February 2018

    As a member of the Amigos de Paradores, Norma regularly gets offers of special discounts and events, just to keep our appetite whetted. It was more than 10 years ago, since we last visited a Parador in Spain. So, when we had the opportunity to be in Barcelona, we decided to tack on an additional 5 days in Spain to visit some paradors in the neighborhood. And since we were in the off-season, we were, in addition, enticed for special discounts for being in that special group of denizens, who have long ago moved away from the threshold of eternal youth.

    Some things have changed since then. The fervor of Catalonia for self-rule was evident everywhere. The leader of the new state of Catalonia was in exile. To the obvious disgust of the central Spanish Government, Catalan flags were also visible everywhere. All public signs are now in Catalan, with Spanish as the second language. Catalan is melodious, but it is surely difficult to understand, even if you have a reasonably good command of Spanish. 

   

    Luckily, some things remained the same. The local hams were still readily available;  as well as the large variety of sausages. All excellent and mouth-watering.

right: Local hams taste wonderful and are a staple food in Catalonia. This picture was taken in a supermarket in Alcaniz. The clerk will slice the ham for you, or you can buy a whole leg to slice yourself.

   We had just disembarked from a cruise to the Canary Islands and other locations beloved by the sun-seeking northern Europeans and so, we picked up a VW Passat from Auto Europe from the Barcelona Sants Train Station. From the cruise terminal it was closer than the airport, with hopefully lower location taxes, compared to pickup at El Prat airport. The parking lot attendant looked with some concern at our pile of luggage. (you always take more garbage along when going on a cruise),  but luckily we managed to squeeze everything in.

    Well, almost. One suitcase had to go on the backseat, but since there were just the four of us, and since we are fairly small, things worked out alright.

    As companions on our trip we were fortunate to have Larry and Millie Poon, strong and steady of heart, limb, and purpose; all useful attributes in a human being, and especially so in travel companions. We were actually on an earlier trip together with them. Also, many pictures in this blog emanated from Larry.