Blanes

By the time we arrived at Blanes I was beginning to have feelings of familiarity again. During the first week in Blanes we spent a lot of time going to the beach (which is gorgeous with amazingly clear water, sorry Puerto Rico), relaxing by the pool, etc.

Cala Boadella, a naturist beach, close to my parent's house. We went with my dad's scooter.

We had lunch with Mar’s family at Can Vinyals (a house that is hundreds of years old and has been in her family for many generations). After lunch we hiked around the property and went to some places where Mar and her sister used to play as young kids. We climbed through caves formed by fallen boulders and up and down hills throughout the property. Her young cousins came with us. One was going to be watching Schindler’s List at summer camp the next day (I thought it was a rather odd choice for a twelve year old). As Mar began to explain the story she stopped her to ask, “Wait, who are the Jews?”
“Sylvia, you know that there are people who believe in God?” Mar asked (I am paraphrasing since I don’t actually understand Catalan at all).
“No,” she replied.
You can imagine the rest of the conversation for your self since that is essentially what I had to do too.

Can Vinyals. Well, a corner of it.I'll try to take a better picture next time we go.

Picking up cherries. The black doll on the chair is to scare the birds. They had another dall hanging from the neck right next to a dead sea gull. Apparently birds don't like dead sea gulls or black dolls.

More fruits and vegetables: green beans, lettuce, prunes, carrots, cucumber, zuchini, strawberries, tomatoes, eggplant and green peppers.


The "caves" in Can Vinyals backyard.

The property is gorgeous. Back country Catalonia, filled with farm lands and open fields. Hills roll up to castles that overlook the countryside. Ancient houses still stand, stone weathered by years of sun and wind (but not much rain). It’s no wonder Spain is such a gastronomic paradise with all the herbs that grow wildly throughout the forests. Anise, rosemary, dill, thyme - the list goes on and on. The meals I have been having hear have been delicious to say the least. Among my favorites have been some of the sausages and charcuterie - dried sausages called fuet, chorizo that explodes with the flavor of spice and grease in your mouth, blood sausage, Catalan sausage, more and more and more. Even the fresh tomatoes here have a certain freshness and magic about them. Needless to say, I have been eating well (so don’t worry Mom).

Among the more memorable moments in Blanes so far has been Antonio (Mar’s father) feindishly dancing at her uncle’s wedding. As the cava (sparkling white wine) flowed, his moves became more and more daring. As a crescendo, he lead the chicken dance followed by a conga line that went serpenting through the room and out into the nearby yard. Not only did the cava increase his prowess on the dance floor, but it also made him a bolder (and I must say better) English speaker.
At the wedding. We didn't dance the chicken song or the conga. We are too classy for that (and we weren't drunk as everybody else!)

Ok, I slacked a little bit on this post. A lot more things happened in Blanes, but I am on vacation. Sometimes you need to enjoy the moment without worrying about capturing it.

-Greg