Hi All Just thought I'd let you all know about the fantastic Lace Day I attended last week on the outskirts of Barcelona.
Carolina told us all about it back in Feb and as it coincided with our wedding anniversary DH and I decided that a long weekend in Barcelona sounded like a good idea. Selina (who started making lace in Sept) and her DH decided to come too. We arrived in Barcelona on Thursday and spent the following 2 days sightseeing, by Sunday we were shattered by the amount of walking we had done. We still didn't see half of what we wanted (opps, might have to go again, VBG). Sunday morning saw us up bright and early to get to the station to catch the train. Carolina had given me directions and we'd arranged to meet at 10.15am. Getting to the station and finding the platform proved easy, now for getting on the right train. Easy - find a lacemaker and follow her. We had a choice of hundreds to follow! I've never seen so many lacemakers crammed into such a small space before. All with pillows of varing shapes and sizes, many of them being transported in shopping trollies or on luggage wheels (now there's a good idea that needs following up). The train arrived and on we all piled on, a few lucky ladies got seats, the rest of us stood,fairly comfortably, hanging onto the handrails etc. Next stop - another couple of hundred lacemakers get on! What a squeeze! If the train had stopped suddenly no one would have fallen down as there wasn't any room! One more stop and it looks like we're there -the train empties completely apart from a few bemused holiday makers who had caught it at the airport. We join the end of the queue to get out of the station, 20 mins later we emerge onto the street and what a sight awaits us just acroos the road. Three long rows of trestle tables and chairs, divided into zones so that you could find where you were sitting, going down the middle of the road. A long row of gazeebo's on the right where the vendors were doing a roaring trade and thousands and thousands of lacemakers. The day was bright and sunny, but not too hot (the previous Sunday it poured with rain, so we were lucky). We were a few minutes early, so we sat down and waited to see if we could spot Carolina. She found us and it was great to meet her. Carolina took us across to the vending area and explained how the lace day worked, we chatted for a while in a mixture of English and Spanish (or was it Catalan?). DH and I discoved that Catalan is similar to Italian so we had no real problem understanding her. Then we went our seperate ways. We solved the problem of where to start by working our way down the vendors, just looking first time round and then back again sending far too much money. Then on to the lacemakers. Pillows of all shapes and sizes, lace of every description, though predominately white torchon. Groups of lacemkers who had all dressed their pillows the same way, groups of lacemakers with matching hats, groups of lacemakers with matching t-shirts. Groups of lacemakers with banners on their tables - what a wonerful sight. Lots of fantastic lace being worked and lots of lace being displayed. The camera was well used and I'll be putting photos up on the PBLC site shortly. We stopped and chatted (well sort of) to many of the lacemakers and my supply of spangled bobbins was given away very swiftly. Most of the lacemakers were not familiar with Midlands bobbins and found them fascinating. 5 hours passed quickly and we headed back to the train early so as to beat the rush. A fantastic day, one which I hope to repeat another year. Now I'm looking for lace days nearer home in the south of Spain - not sure when and where they happen. Sorry to have gone on so long Pam Mattioli In sunny Vera Playa, Almeria, Spain - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
