Festa de Sant Joan

  Today, June 23rd, is the Festa de Sant Joan (St. John the Baptist) in Catalunya and marks the beginning of summer. It's an official holiday so almost all businesses are closed. The schools let out last Friday and everybody is in party mode. Most towns have a fiesta to celebrate the occasion. It's very much like the Fourth of July (fireworks, parades, cookouts, etc.) except there's no Willie Nelson.
  Around dusk, I decided to walk through town to watch the children throw firecrackers at each other. It's a time-honored tradition and involves neither aggression nor disrespect. We used to use bottle-rockets in much the same way although at significantly greater distance.
  I was in Falset for Festa de Sant Joan several years ago but this was my first time in El Masroig. Montse told me this was our first town sponsored event so I was happy to take part. The festa was held at the futbol grounds just up the street from our old house. They had a pretty good crowd considering a lot of people travel for the holiday.
  Festivities began with some patriotic and poetic recitations by the local kids. One of the town ladies recited a very beautiful poem she had written to honor the occasion. An elderly couple had been selected to act as a kind of Homecoming Queen and King and were presented with flowers. The Queen was allowed to light the bonfire.
  When the performance part was over, they dragged out a bunch of delicious local pastries. Mistela and vi ranci from the Cooperativa were also served. It was great to see and visit with a bunch of our former neighbors.
  Apart form some computer work, I didn't do much today (when in Rome, etc.). Tomorrow, I'll get back to the vineyards and complete repairs to the irrigation system. Things are in much better shape at the vineyards since Marc Tost took over. The vines look really healthy and happy.
 Thanks for keeping in touch and please stay tuned!

Robin and Larry

Our friends, Robin and Larry, are on a grand tour of Europe and are staying in Barcelona a few days. Their hotel room has an incredible view over the roof of Palau Guell. Nice!
They made a day trip over to see me yesterday. We had a huge thunderstorm early in the morning but things began to dry out once they arrived. We went to look at the vineyards and then over to Scala Dei for lunch. There are three good restaurants in Scala Dei and fourteen full time residents. All the restaurants fill up on the weekends with local families and day-trippers. It's a Catalan tradition to spend weekend afternoons stuffing yourself with food and wine and visiting in large groups. We had mussels, quail and llongonissa (tasty local sausage). We also had pan Catalan, crema Catalan and olives. We also had a pitcher of tinto and a bottle of cava. We also had coffee. The food and service were excellent. The price was 15€ each. Thanks again, Larry!
We managed to get out in a little over two hours which is pretty fast by local standards. We went back El Masroig and took a tour of town. I was happy to see  the new fountain in Plaza Mayor has been completed. They've even replaced the trees although it will be a few years before they're as grand as the ones that were cut down. We stopped by the Cooperativa and Robin and Larry picked up some wine and tapenade to take with them.
Since their train back was at 6:21 pm, we went to Falset and walked through the upper part of town. I showed them the old wall, graineries and the castle.
We had a great visit. Robin is a long-time resident of Austin and a prominent Realtor. Both of Robin's and Larry's families go back to the dawn of recorded history in Texas. One of Robin's great-uncles died for the Republic of Texas at the Battle of San Jacinto.
 It turns out Robin and I have a number of mutual acquaintances. She was able to fill me in on some details of which I was previously unaware. Robin and Larry, I hope you continue having a wonderful trip and look forward to seeing you soon. ¡Buen viaje!