To say it has been an eventful opening to the new year would be an understatement. Having arrived at Cal Llop on New Year's Eve, St. Silvester's feast day, we were greeted with kisses, and ushered off to
(Room 6) for a nap before the evenings festivities. The hotel was full, and Waldo had organized the team (which now included Joao, a most delightful Brazilian we met when we first came to this wonderful place) to create a fantastic 9 course dinner, with a variety of wines and cava, and which included roast suckling pig. We rang in the new year with the traditional gong of the bell (in this case a kitchen pot) while popping twelve grapes into our mouths, followed by a toast with cava. At 1:30 we proceeded down to (Irreductibles) for a cotillón de noche vieja, an impromptu party of dancing and carrying on, which included hotel guests, local folks, and even the mayor of Gratallops and his wife. A wild "night", ending at 6:30 a.m. Fun!
Once the holidays settled down, we set about the task of finding a house to rent in our village, (La Figuera). A combination of chatting in the local bar, tips from friends, and a walk around the village yielded some results. We met with a delightful young woman named Marta at the local hang out (where the men sit on one side playing cards and drinking beer and the women sit on the other chatting and drinking coffee, old school), and she led us to a fantastic house, (L'Eremita). Needless to say, at $420. a month, we have decided to rent the bottom half for the year, starting in March. With wi-fi, a washing machine, and a terrace with a view, it will make our transition so much more comfortable, while we renovate the casita. Moving forward.
And then the snows came. What a storm! Two days of non-stop snow. David had left by then, headed back to PDX for work, and made it out in the nick. We have been snowbound since Thursday, with ice creating a skating rink on the village streets. But oh how beautiful it is. The trick now is to get out Monday to catch the train in Reus, bound for Barcelona. Cristina is headed to Madrid, to catch a flight to Marrakech, Waldo hangs in Barcelona with Pelutti (their fabulous dog), waiting for Cristina to return so they can hang in Ibiza for two weeks, and I head back to PDX. I'd rather be going to Ibiza, but c'est la vie. Next time. With flights at 40 euro from Barcelona, and a car rental at 10 euro, why not?
