Hoek van Holland.

I'm so relieved about the mild winter we're having, it's made a difference in my life style during these past few months. We made the most of the weather on Sunday visiting Hoek van Holland beach and its beautiful dunes. I love the industrial landscape in the horizon, it gives it an eery atmosphere that I quite enjoy. 

Man made rocks. 

My camera couldn't capture the dimensions of this boat, it seemed like it was out of proportion
with the surroundings. 

This is one of the tetrahedrons that was placed during World War II to be used as a barrier. 

They were used in large quantities by the Germans on the beach. The tetrahedron was designed to hinder the landings of crafts by possible invaders. Mines could be attached to them.

Enjoying a cup of tea during sunset. 

The First Calçotada in Rotterdam.

Last Saturday Marc invited us to a calçotada here in Rotterdam. Here's some wiki info of what a calçot is:

Calçot (Catalan pronunciation: [kəɫˈsɔt]) is a type of scallion or green onion known as blanca gran tardana in the Catalan language from Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. The calçot from Valls(Tarragona, Catalonia) is a registered EU Protected Geographical Indication.^[1]

Calçots are milder and less bulbous than onions and have a length of between 15 and 25 cm (white part) and a diameter of 1.7 to 2.5 cm at the root. Planted in trenches, like an onion, as a single bulb, and successively increasing the depth of the soil around the stems throughout autumn and winter, they sprout into 4-10 shoots, roughly the shape of smallleeks.

Calçotada is an annual event in Tarragona, Catalonia celebrating the harvest of Calçot. It is grilled in newspaper, served on terra cotta tiles and eaten with romesco sauce along with an accompaniment of red wine and white cava.^[2]

I was obviously very excited to get this invitation as calçots only grow in Catalunya and are practically impossible to get out of that region. Marc took on the mission of bringing over 30 kg of calçots to Rotterdam in a body bag, impressive! Together with more people they made a perfectly delicious romesco sauce to go with them and even a whole pig was roasted! What a feast! 

It was a very cozy evening, sat round a big hot fire with full bellies, dirty hands and nice company. 

Marc y Elena, muchísimas gracias por organizarlo! Trajisteis un pedacito de casa a Rotterdam, fue una noche especial. 

Roasting the up-side-down piglet!

The precious calçots about to be put on the fire. 

This seemed like a very long wait.

Sander and Bob.

I had these two lovely visitors today so we made the most of my new photo studio set.