#377 Dîner à la Française

The next morning, breakfast was :

#376 L'Era again

Doesn't time fly! We were last at the L'Era restaurant in Parcent with my friend Chello and her friends in April 2007 (#170) - and here we are again, enjoying another paella cooked on a wood burning fire together with Chello and her friends, four years later.

#375 Alpens to L'Avenc de Tavertet

We are back in Catalunya, this time for a week. The first day I rode 120km from Sabadell (nr Barcelona) to Alpens, it took seven and a half hours (a bit more than I planned). Met up with Sally, Carrie and Tom and on Sunday we had lunch in what looked to be a tiny local bar but had a big dining room hidden at the back. It was full with locals who must have known about the huge portions they serve.
















Alpens is a bit like the Alps, quite hilly with herds of cows carrying tinkling Swiss cow bells. The local blacksmith has a passion for dragons and nearly every house in the village has a dragon door handle - no reason, he just likes dragons and so does everyone else in Alpens it appears.

































On Tuesday Tom and I rode 58km over to L'Avenc de Tavertet where we stayed for the next four days in another casa rural (or gîte). This one had an amazing 25 metre indoor swimming pool, which I used frequently.














































Each day at L'Avenc we either rode rough-stuff biking or hiked round the rocky terrain with the house dog called Toffee . We didn't have to fear getting lost 'cos being a local dog - Toffee nose!

#374 Castle in Spain

We enjoyed our weekend cycling in Catalunya (#368) so much that I booked us a week up there. We will stay in two 'casa rurals', one in Alpens for three days then to L'avenc de Tavertet for four. The cycling in the area looks to be very nice with tiny asphalt roads and lots and lots of off-road routes.

Quite by chance it seems that L'avenc de Tavertet is quite famous for being bought and refurbished by a well know English chap called Mathew Parris. He is a political commentator and journalist and has written about L'avenc in The Times and even written a book about the project.

I found a secondhand copy of his book on Amazon UK (for 1 penny + £4.03 postage :-) and spent the day after it arrived speed reading to find out what I had let us in for - all good I hope.

#373 Granola

I have been making this same Granola recipe for the last 40 years!

Set the oven to 160 centigrade. Baste a big baking tray with a little sesame oil. Mix 6 big scoops of Jumbo Oats with an equal amount of nuts & seeds.

Such as:
Hazelnuts in bits, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower seeds, Dried coconut, Cashew nuts, Pumpkin seeds.

Stir in half a jar of Barley Malt syrup. Pinch of salt.
Spread thinly (about 1cm) Bake for 20 - 30 minutes till golden looking.

Take out of the oven and add a scoop or two of sultanas. I sometimes add different nuts or seeds or dried fruit but I always use Hazels and Sesame seeds. Don't use any other sweetener, only Barley Malt, it is absolutely essential in this recipe.

I serve mixed with Greek yogurt (diluted with a little milk).

#372 Beach Cruiser

Here is a pic of José our (ex) next door neighbour as he passed by on his mean machine. I used to have a mountain bike in the shape of a beach cruiser. I imagine his is a bit heavier than my old titanium Merlin Newsboy.

#371 London Books

Grayson Perry by Jacky Klein.
New Oxford Book of Food Plants.
John Water's Role Models.
London Calling by Barry Miles
and also by Barry Mikes, Frank Zappa.

#370 Fallas

Our local district, Baix El Mar, won this year's Fallas.
I didn't mean to, but woke up at 2:30 and was wide awake.
(must be my subliminal alarm clock).
So we got up and watched the fireworks and the burning.
The firemen are there to keep the buildings wet - it wouldn't do to set the neighbourhood on fire.

#369 African(ish) music

Fire up your Spotify and enjoy these two double recordings. 10/10.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo & Friends.
Orchestra Baobab - La Belle Epoque.

Then may I recommend a Brazilian film:
Estômago (A Gastronomic Story). Tasty.

And a very old, classic American film:
Jazz on a Summer's Day. Cool.

#368 Vias Verdes etc

Last weekend we took our bikes up into the hills of Catalunya. First by train to Ripoll and then we rode up the Via Verde del Ferro i del Carbó, after that a tiny little rural road to Olot to stay the night.









Sunday, all the way down the Vía Verde del Carrilet (1) to Girona railway station where we took a train back to Barça. 100k of tracks and trails - excellent!







































Sunday night we stayed with Carrie and went out and ate Japanese.
















Monday morning went to the market and bought some Iberico ham as a present then drove into France to visit our friends Brian & Maureen. Next day we went with them and lunched with Madame Valette at her Auberge Lou Bordié (we were there last year - #344). I had to pull rank to get a table, she was originally "complet" so the ham was a little thank you present.



















Wednesday we drove south and visited David & Jackie, had another long lunch. David has an extensive wine cellar (if you read this Snowy you can click on the pic to enlarge it, read the labels and shed a small tear).
























Thursday back to Spain but we took the scenic route over the Pyrenees near to Andorra, dropped down the other side and stayed the night in the Parador de Alcañiz (very chi chi) and came away quite surprised that my credit card was accepted ;-)

#367 Full Marks = Trek & Vittoria!

Have to report excellent customer service from both Vittoria and Trek. I got personal replies to my questions straight away. Good for them (and me).

You wonder how other companies can be so rubbish and not reply to a customer who wants to buy their products. Over the past year I still haven't had a reply from; Icebreaker clothing, TRP brakes and Velocity rims, so boo to them.

#366 Amazoning Again

I must be keeping Amazon in *profit! - four more books just arrived:

Pardon My French by Charles Timoney
Come & Gone by Joe Parkin
A Dog In A Hat by Joe Parkin
Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes

*I calculate that I have bought 31 Amazon books in the last 12 months, not counting the freebies and charity shop purchases - no wonder I need new reading glasses.

#365 New Look

Here is a 'new' bike, built from bits in my spare parts box, plus 52€ on a new bottom bracket, seat pin and some handlebar tape.

I'm sure it will come in useful . . . somewhere . . . somehow . . . .

#364 Paella Bacalao

Friday: Lunch.
Restaurant: Sendra, Las Rotas, Denia.
Foreground: Paella Bacalao (salt cod paella).
Background: Mediterranean Sea

#363 Russian Pin

I just found a pin I was given by a young Russian soldier (Private Putin?) at the Goodwill Games in St Petersburg in 1994. I was with the Nike marketing manager who was handing out Nike caps in some sort of guerrilla marketing scheme. The soldier wanted to give something in return so gave me his hat pin. Браво!

#362 London Olympics

We buzzed down to Canary Wharf to lunch with John and Jasmine,
the Supremos of the 2012 London Olympic Triathlon.


















John gave me a LOCOG badge which I'm wearing with pride.






















Then we took the river bus up the Thames, passed under a wet Tower Bridge before landing at the Embankment and a stroll up through Covent Garden.

#361 Big Birthday & Lucky Draw

For my Mum's 90th Birthday six Lillies and six other friends had a slap up Sunday lunch at the Clissold Arms in Muswell Hill. We sat in the 'Kinks Room' which had been decorated with Kinks ephemera, interesting to me as the group is about my age and were our famous local band from back in the 60's.

The day before we three Lillie Boys went out for a Full English Breakfast, then to the Emirates stadium to watch the Arsenal scrape a draw against Leeds United in the FA Cup and a pint of Guinness on the way home. :-)

#360 Arthur

We came back to England for Arthur's funeral. While looking through his photo's I came across these pictures from his time in the Second World War. These three photos were taken in Berlin; showing the Brandenburg Gate, Arthur's foot on Hitler's broken head and the third with a mate and a statue in Hitler's bunker. An important time to arrive in Berlin and quite an experience for him, I imagine.

#359 Jamón Jamón

Not to be confused with Bigas Luna's 1992 film Jamón Jamón, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, this is a genuine leg of Spanish ham destined for a friend of ours who has provided the Lillie Boys with tickets for the FA Cup game: Arsenal v Leeds on Saturday.
¡ Animo !

#358 Pugsey

While in Barcelona Tom and I dived int Espaibici and their man Xavi showed us a Surly Pugsey. It's a mountain bike with really big fat wheels for riding on snow or I suppose, on the beach. If I won the lottery and had the room . . . . . .

#357 Christmas again

Christmas in Barcelona. Jay stayed in Amsterdam so we posed with a cardboard cut out so that he wouldn't feel left out.

Monday we went to the Parc de Collserola behind Barcelona for a nice bike ride in the woods. I got TWO punctures - brand new tyres - both times riding on asphalt. Second puncture looks like a snail climbing up the face of my tyre, but in fact it's a great big tack sticking out :-(

#356 Salute to The Captain

We took a quick three day trip to England and fitted in a Sunday Lunch at a Vegetarian / Vegan restaurant in London called Manna. We were returning customers (we were there in about 1972).

Just round the corner in Primrose Hill is Sesame, a health food shop that I delivered yogurt to, it hasn't changed (also about 40 years ago).

Then down to Broadstone for a cup of coffee at the Little Red Roaster and a fine meal at Isabel's with Judy, Pat & Timothy.

#354 Polyglottal

More books to help me become a polyglot.
Je Ne Sais Quoi - A guide to sounding, acting and shrugging like the French. Actually, I'm already pretty good at shrugging.
Speak the Culture, Spain - A guide to customs and culture. I've already got the excellent French equivalent.
Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories by Les Woodland.
Practice Makes Perfect - Advanced Spanish Grammar.
Practice Makes Perfect - Complete French Grammar.