New Year's Eve in Spain

First I want to say we have moved right into Tom and Carlos’ life. Their friends do not even miss them!
Last night we were invited to a neighbor’s house for the New Year’s feast. We originally were told there would be 30 people and then the number was reduced to 15 and when we showed up (Christopher ready to speak Spanish all night and me ready to listen and smile when cued) there were only six other people there, of which we knew five. Maybe we were originally told there would be six and through our untrained ear we heard 30 but it didn’t matter. The evening (arriving at 9:30 with dinner starting at 10:30) ended up being an intimate family get-together plus us two boys from Estados Unidos; Manolo (the Tony Soprano of Las Negras) and his lovely wife Pilar where our hosts.


Our sources told us the Sopranos (real name changed to protect the innocent) could cook and we were not disappointed. When we arrived, we saw their kitchen counter had been taken over by a paella pan that was larger than a tire on a car (but they were not making paella). In the pan was an amazing array of seafood; cod, shrimp, calamari from Las Negras, mussels, and the tiniest clams you’ve ever seen-with the shell they were no larger than your thumb nail. Everything had been cooked individually but they were now simmering together in a broth; there was enough to feed twenty people!
That was only the first course-well, actually the second; the first course consisted of various plates of charcuterie, fois gras and cheese. The final course was another enormous pan filled with oven roasted potatoes and kid goat or lamb…we still aren’t sure. It really doesn’t matter because it was delicious! Fall-off-the-bone and melt-in-your-mouth yet with a crispy skin- it was truly incredible.


We had a little dessert, drank a lot of wine, even more cava and finally some whiskey!... and rang in the New Year with the Spanish tradition of popping a grape in your mouth for each gong of the midnight bell (it’s a harrowing experience!). We were stuffed!
The evening was a ton of fun and our gracious hosts were very patient with my inability to speak to them (thank god Christopher could carry the conversation for the two of us). During the meal I sat next to Manolo and Pilar’s ten year old son Mario. He’s an adorable, smart little guy who takes English class in school. As hard as I tried he wouldn’t speak more than a word or two of English with me-I had a feeling he could do more but he was playing a bit shy. We did teach each other the word for “cork” but as I look it up today I think he lead me astray…..

The entire party moved to “downtown” Las Negras (two blocks away) where we joined what had to be the entire town, spread out in a couple of adjoining bars, one being Antonia’s (she’s the tomato heiress). Even though we planned for a late night (by taking a three hour nap that rainy afternoon) we could not keep up with the Spaniards. We called it quits at three am and I’m sure they played on until at least six!

Another wonderful thing about last night….that blue moon everyone was talking about! On our walk to dinner and then back from the fiestas in town we had clear skies that were dotted with a few, small, swiftly moving, fluffy clouds. We could see Orion’s belt and since the moon was so intense, our shadows followed us everywhere……it also reflected like diamonds off the Mediterranean.

I have told you we can see the sea from here, haven’t I?

All in all a very memorable New Year’s Eve! We did miss our Hudson tradition but we will pick that up again next year.