Two for the price of one

   Everybody likes a deal and I've found one. I'm now able to get two haircuts for the price of one. It doesn't bother me that they occur simultaneously. My barber is Francesc Loran of Mora la Nova.
   I probably shouldn't call him a barber because he's an artist. Your head is his canvas. If you sit in his chair, you're going to stand up with the haircut he wants you to have. There is no negotiation.            Some people think Francesc gives everybody the same haircut but that is far from the case. He does a roaring trade and there are always several people ahead of and behind me. We don't all come out with the same haircut. Susan says he makes me look like a German general. I suppose that's better than a German corporal.
   Francesc prides himself on keeping up to date with the latest fashions and equipment. He is especially proud of a pair of American clippers he had imported. I asked to look at them and noticed a label that read "DO NOT USE ON TREES GREATER THAN THREE INCHES IN DIAMETER". Needless to say, they are brutally efficient in the American manner.
   Francesc has a lovely family including a beautiful two year old daughter. The last time I was there, his wife was building a brick and mortar barbeque pit behind the shop. Please check out the photos below while remembering you can only put so much lipstick on an old dog.

Micah and Maisie

   Micah, a friend of Rhea and Joe, came to see me the last weekend I was in Catalunya. She brought her five month old Australian shepherd, Maisie. Micah has a Phd. in Public Health and has done research in Kenya, India and Bangladesh. She is moving to Anchorage in August to take a teaching job at a university there. She has had an amazing life so far and there's no question that many more adventures lie ahead.

   Micah will spend two months touring Spain on her bicycle. She has a light weight trailer for the bike that Maisie rides in. I picked them up at the AVE train station outside Tarragona in Philip's Land Rover. It's only a three hour trip from Madrid to Tarragona on the bullet train.

   We went home to El Masroig and toured the town. Francesc Masdeu came over for dinner and entertained us for a few hours. Micah speaks some Spanish so Francesc enjoyed visiting with her. The next morning went by the vineyards and then on to La Figuera to check on my wine. After that, it was on to Scala Dei for a leisurely lunch. We stopped in Falset on the way home and saw the sights.

   Micah was kind enough to help me work on the irrigation systems in the vineyards on Monday. Things were in pretty good shape and it only took us three hours to fix all the leaks. Unfortunately, there was a lot of mud around some of the leaks and Maisie had the time of her life digging in the mud and running around the vineyards. I've never seen a dirtier dog. I'm not sure how long it took Micah to clean her up.

   When we got back from the vineyard, Micah and Maisie went for a run out to the Ermita and Puig Roig. We went to Mercadona and bought some local sausage for dinner. Micah planned to catch the early train to Barcelona the next morning and started packing her (very small) panniers. We got to the train station in Falset and Micah assembled her bike and trailer. We got her aboard the train with no trouble. She planned to spend two days in Barcelona and then take the train to Pamplona for the Camino de Santiago.

                                                    ¡Buen viaje, Micah y Maisie! 



 

 

 

Volta a Catalunya bicycle race



   Our area is very popular with bicyclists and motorcyclists. The countryside is beautiful. The roads are curvy, steep and not very busy. Every year they hold a world class bicycle race through Catalunya. It's similar to the Tour de France and all the top riders participate. This year the race went very near to where we live.

   It's possible to look at a schedule on the internet to see where the riders will be throughout the race. Philip and I decided to drive over to Falset and position ourselves on a hill where we could watch them go by. We left early to avoid the road closures. On the way, there was a terrific (for around here) hailstorm just 45 minutes before the racers were due to arrive. I'm afraid a number of vineyards around Falset and Marça may have been severely damaged since we just had bud break. Fortunately, the ice melted before the racers arrived but the pavement was still wet and slick.

   As usual with these events, there was a huge police presence. We must have counted at least 50 Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan national police) on motorcycles, several police cars, ambulances and a paddy-wagon. There was also a bunch of support and communication vehicles. It looked like they had at least two extra bicycles for each of the 107 racers.  

   By the time the race reached Falset, there were three pelotons. Philip (who is a bicycle racing aficionado) thought it was unusual that the race was so spread out. There were over 20 minutes between the first and last racers. Even though we were on a hill, they came by pretty quickly.

   The raced finished in Barcelona today. The winner was Alejandro Valverde. He rides for Team Movistar which happens to be my Spanish telephone company. Valverde has won the Volta a Catalunya multiple times. For complete info on the race, please link to:

            http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ciclista-a-catalunya-2017/stage-7/results/

 



 

 

 

¡Calçotada!

 

 

   Spring is the time of year for calçots (large green onions). People get together and grill them. It's the Catalan equivalent to a crawfish boil. There's special sauce you dip them in known as "romesco". For a recipe, link to:      https://spanishsauce.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/calcot-sauce-recipe/

It's really delicious!

   Our neighbor, Philip (a.k.a. El Baron), invited me to attend a calçotada (calçot party) last Saturday. Our hosts were Pedro and his wife, Rosa Maria. Pedro is in the construction business and has a farm just east of town. He built a nice little house/barn building that has a kitchen, bathroom and barbeque pit. It's the perfect place for a weekend get-a-way.

   There were a bunch of people there I knew. Sophie from DO Montsant was there with some of her French family. Albert and Lluisa were there and there were a couple of grape growers I've met over the years. I made a new friend, Sandra, who's an English lady living in Cornudella.

   There was also a posse of polite and well behaved children. Susan and I have remarked many times how the children here are so well behaved. You never see people yelling at their kids and you never see kids acting up. This is one of the most attractive things about Spain.

   To prepare calçots, they must be grilled over a hot fire. The outside layers get blackened and you strip off the black part with your fingers. This is messy and a big part of the fun. You then dip it in sauce, raise it over your head and lower it into your mouth (see below). The process is very similar to the way you used to eat spaghetti when you were five years old. It's against the law to eat calçots with a knife and fork.

   Grilled meat (in this case, lamb and sausage) is always served at a calçotada but not with the calçots. Pedro did a fine job with the meat. We had traditional Catalan cake (coca) for dessert to celebrate the birthdays of Rosa Maria and Dani. The cake was from a little town nearby called Serra de Almos. We now have very nice bakery in El Masroig. It's on our street but they don't make cakes.

   When you attend an event like this, you can pretty much write off the rest of the day. After almost four hours, it was home for a siesta. ¡Gracias de Nuevo Rosa Maria y Pedro!

    

 

Costa Brava with Marta i Francesc

  Our friends, Marta and Francesc, invited us to spend the weekend with them just before we flew back. They have a condo on the Costa Brava a couple hours north of Barcelona. We took the train to Barcelona and stopped by their new apartment on Carrer Balmes. They had it remodeled and Francesc added a few touches of his own.

  We left Barcelona late in the afternoon and arrived in S'Agaro after dark. Francesc is a great cook and prepared us a Catalan tortilla for dinner. A tortilla in Catalunya is similar to a potato quiche but with not quite so many eggs. It's prepared on the stovetop, as are most traditional Catalan dishes. It was very good.

  The next morning we headed up the coast. It was drizzling rain but that didn't dampen our spirits. The countryside in northern Catalunya is much different from where we live. It's much lusher and greener because they get a lot more rain. It reminds me a little of the Po River valley in Italy.

  We stopped for coffee in a sweet little town and walked down to the beach. There was practically nobody out due to the rain and it was fun having the place to ourselves. I forgot how much fun it can be to get out and walk in the rain.

  The next stop was Cap Creus just north of Cadaques. It's the easternmost point of Spain and the views out over the Med are spectacular. There is working lighthouse and Francesc told us it was once a major smuggling area. There is a restaurant and bar next to the lighthouse that's packed with tourists in the summer. Francesc suggested we eat at a little place he knows in Cadaques. We took a winding, scenic road into town.

   On the way, we stopped at Salvador Dali's house. It's on a little cove outside Cadaques. He and his wife bought a small house many years ago and gradually expanded it. Many of his paintings are influenced by the Costa Brava. We didn't go in because reservations are required so we'll have to go back!

   We went on to the restaurant and had a wonderful paella for four. Afterward, we took a stroll through Cadaques. The rain had let up a little and it was a very pleasant walk around the old fishing town. They have an impressive cathedral there with an incredibly ornate, gilded altarpiece.

  We drove on to Sant Feliu (town next to S'Agaro) and had some coffee and looked around. There is a big church/fortress there that's very interesting and a lovely corniche. Afterward, it was back to the condo for a light supper and some lively conversation.

   Sunday dawned fresh and clear. We walked down to the beach and around the peninsula on the north side of town. There is a deluxe hotel called Hostal de la Gavina that takes up most of the peninsula. It's pretty fancy and Francesc told us the Obamas have stayed there. There is a nice paved path around the peninsula that affords wonderful views of the Med and the surrounding coastline. We walked for over two hours and then home for a wonderful lunch.

   Francesc prepared another fantastic meal on the stovetop. It was a chicken, clams and shrimp casserole with lots of garlic, onions and tomatoes. Delicious! By the time we finished, it was mid-afternoon and time to get ready to leave. Francesc and Marta dropped us off at the Renfe station in Passeig de Gracia for the two hour train ride home. The weekend was a perfect finish to our visit this year.

                                           ¡Gracias de Nuevo Marta y Francesc!