A weekend on the Med

Two weeks ago I was asked to accompany the RCNM race team, a group of 10 kids, to Valencia for a weekend of training. Since Friday was a national holiday we were able to leave early that morning.

 
One of the parents and I split the driving out to Valencia.
(Reminded me of HYC work back in Canada!)





We arrived on Friday at about midday and we started unloading the trailer right away. Where we were sailing for the weekend was in the autonomous community of Valencia but not actually in the city. The port was in a town called Burriana, north of the city of Valencia. The port venue, now a sailing school, had an amazing setup; accommodation, cafeteria, classrooms, basketball court, storage hangars, two launch ramps (including one in-port), centre-consul zodiacs, etc. The venue was originally where countries would train during the year leading up to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

The building was apparently designed 

to mimic the hull of a boat.

Unfortunately there was no wind and so after much deliberation and a long Spanish lunch, we didn't head out on the water that first afternoon. Instead I taught the kids how to play Ultimate Frisbee!

Somewhat difficult to pry the football (soccer ball) out of Spanish kids' hands... But they ended up enjoying it!

Later that evening after dinner we had a briefing to organize for a full day of sailing on Saturday.

I wrote a schedule for the day on the board detailing when they have to have their boats rigged, when we'll have lunch, when we'll finish for the day, etc. It was a basic schedule I ran when coaching in Canada.


I immediately got the following question, "Pero...cuándo merendamos?" (When do we have the merienda?) The merienda is a light afternoon snack. I found this question typically Spanish as they value their downtime (siesta)...

The parents were staying on a boat in the harbour and so I was to be the full time chaperone staying in the dorms with the kids, a fact which I wasn't initially aware of. I went to bed and soon after got a call from the parents telling me to make sure the kids were in bed. I could hear whispers and so I went in to check one of the rooms. The two kids said they were just talking and about to go to bed but I knew better... and found two kids under the desk and FOUR in the cupboard...

It took a while for the wind to come in the next morning so we took our time with breakfast and the morning briefing.

We sat down in one of the various well-equipped classrooms and went over what we were going to work on. 

I planned a morning to review the basics.

Roll tacks

Controlled gybing

Upwind sailing and some 360/720s to keep things interesting.





There was definitely a learning curve when it came to the Spanish sailing terminology, especially racing terminology as my time teaching sailing in Palma was very basic.

We head out, a fleet of 10 Optis and me in a zodiac I had at my disposal for the entire weekend.

The morning was going really well as we completed almost all the drills. As the morning progressed the wind picked up to about 20-25 knots (37-46 kmh). Unfortunately, the kids could not hack the breeze... And so, two ended up capsizing right next to the breakwater, three of them got seasick (never having experienced Mediterranean swell before), and one kid's bridle broke right off their boom. All of this happened in the span of 10 minutes...it was a mess and only got worse as the ramp we later approached was getting hit with 4-foot waves. (The in-port ramp would have much more practical, unbeknownst to me...)

Once on-land the kids had had enough and so we had lunch and took a long break before heading out again.

I planned an afternoon of practicing starts. The wind had not died down and so we stayed inside the port.


 

Where we also got to check out some awesome boats.

 


On Saturday evening the parents took me out for dinner at a nice restaurant in the port. It was nice to have some adult company and the food was amazing. It was my first time having Dorada a la Sal. Dorada is a type of fish and sal means salt, it refers to the way it is cooked, a typically Spanish technique. The fish is encased in a thick layer of salt and then put in the oven. The waiter brings it to you on a side table and chisels the salt off right before you. Despite what you'd think the fish isn't salty at all, just moist and delicious.




Sunday was better as the day started off with just enough (not too much!) wind for our group. The plan for the day was to work on our pre-race routines while we completed a mock regatta.












 Things were looking great, until...

 We spotted some weather off in the distance.

It started raining and from there on out it was a bit of an uphill battle with the kids. None of them wanted to stay out on the water and I had to threaten parental involvement to keep them sailing... Nevertheless we got some good races off and, despite the complaints, I think the kids had fun.

All in all a great weekend hanging 

out on the Med!

El Porrón Open

Three weeks ago I went to another beach tournament just outside of Barcelona, at Castelldefells beach. It was a very last minute decision but as the tournament was in need of female players and after announcing a discounted rate for any women who signed up I decided to go in the days leading up to it. The name of the tournament is El Porrón Open, and it's hosted yearly by the Patatas Bravas, a team based in Barcelona. A porrón  is a type of glass jug that usually contains some sort of liquor or wine. The jug has a long spout and you are supposed to pour it into your mouth as you pull the spout farther and farther away from you. Usually ends with with red wine stains all over yourself...

The tournament started on Friday and so that morning I took the night bus, leaving at 1am, from Madrid to Barcelona. Eight hours later I arrived, not a fun bus ride... I got a drive with some friends out to the beach since it was a good half hour outside the city.

Right when I got to the beach 

I found out who was on my team. 

(I only knew one person, a guy who had previously played in Madrid) 

Team name, Cranky Breakfast, was inspired by the tournament's theme being geriatrics. Some examples of  other team names included Pigeon Feeders, Viagra Dealers, Slow Drivers and Bingo Lovers.

I was happy to get some more beach Ultimate experience, as living in the dead centre of the peninsula doesn't exactly involve any beach play...

(Photo credit to Yulia and David)

We played four games on both Friday and Saturday and another two on Sunday. It was a great tournament as I got to practice some laying out and met some awesome Ultimate Frisbee players. 

 Midday snack on Saturday.

Kika and Natalie showing us all how
it's done with the porrón.





The tournament was on the expensive side but one thing I really liked was that everything was within walking distance, the accommodation, the fields and even the party venue.

I stayed in a beach-side apartment with a bunch of the other tournament organizers.

In line with the theme everyone at the tournament party, which was on Saturday night, had to come in costume as viejos locos, crazy old people. I decided to go as Cruella de Vil. 

In preparation Max helped me dye a white wig half black. 

I borrowed a long cigarette holder from a friend, bought a red boa, wore a black and white dress, and....

... Cruella de Vil I was. 

(Photo credit to Tuukka)

A few viejas locas; Sheila, Natalie and I.

Never a dull moment living by Ópera...

Not only is it a great location, but Ópera never disappoints...

Un finde madrileño

Por fin, un finde en Madrid! I haven't had a weekend in Madrid for 4 weeks now so I welcomed these few days at home with open arms.
The weekend started off with a Friday evening of tapas with a few friends. When I first arrived in Madrid I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the tapa culture here is to receive a free tapa with the drink you order. What I was used to was the culture in Logroño, where the drink and tapa are served and paid for separately.

Vino tinto and tapa at 

Gambrinus, a chain tapas bar in Madrid.

Saturdays in Madrid usually mean Ultimate Frisbee for me. The Quijotes hold pachanga every Saturday afternoon. The literal translation for pachanga is a party or mixer, however, for all intents and purposes we use it to refer to an informal pick-up game. Saturday pachanga doesn't take place at our usual practice spot. We head to a field called 'La Almudena,' in the Ciudad Universitaria, the university district. I use the term 'field' loosely as it's really just a patch of dirt... With Madrid's dry climate playing at 'La Almudena' usually involves inhaling large amounts of dirt and so the result is dirt-ridden mocos and wounds that take an unusual amount of time to heal. Lately, however, we've had a lot of rain (also great for sailing as Madrid's water levels are higher!) and so our patch of dirt is actually looking quite green!

'La Almudena' last year at Juanito's Open. 

(Photo credit to Reca)

'La Almudena' today. 

Beautiful autumn Saturday, perfect day to throw around a disc!

(Look at the grass!)

Saturday evening was fondue night! Some of the Quijotes head to teammate, Bertrand's house for a night of delicious food and great company. Bertrand is from Grenoble, France and so a specialty of his is fondue. He went to a market and bought a ton of cheese of various types. 

 Bertrand prepping the cheese and Justino cutting some bread.

Note the delicious appetizers (all of which contained cheese) that preceded the amazing meal! 

(Including my personal favourite; pureed beet topped with fresh cheese from Burgos and garnished with an oven-baked cheese crisp.)

So much cheese!

Once at the dregs of the first pot of fondue (yes, there was more than one) Bertrand added an egg and some Génépi, a special liqueur, to the small amount of cheese left, turned off the lights and lit it on fire! The liqueur made the remaining cheese sweet, it was delicious.

To top off the evening Javi brought all the ingredients for chocolate fondue!

An 'Ultimate' weekend in Santander

The weekend after the tournament in Salamanca were the Women's and Open Spanish Championships in the First Division. The Spanish Ultimate Federation (FEDV) holds the women's championships at the same time as the open (men's) championships. The Mixed and Open/Women's Championships alternate every year from grass to beach. This year the Mixed Championships were on grass (Sevilla tournament) and the Open/Women's Championships were on beach. And so the Quijotes + Dulcineas head to Santander beaches for the tournament. Herm, now a London resident, came back into town the Wednesday prior; we rented a car and left for Santander on the Friday.

Early (and cold!) morning departure from Madrid, our second time renting a Smart Car!

Photo credit to Hermzz

Not having work on Fridays is definitely a perk, this week allowing us to leave early in the day and do some sightseeing along the way.

Stopping in Burgos along the way

Trying to keep things cheap Herm and I hit up a supermarket for sandwich ingredients.

This was my second time in Santander, the first trip was while I was studying in Spain.

 Bronwyn, Marina and I

(Melanie not pictured)

 November 2009

During that first visit the girls and I stayed in a hostel. The hostel was called, La Horadada and it wasn't just any hostel, it was also a sailing school right on the beach (can you tell I was the one in charge of accommodation?). The hostel was also the cheapest option on hostelworld.com, that should have been the first indicator... Turns out the place was slightly sketchy... We arrived and walked into a common room with a bunch of Spanish men, apparently the sailing instructors. We quickly found out we were the only guests... Over the course of the weekend we received several notes, either shoved under our door or tucked into the bathroom mirror, the sailing instructors leaving us their phone numbers. All in all quite thankful I was not alone and that our room was under lock and key... Despite that minor discomfort it was a great trip and I definitely recommend Santander! (just not the Horadada...) Almost 3 years later, my arrival to Santander brought back the memories and I was easily able to find my way back to the hostel.

La Horadada
October 2012








This second visit was somewhat different, not only in terms of accommodation but traveling on account of an Ultimate tournament is a whole other experience, one that doesn't involve creepy Spanish men leaving you notes...

 Palm trees!









This tournament was my first time ever playing women's Ultimate. The tournament was a success and a ton of fun to play with the Dulcineas.

Dulcineas on playa Sardinera! 

(Photo cred to Teresa)

Losing 3 of our 5 games, we finished 6th out of 8 teams. 

A successful tournament all in all, especially having bageled our last opponent. :-)

 Me vs. Fendisc, a team from Santander
(Photo credit to José)

 Dulcineas going for a coffee break between games

The Quijotes open team finished 5th out of 8 teams.





The tournament was hosted by Corocotta, who not only did a great job of organizing but won in both categories and their women's team also won spirit (SOTG). The Quijotes + Dulcineas put in a good showing as the results showed both our teams came in just short of winning spirit.

Tournament dinner, the Dulcineas sporting the tournament gift, tuques!