A Super Sunday!

Monday, November 21, 2011

It is a dreary Monday morning and rain is once again in the forecast. We awoke to the news that the Partido Popular thoroughly drubbed the Partido Socialista Obrero Español and obtained the largest majority ever in the history of post-Franco Spain. Every autonomía, with the exception of two is under the control of the Partido Popular. Enjoying an absolute majority, with no need to seek the aid of any other party, the PP will be able to pass any legislation they desire and avoid any vote of confidence. We shall see what happens.

The other big news is that Susan has decided to write a blog, also. You can check it out at http://www.vistasdevida.wordpress.com. When we had both finished our blog entries yesterday, we showered and headed over to Pepe’s where we were invited for lunch. On our way we stopped off at El Parisien bakery and picked up a lovely fruit tart. Sweets are very expensive in Spain and this beauty for six cost us 21 Euros, but as we discovered later it was so delicious that it was every single centimo it cost. When we arrived Pepe was busy in the kitchen so we were greeted at the door by Sara and when we walked in we discovered that Giocodimani was also there. The table was set and filled with a variety of appetizers.

While we caught up with one another we snacked on olives, a tomato and onion salad and some smoked octopus. Our glasses were filled and refilled with a Benjamín Romero creation called Vía Mágica that had been specifically created for the Spanish National Magic Convention that was held in Valencia some three years ago. Pepe then excused himself to finish preparing our main course and those of us at the table continued our conversation. At one point Susan got up from the table to shoot some photos of the master chef at work. Fifteen minutes later the main course made its grand entrance.

It was a sight to behold. Before us sat a large pan of an arroz meloso con bogavante y pescado. You may recall that an arroz meloso is a dish where the rice still sits in its broth, unlike a paella where all the broth is cooked out. The rice was crowned with large pieces of lobster that had been lightly smoked and then finished off in a pot of boiling water. There were also small pieces of two types of fish in the broth. All of us had seconds and some of us had thirds. Spectacular!! We chatted a bit more before we enjoyed an after dinner coffee and the luscious fruit tart. To finish the meal in fine fashion we all enjoyed a chupitoof rum.

The after dinner conversation was dominated by Giocodimani who wanted to show us the DVD he had created of his performance in La Venganza de don Mendo (The Revenge of Don Mendo). Unfortunately the DVD would not play in Pepe’s DVD player. Since Gioco had made fifty copies of the DVD he decided to go back home to fetch them all to see if any of them would work on Pepe’s player. While we awaited his return we watched a number of YouTube videos that Pepe had posted. Most of them featured Pepe’s son, Jaime, at various ages and there were a couple recent ones of Pepe. Gioco finally returned laden down with fifty DVD’s.

He must have tried about ten different ones in the player and the same error message kept cropping up. Finally, we all gathered around his laptop and watched some of the highlights of the video. We then decided to go out in search of an after-dinner drink. It was cool and the streets were still damp from the morning rain, but we strolled for a while and then took a seat at an outdoor café. We each ordered a drink and continued our conversation. Before we knew it, it was 7:30. Lunch had begun at 2:30 and here it was some five hours later and we were wrapping things up. This sure beats Sunday afternoon football, although some of you may not agree.

When we got home, I set up our Panasonic DVD player that we had purchased last spring. It took a while to set up because the firmware needed to be updated, but when it was ready to go we inserted Gioco’s DVD and it played perfectly. I will let him know this evening when I see him at the meeting of the CIVAC. The remainder of the evening was uneventful. We chatted a while with Rachel on FaceTime. She had had a busy morning that included a meeting and an online Hebrew lesson. She had gone to a friend’s house for dinner Friday night and walked both ways. Saturday she held the usual Saturday morning study and discussion group in her living room and had taken a walk in the afternoon with her friend, Eliana. She was planning to go to Denver in the afternoon to take care of a few things. It was around 11:00 when we decided to call it a day and by 11:15 we were under the covers on our way to dreamland.