Tuesday 22nd February: after leaving Alcocebre I headed up the coast on the AP-7, past Tarragona, Barcelona, and Girona to the French border. Easy driving on immaculate Spanish roads, though an accident somehow smashed a piece of the concrete central barrier(!) and blocked the road for over an hour. While we were stuck it was noticeable that two of the static lanes were full with lorries and just one with cars.
Got to Richard’s about 6pm. He and I go back a long way (over 65 years!) and we see eye-to-eye on most things, though I don’t share his enthusiasm for Bridge. Good long chat over supper, with the escalating conflict over Ukraine on the agenda. No prizes for guessing that our sympathies were not entirely with the Kiev regime …
Wednesday: following long-standing tradition, we returned for lunch to the Grand Café des Sports for steak tartare with all the sacraments (mustard, capers, shallots, parsley, Tabasco, Worcester Sauce (nb the ripped-off Heinz version, not the original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire version, unfortunately), tomato sauce, … plus their most excellent chips:
On the last occasion, a few years ago, Richard had an argument with the waiter whom he accused – rightly – of being rude or, at least, very off-hand with Flo who had joined us. In reprisal, we sanctioned the place (to use a popular term), though the measure probably affected us more than the café, as there was nowhere else serving a good steak tartare. However, we held our nerve and time solved the issue for us when the waiter in question left, allowing us to lift the sanction …
In the evening after supper we watched Almodóvar’s classic black comedy, Volver.
Thursday 25th: the final day of my trip, so time to head back to Luz. Good to go away but also good to get back …
RB's journal 
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