Spanish Hospitality
02 November 2005 | Rota Spain
Alison
>...are 2 words i never would have used together back in 1971-72 when i
>spent a year in valencia, spain. but it is the overriding sentiment i have
>to express for the first week we spent in southern Spain.
>
>During our last days in Portugal, we went up the Guadiana River about 20
>miles to the litty bitty town of Alcoutim. While we were tied up to the
>town dock, a humongous Catamaran (a Lagoon 44) pulled up behind us with a
>spanish family of 4 plus a couple of guests. While Chuck and Antonio were
>trying to rid our respective boats of all the bamboo and logs that the
>fast-moving current had trapped between our boats and the dock, they got to
>talking (sort of.... chuck doesn't speak spanish, and antonio didn't speak
>english.) Shortly thereafer, we were both invited to their 'palace-boat'
>for a beverage,... which of course turned into a tapas-type supper.
>Rosamaria put out hams, cheeses, chorizo, potatos (boiled, then drizzled
>with olive oil and sprinked with paprika, i think), olives of course, ham
>croquettes.... mmmmmm. 2 out of the 6 people spoke a little english, so
>chuck mostly talked to them while i jabbered in spanish with the others.
>it was a very nice, unexpected evening. I invited them over for coffee
>the next morning before our respective departures with the tide to head
>back down river. We anchored that night at the mouth of the river, while
>they headed back to their home marina. They were doing the kind of weekend
>cruising that we used to do when we worked for a living. Ariel and Monica
>were the guests on board. Ariel worked for Lagoon and had sold Antonio his
>boat... and they had become friends. And, as it happened, Mazagon, our
>next destination, was where Antonio kept his boat and where Ariel worked.
>They made us promise to call when we arrived, and we did. We tried
>inviting them out to dinner to reciprocate their hospitality, but although
>Rosamaria went through the verbal motions of SAYING she'd try to get a
>babysitter, it was obvious later that she intended to have us to her house.
>She promised it would be a simple supper and that we shouldn't worry about
>her working too hard. HAH! They live about 25 minutes from Mazagon in
>Huelva, which is an indusrial town On the way there we crossed the Rio
>Tinto where Columbus had first set sail on his first of 4 voyages. They
>have replicas of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria there. We arrived at
>their spectacular 3000 sq ft penthouse apartment, of which at least 1/3 was
>a beautiful terrace. i shoulda known.... anyone with that kind of a
>palatial boat was going to be "living large". Of course this was only one
>of their 4 houses....or was it 5? So, here's Rosamaria's idea of a
>"simple supper".... let me see if i can remember everything (i know some of
>my correspondents are very interested in the food...if you're not, just
>skip this section!): Spanish Tortilla (sort of like an egg and potato
>pie... really good!), Iberian ham from the blackfoot pig of the huelva
>mountains, dried tuna(deLICious!), pimentos and anchovies, pickles and
>olives, gambas, stuffed eggs (stuffed with egg yolk, tuna, tomato, onion,
>then rolled in egg & breadcrumbs and then fried), pork slices that were so
>tender and delicious that chuck thought it was beef pot-roast, coquinas
>(look like baby clams cooked in garlic and olive oil), huevos de choco (the
>Calamar's Eggs (??!!-- round, very tender, saut�ed in olive oil and
>garlic). Bread?- then of course coffee, pastries and a liquor �for
>digestion." Apparently, in Andalucia, serving tapas for supper is very
>typical, unlike other parts of Spain.... hence the multitude of dishes. To
>create the illusion that this was just a simple supper, Rosa had 8 of us
>squeezed around the kitchen table instead of spreading out in her dining
>room. now... you KNOW that she spent more than 2 hours planning and
>preparing THAT feast! We girls chattered inside, while the boys managed to
>communicate with each other outside on the terrace. Antonio is an
>architect who works for Rosa's father's construction company, where she
>also manages the office. Lovely people, a very enjoyable
>evening....which lasted til 2am.... "On a School Night!" Even Claudia,
>their 10 year old, STAYED UP til 1:30 too. JEEZohman! Monica, Ariel's
>partner is from the Basque country. When we were exclaiming over the late
>hour that even the children keep, she shared with us that her youth was
>more typical of our stateside experience. i.e., going to bed by 9pm!
>
>The next night, Ariel and Monica came over to our boat to say goodbye over
>a little wine and snacks. They brought with them a bag full of typical
>spanish goodies to remember them by: olives, 2 types of cheese, iberian
>pate, canned tuna and chocolate. Plus Rosa had given us 2 bottles of super
>duper olive oil. (sammy, you'd love it!). When i showed Rosa my american
>grocery store 'Filippo Berio' extra virgen olive oil, she wasn't very
>impressed. it was bottled in italy with olives from spain, italy, greece
>and tunisia..... she said that spain sent their left-over (inferior) olives
>to italy... and that i needed to have "the real thing". i have to admit,
>it's delicious... much more flavor.
>
>So, the next day we sailed away. What a wonderful memory. What lovely
>people. Just another cruising experience that we'll always cherish. it's
>funny. i don't know if we would have had this experience if we'd simply
>seen them in a restaurant or something.... but being fellow cruisers (even
>if they're weekend sailors) is a very socializing lifestyle.
>
>We spent a week in Chipiona... just around the corner from Rota in the Bay
>of Cadiz, our final destination for this year. Our Scottish buddies, Ian
>and Maggie have decided to winter here, so we've been playing with them all
>week. They'll be taking a bus over to Rota and joining us for
>Thanksgiving, i'm happy to say. We all celebrated Ian's 60th birthday at
>a restaurant. unfortunately, the very friendly, chatty waiter who kept
>singing happy birthday completely ripped us off. Maggie insisted on paying
>the bill, so no one paid any attention to the line items on the bill until
>later. oh well, live and learn. it's just such an unpleasant feeling to
>be taken advantage of because we were americans and scots having a
>celebratory meal.
>
>The weather has been quite warm, but over the last couple of days we've had
>some high winds and now some rain. Coastal cruising along the atlantic
>coast has involved more motoring than sailing, and the ocean swell has
>occasionally been rather uncomfortable. At this point, we're sort of
>regarding ChaliVentures as our "RV" that takes us from one place to the
>other. If we get to have a lovely sail too, then that much better....
>otherwise, it's all about getting to the next place. As we contemplate
>next year's cruising plans, we are overwhelmed by the length of the italian
>coast -- on both sides -- and THEN you have to add Sardinia and Sicily.
>And of course we also want to go to Corsica and the Balearics,and maybe
>mainland France. The old port in Marseilles would be fun. who knows....
>we'll just see.
>
>
>On Monday, Oct 31, we left Chipiona and invited Ian and Maggie to
>accompany us on our short sail to Rota (about 3.5 hours). It was a nice
>change! Of course there was a 2.5-3 meter swell coming from the side, so
>it wasn't the most comfortable sail.... especially after the wind died
>down. We're only 30 minutes away by bus, so they went back to their boat
>later in the day on the bus. Now we're all settled in for our 4 month
>stay here in lovely Rota. There's a US Naval Base here, but i guess the
>service personnel pretty much keep to the base. haven't seen many
>americans in the streets. It's a really nice town, beautiful beaches, and
>the marina is about 100 meters from the old town. VERY convenient! If
>only there was an internet hook up, or a WI-FI at the marina, but there's
>not. That would make this perfection itself. Today, I learned that we
>the library, which is VERY CLOSE, has a WIFI and we can use our own
>computers. YEAAAAAAAAAAAA.... It's sunny and about 78 outside. just
>lovely. We certainly did pick a good year to be gone from the southeast
>coast of the US....from what various friends have told us, this
>hurricane/tropical storn season has been BRUTAL! It's a funny feeling
>that we've completed our first year of european cruising. Now, we have to
>buy new pilotbook/cruising guides to our med destinations for next year.
>Also need to get some sail repairs done and do other maintenance type
>items. ChaliVentures III has certainly served us well.
>
>I'm finally going to finish this "communique", and go send it off at the
>library.
>
>love,
>
>Alison and Chuck