Friday Meeting of VGLPS

Shower head from another planet

The next day was Friday and our readers will remember that Friday is a special day for Society members. Two o’clock is the time we convene and having made the short trip down to Barcelona we were intent on recreating our Friday meeting in Spain. How about that for a plan?

Describing the nightmare of driving in Barcelona obeying the senseless commands of the harridan in the box is an impossibility. Think of the most frightening fairground experience, remove any safety restraints and multiply the speed and you might get a glimpse of the dangers.

My apologies for the digression. Friday should be about the ordering of half and half and getting down to the business of the week’s discourse. Thereupon we hit a problem what might constitute a suitable substitute for half and half in Spain? Eventually we lit upon the notion of alternating German wheat beer with Spanish lager. The nearest we could get to our preferred pint. At this point it should be mentioned that the pouring of half and half is an art and in our area is one that is fast disappearing like shipbuilding, mining and other jobs. However we are fortunate to have in ‘management’ the wonderful Craig who has the skill set to produce proper pints for the punters. I would normally mention the landlord at this point but he is away on another holiday and we haven’t seen much of him lately. He will be introduced at a later date.

Management - Craig

Sampling the wheat beer

So our Friday meeting began early with wheat beer in a square next to our hotel. Then an afternoon in the Barri Gotic, wandering narrow streets and visiting pleasant hostelries. Highlight for me was the playing of a guitarist whose interpretations of the great Villa Lobos repertoire were fabulous and well worth a coin or two in his case. A ride up to see the splendour that is the Sagrada Familia completed the afternoon session. Thus back to the hotel for shower and preparation for dinner.

Interesting plazas
Hams in the market

Back door of Sagrada Familia

We were doing well, selection of tapas and a couple of bottles of Rioja, and then made a fatal mistake. Coffee and brandies. The last time I saw anyone pour such generous measures of spirit was when Dave’s grandson, Joseph was plying Bill with whisky at New Year. We were so taken aback, in such a state of disbelief that anyone could be so generous that we decided to order some more just to see if it was true. Sleep was not to be a problem.