Draws are here.

I arrived late on Sunday into Barcelona, getting to the hotel around 9pm. The sun was still shining brightly though, so it seemed earlier. The airport was bustling, as most seem to be these days!

I met up with my doubles partner Rosemary Everett and Peter Gard on Monday and we got in about a 75 minute practice. It was warm and humid but not too hot and there was a nice breeze, and we did the same this morning. We ran into some other players, Michelina Valente and her sister Maria Valente from Italy, and Africa Sanchez from Spain.

In the evening (this tournament is an evening tournament), I walked down to the club, had my racquet strung (third one this trip!), and talked to a few players, Dagy and Fritz, walked around the venue while waiting for my racquet, then walked back up to the hotel through a nice park (but it’s uphill going back…ok without a backpack though).

I did go to El Corte Ingles yesterday, a big department store with a very nice supermarket in the basement (photo is from a couple of years ago but not too much has changed). I got some empanadas for lunch, and some fruits and vegetables and drinks. I also went to Uniqlo…I left my jacket on the plane when I returned from Peru and the color was not available online…but they had it in the Uniqlo here so I snapped it up! I took the metro to the department store…bought a zone 1 ticket, now I need to take 9 more trips with it. There are a lot of ticket machines in most subway stations with options for English which makes using them pretty easy. And the subway is good, pretty clean, goes to all the main stops.

The Real Club de Polo is really large, with a jumping arena, a huge Polo (for horses) field, field hockey (several), dozens of tennis courts and a lot of Padel courts, a clubhouse, restaurant, pool, and cafe, and locker rooms, plus a small pro shop.

I’m off soon to watch some tennis at the club and should play my first match tomorrow…my opponents are playing tonight.