End of tournament food fest!

Every year the organiser of the chess tournament here in Sanxenxo arranges a special meal in the hotel. Not quite an end of tournament party as everyone goes their separate ways after the prize-giving on Sunday. Sometimes it has been in a Saturday but that is hard going as the last round is on Sunday morning starting at 10.00. So this year it was last night. Last year we gathered in the smaller dining room at the back of the main one. But then there were thirty odd of us and we filled the room. A couple of people brought guitars. This year we were a smaller group, only sixteen, and so we had a large table in the main dining room, but we did go on longer than the ordinary, run of the mill diners. 

We began with a series of small treats. First There was a very pretty thing served in a small glass, probably what the French call an "amuse-bouche". Uncertain whether you were supposed to eat it or set light to it, rather like small candle or tea light, especially as it was unclear which eating implement to use, we gave it a try: some sort of cream cheese or perhaps soured cream concoction. Then came jamón serrano, very tender, tasty, melt in the mouth jamón serrano, served on pan a la catalana. After that plates of croquettes and plates of empanadillas (like tiny Cornish pasties but made with shellfish) turned up. All the time a nice Albariño wine was doing the rounds. 

All lovely stuff. And then the waiters brought plates wrapped in white serviettes, to keep them warm. Opened up they revealed percebes, goose barnacles. This shellfish delicacy is very expensive, mostly because it is very dangerous to obtain, involving people abseiling down cliffs to collect the things. And when you twist the end off, the slimy thing that is revealed is really not worth the effort. Quite repulsive, in my opinion. They must have been collected originally by the very poor who had nothing else to eat. And then, like snails and frogs legs, they became a delicacy. 

One of our number must have really enjoyed them, however, as his plate was piled with percebes detritus when they came to take away the starters plates. 

Starters! There had been enough food for about three meals already and the pièce de résistance was still to come. And come it did! Arroz con bogavante. A sort or paella but done with lobster instead of any other kind of meat or shellfish. One huge paella-pan of it after another and another and another and another. And, despite the difficulty of getting the meat off the bogavante, it was delicious as usual! And everyone was completely stuffed. But there was still just enough space for a tiny little mousse thing for dessert! 

 So as midnight struck, fearful of turning into pumpkins or something worse, Phil and I took ourselves off for a walk along the promenade. Which was heaving! Masses of small children still abounded. In fact, Infantilandia, one of those places where you can dump your children and let them play excitedly for a while, still seemed to be accepting customers. Either that or the children we saw going in lived there. The cafes and restaurants and bars and ice cream parlours along the sea front were doing great business. The shops on the seafront must have huge electricity bills as they all feel obliged to leave the lights on in their shop windows. 

This morning early all was quiet again on the beach. A yoga class was taking place but that was all until a couple of hours later when the tideline walkers made their appearance. 

And then the sailing school came out onto the bay. Where earlier I swear I saw dolphins leaping. 

And so we come to the penultimate round of the tournament. 

Almost all over bar the shouting!