Random Tidbits

 Once we were at the hotel in Barcelona, Rich and Ginny came over to drink the wine we’d been wanting to share. Which turned out to be 5 bottles. Anyway, Ginny was telling us the story of when she took over for Jason when he went into the clink with me. She said, “I went up to James and told him Jason was now in the clink  and I was the man. James gave me the wine and then I went to the front desk and went up to Sylvia and said, “I’m working the underground now. I gotta get these bottles delivered.” I cannot stop laughing at this! “I’m working the underground now” and they knew what she meant and what to do!!! AMAZING. 

Shortly before we got off the boat, before Jason was in the clink but covid was already all the rage, he went to use the restroom down on the main piazza level (where most people hang out). He saw two grown men come out from the stalls of the bathroom, not wash their hands, and then walk directly to their tables where they continued eating and drinking their food. How is this still a thing in the year of our Lord 2022? Not even a covid thing, just a that is so dang gross thing. And generally, most people know to be more careful on cruises…but not all people.

Yesterday, I went down to the new Vines, aka the 1st floor patio at the Eurostar Grand Marina Hotel, and was walking to meet up with the crew for happy hour when a bartender ran up to me. 

“Miss?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve heard you didn’t pay for your bottle of wine yesterday.”

I just stand there looking at him. Is this real? What’s happening right now?

“Oh.”

“Would you like to pay?”

“I would like to pay, yes.”

Oh my word!!! So, we bought a bottle to start with and they brought it out to us on the patio along with the wine glasses. We then opened some of the bottles we bought and sat there for hours talking. By the time we went in, we brought all the bottles and glasses in but the woman who had brought the rose was long gone and clearly we weren’t thinking about that first bottle of rose. But, worse! We saw that lady who gave it to us at breakfast and lunch time and she didn’t say anything to us. ACK! So embarrassing. 

Breakfast is free here at the Eurostar Grand Marina. And man, is it awesome! Imagine all the things. A huge selection of fresh fruit, all the baked goods, eggs and all that, full salad bar, the best meat, cheese, and bread you’ve ever seen. Little baby bottles of olive oil. Fresh squeezed juices. Champagne, which is called Cava here. Holy cow. Oh- all the fresh made coffee drinks. So anyway, now I apparently eat salad for breakfast. With champagne. And a tiny little bite of cheesecake. And the world’s most amazing ham. A slice of manchego cheese. With a cappuccino. This is who I am now. A European! 

We’re enjoying the wine here still. One very interesting thing is that since Spanish wine is still new to us, we generally don’t know what anything is. So, we walk into a place and sit down. When the waiter comes up we say,” white wine” or “red wine” and they say ok and then a bottle arrives. In the US, the waiter would want to know exactly which one you want. Here, it’s like oh, a white wine. Cool. I’ll bring one. And if you’re a jaded American like me and reading this, you’re probably thinking - ha! I bet they bring you the most expensive thing on the menu. You would be wrong. 

The only bottle we’ve had yet that we haven’t liked (here in Spain) is this bottle of red we bought yesterday for all of 5 euros. Now, sure, that’s crazy cheap, but we bought 3 other bottles in the same price range and those were all good. This particular one was, unfortunately, sweet. And somehow also smelled like oregano. In sommelier, this means it was absolutely disgusting. 

Our, ahem, extended stay here in Spain means we really ought to be doing laundry. There is a laundry service here in the hotel but the prices are radically absurd. Literally 9 euros to wash pajamas. Whatever pajamas even is. 5 euros to wash a pair of underwear. A whole load of laundry would end up costing $75 bucks!! So, I did what anyone would do- I looked around at my options. Do I have a lot of shower gel or hand soap? Why, yes. Do I have a good sink? I mean, it’s decent. Do I have hot water? Yup. Also, just saying, I have a separate bidet. I know what you’re thinking but also this isn’t my first clothes washing in a bidet rodeo. Oh, no. I lived in Brazil for two summers and regularly washed my clothing…and not my booty…in the bidet. Shoot, at 17 years of age, I’d never seen a bidet and I sure wasn’t going to just attempt to wash my lady parts in there. Honestly, just looking at the thing, I couldn't even visualize how that would work. But, basically it is a basin with water and that’s really what you need to wash your clothes, so…whatever. I’m pro bidet these days, BTW, and if you need some counseling on it, I’m your gal. But those stand alone ones still freak me out. 

Anyway, so we’ve been washing some clothes. The washing isn’t bad but the drying stinks. We don’t really have anywhere to hang things to dry. We certainly have a lot of wind blowing in thanks to a lovely spring storm that popped up to help. Suffice it to say, washing a couple of t-shirts, socks and underwear is ok. Washing jeans and sweatshirts is not going to work. Ew. Never would have thought I’d miss doing laundry!!!