopped by my vineyards on the way home to look around. Marc Tost is doing a very good job and the vineyards have never looked better this time of year. It was cool and breezy (more on this later) so we took a few pictures and headed home for lunch.
We had my version of a traditional Catalan Sunday lunch and spent a couple of hours visiting and playing with Marianne. It was a great opportunity for me because I miss my little grand daughter. Eileen and Alex are a lot of fun and it was a pleasure to get to know them. They're a wonderful family and I hope they'll come see us this summer when Rose and Ted are here.
They put Marianne in her stroller and we took a tour of El Masroig. The wind had calmed down and it turned out to be a nice afternoon. I showed them the sights and we ran into Jordi and Lluis.
Alex, Eileen and Marianne went back to Barcelona. Nora will stay a few days to help me. It's always wonderful to meet new people. Altogether, it was a very good day!

¡CARNAVAL!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and also the celebration of Carnaval in El Masroig. As you can see, it's a big night for the kids. Halloween isn't really celebrated in Spain so Carnaval is the time to dress up. Most of the villages around here have some kind of celebration. There is usually a parade in El Masroig but I either missed it or they decided to skip it this year because of the weather. There was a gathering for the kids with a DJ in the Plaza Mayor and a party for everybody at the Casal.
I got into Barcelona late on Thursday night because of a strike at the Paris airport. Every time I go through Paris somebody at the airport is on strike. This time it was the firemen. I've got a big week coming up and there will be more posts. Please stay tuned!