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Published: March 13th 2007
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Mas Terrillo
None of these photos were taken by me, but by the photographer we had at the event - I'd give him the credit if I knew his name! Driving up to Mas Terrillo is not an especially memorable experience, so I was not prepared for what I saw when we walked up the pathway to the house. It was stunning - very much a true hacienda-type of Spanish house. Outside was a courtyard, at the end of which was a small chapel. The house rose in the background, lit warmly to cast off an inviting glow. In the courtyard were tables and a small bar, where the guests were mingling as waiters and waitresses with trays of hors d'oeuvres and drinks slipped in and out of their groups. In the background, the tents for dinner were hidden behind an arch with vines and flowers winding their way around. I looked to my left and in the distance, I could see the mountains and a vista of the fields and towns. It was literally breathtaking.
My dad introduced me to our hosts. The wife was a stunning older woman, with soft blond hair and a pale blue flowing top and skirt that swirled around her. I smiled at her and kissed both of her cheeks, as she asked about my mother and I complimented her home. Her husband was
the fire to her cool demeanor, with a devilish grin that he wore the whole evening, which conveyed his sheer delight at hosting this event. I kissed him on both cheeks as well, then moved on to say my hellos to his son and daughter-in-law.
I mingled with the crowd, and avoided the hors d'oeuvres, which appeared to be mostly fish, although there was a tomato and cracker one. The cava was flowing and the guests enjoying themselves. Our host took my dad and I down to the chapel so that we could see inside. It was tiny, but beautiful, with large religious paintings on every wall. There was one on the far right wall that depicted our host and his sisters as children at the bottom. The whole house had so much history to it. Our host also showed us the first floor of their home, where the walls were covered in family photos and mementos from their lives. It was so rich, so full, so alive that it was utterly incredible. Our host showed us a
Dali that he had tucked away under the stairs and a
Miro on display in the living room. We also saw
photos of the entire family, from each of the three children's weddings. It was all very lovely.
We returned outside and it was time to filter into the tents for a dinner by
El Bulli. The men stood at their seats, waiting for the women to sit down first - it was all delightfully polite. We took our various places and inspected the menus at our seats as well as the card detailing the history of the house. We would start with a salad of vegetables and lobster, followed by monkfish and duck to be topped off with a chocolate dessert. The food was delicious- except the seafood, of course. We finished off the meal with a Cuban cigar, which again received some raised eyebrows. Most of the guests were wonderful about the smoke in the tent, which we had to quickly close up when a storm moved in during dinner. It was an exciting few minutes when the rain poured down and we all rushed to pull the tables inside so that no one got too wet. The storm raged all through dinner, with strong winds threatening. At one point, I needed to use the restroom, but the power
to the house had gone out, so one of the girls led me under an umbrella inside, where a woman speaking only Spanish lit a candle and pointed me in the right direction. I could imagine what it must have been like to walk the old hallways before power during a thunderstorm such as this.
The meal was topped off with a gift to our hosts - a beautiful plate inscribed with a personal message of thanks. Our hosts were clearly thrilled with it. Afterwards, many of the guests were looking to return to the hotel, so three buses packed them in and set off. A few of us remained behind and moved into the house. The night was cool once the rain had passed through.
The house felt even more alive with the guests chattering away inside and the lights warming up the space, now that the power had returned. I further investigated the photos, stopping on a beautiful one of a younger version of our host . She came up behind us with her son and described the family in the pictures in such a way that you could feel how much she loved them. We
moved through the house, stopping to talk to our host about how he had always wanted to be like the Godfather. Then, he got a gleam in his eye and rushed off. Suddenly, the first strains of the theme from the Godfather could be heard as he reappeared. Our host took me in his arms to dance, and we twirled in the dining room.
Finally, it was time to go. The last bus was leaving and our hosts had moved outside to say farewell to their guests. It was sad to think that our hosts will be the last family owners of Mas Terrillo.
Another late night followed, and I managed to meet my goal of dipping my feet into the Mediterranean just once before I left. The water was warmer than I expected, certainly warmer than the hotel pool had been! We stood on the beach for a while, watching the water. In the distance, lightning streaked across the sky and I watched in awe as it flashed over the water. After a quick breakfast the next day, it was off to Frankfurt. I couldn't believe my Barcelona trip was over, and that it was more incredible
than I could have imagined.. I felt a tug as we lifted off from the airport and tried to focus on the week ahead - yay Germany!
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