May 4-6, 2007.

This was one of the best times we have had since we arrived! As Kalan previous stated (in the Stag post), masias are these very, very old farmhouses out in the Spanish countryside that large groups of people can rent out for the weekend and enjoy. Kind of like the chalet in Whistler idea, but much more rustic and more authentic in a lot of ways- ours dates back to the 15th century! Located in Prats de Lluçanès, about 1.5 hours drive from Barcelona, I felt like I was a thousand miles away. It was so green with so many trees out here, and it felt a lot like home. There were even cows (with their cow bells ringing) walking around the property.

I had prepared Tandoori chicken for the Friday dinner, and luckily it did not appear to disappoint. John very nicely helped Kalan out with setting up ‘the fire’, since he is the BBQ King (from what we heard) and I must say that barbeque done over charcoal and wood makes the chicken absolutely delicious. Kalan mentioned to me that we are going to have to ‘re-evalute’ our BBQ set-up when we return home because of this! There were only a few pieces leftover, but they were polished off the next day.

The evening’s activities consisted of some very serious karaoking, and I mean serious! The disc we had would pit one person against another and mark you on your performance, ending in a ‘final mark’. How scary! When Mary and I sang our first song together, it was fun and carefree, no competitive nature whatsoever. Then, a ‘match schedule’ was devised, and soon we were all singing against each other to become the ultimate champion!

Saturday consisted of a good sleep-in, and then the immediate launch into the Asado preparation. This was very exciting to me, since red meat is my meat of choice and just looking at the giant slabs of it made me so hungry! I learned that an Argentinian Asado takes hours, as the meat is slow cooked to seal in all the flavours. I was able to watch John live up to his  reputation as the BBQ King, as the meat did not disappoint. I was so full after eating a huge piece of meat and yet I still had another. There was salad there, but like a true carnivore I did not touch it! More space for meat… but I did save some room for two pieces of Iratxe’s birthday cake which Carmen just whipped up faster than you could say “birthday cake with icing”!

Saturday dinner, which happened after midnight, was also great. Isa and Alfons prepared these fantastic tuna sandwiches, with pan con tomate and various meats, and a great dessert platter. I must have gained 10 pounds over the course of the weekend.

 Sunday provided an even better sleep-in, following by a nice little hike in the forested area. It felt like home again, with the smell of pine all over. Mary and Iratxe created a great lunch of fried rice and salad with the majority of  leftover food that would have otherwise been wasted.

It was sad to leave, but we had to. Hopefully there will be at least a couple more masia weekends!