We now have a men's futbol club in El Masroig. The village turned what was once an area for public gatherings into a mini soccer pitch. This is still where we have the Festa Major and other festivals. It's just been painted for futbol.
Like many villages in the area, Masroig once had a regulation-size futbol pitch. Most of these have since been converted to parking lots. Even though there are only half as many people in Masroig as there were sixty years ago, parking can be a problem. Many houses don't have garages. Parking on the streets is discouraged and parking in the plazas is no longer permitted. So our old futbol pitch is now a large unpaved parking lot.
Our rival last Saturday was the team from Els Guiamets. As the crow flies, Els Guiamets is probably less than three miles away. It's locally famous for its bakery. If you really want to show people you care, then bring them a cake from Els Guiamets. It's a very small town (pop. 300 vs. 430 for Masroig). While walking up to the game, I noticed there were well over seventy cars parked in the lot.
At two to a car, that would have meant that half the people in Els Guiamets had turned out to support their boys. That's highly unlikely. I'm guessing we had a bunch of folks from other nearby villages in attendance.
The small size of the pitch makes for a faster, more intense game than regulation futbol. It's exciting and a lot of fun! Our Masrojanos played with elan but Els Guiamets ended up prevailing 6-3. It was a good time and I'll definitely go again.
Masrojanos on the left. Els Guiamets on the right.
Man down! I'm sure it hurts to get knocked down on that concrete.
Overflow of spectators on the street.
A little fall color on the west side of town.
Pressing my 2022 estate wine. This vertical basket press is very gentle.
The compressed grape skins in the middle of the press are what's know as the "cake".
My happy place! I had to make one last trip. Temperature in the high seventies and fewer than forty people on half a mile of pristine beach. I wish y'all were here!
My friends Ania and John Andrews invited me to supper last Friday. Ania is our official BCV tour guide for the Spanish Wine Experience. To my left is their son Kierin and his girlfriend Nuria. Nuria teaches English in Barcelona. Kierin just got a job as sommelier in a posh French restaurant in Mayfair. He's working on his Master Sommelier certification.
