What a weekend!
Saturday to Tuesday.
Four days when Hartlepool revealed its beautiful face to the world.
The Tall Ships began slipping into the town as early as Thursday. A Spanish yacht called Hansa from Galicia, with whose crew I shared a few tapas and a beer.
The larger ones arrived between Thursday evening and Saturday lunchtime.
A huge tide of visitors descended on the Marina at around 11am on Saturday and kept on rolling past the berthed ships. The weather was clement to the point of being warm.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday brought even more visitors laden with cameras and zoom lenses.
All our staff worked very hard and long hours over the four days to cater for twice or three times our usual number of diners.
I enjoyed selling coffee, tea and Sangria outside Casa del Mar. It gave me the opportunity to do some "market research" by asking people where they came from, whether they liked Hartlepool and if they would come back again.
They were unanimous in their praise for our town. Most had never been here and were totally delighted with the facilities and the organization. Those who were re-visiting were pleased with the changes that had occurred over the last twenty years.
The regional visitors promised to come back very soon.
I was so busy that I did not manage to get my camera out so here is a Flickr Group set up to showcase the weekend.
The Tall Ships came and went...
Food for thought...
Kevin, Casa's head-chef sent me an email depicting lots of Chinese delicacies, including Lizards Tails, Dog Brain Soup, Scorpion Brochettes, etc...
I have total respect for people's (weird) tastes. After all, I like olives smothered with chili, roast beef dripping with blood, whole ungutted fish, so who am I to talk?
I hear that down in the deepest confines of the Algerian Sahara, deep-fried crickets are absolutely delicious. I have never tasted them but being open-minded I'd give them a try as long as there is a bottle of Tabasco nearby.
But I definitely draw the line at Seahorses...
I don't think I've ever seen a live one, but just do check out Finding Nemo... The Seahorses look so pretty and lovable...
I can't imagine them skewered, let alone barbequed.
Where do you draw the line?
Plucking more than chickens...
Around what seems like a million years ago, (Summer 1962 to be exact), my brother received a guitar as a present. It must have been after he passed the Baccalauréat on his way to university.
He left it at home, so I dabbled with it, not really knowing how to hold let alone how to play it. I used to lay it on the dining table and pluck the strings like a sitar.
Over the years, I have dreamed of learning to play this beautiful intrument. I tried on my own a few times, with books and videos... Not a chance! I couldn't grasp it.
At the last count I reckon I have had 3 or 4 teachers. Very patient ones.
Guitar playing requires constant practice. And that itself calls for a lot of patience. Something I lack.
My latest tutor is a well known local guitar player who practises his craft in various local restaurants, including Casa del Mar for a while. I plucked my guitar strings in front of him and he immediately knew that the only style I would be comfortable with was Spanish.
Since my brother brought back a few records from his 1965 Spain trip, I fell in love with that music. Flamenco pulls my strings like no other music.
There is one piece by Joachim Rodrigo called El concierto de Aranjuez which always makes me melt when I hear it.
It was even played in the film Brassed Off although it is affectionately referred to as Concerto de Orange Juice...
I have just learned how to put music on websites, and guess what, I have placed this piece on Casa's Menu Page so that you can listen to it while perusing our tapas...
It's not me playing by the way.
I wish...
My guitar having a rest...
