This afternoon we had the trophy presentation and Paella, both of which were quite nice.

I watched the two men making the huge paella. They had cooked rice as a base, followed by adding a saffron infused broth with chicken and spices and other things and more broth, then clams and mussels, seafood (calamari, scallops, shrimp), then meat (pork and chorizo), then peppers and green peas, salt and wine and more broth. The huge pan was then covered with foil and everything was cooked over gas for about 30 minutes. The club set out tables covered with tablecloths under the trees (the shade was welcome, it was warm today), and had wine and juice and water on the tables. Then the paella was served, and it was very pretty with the red peppers, yellow rice, green peas and various seafoods and meats.

During the luncheon, the trophies were presented and there were lots of speeches, mostly in Spanish. However when Paul and I were presented with our mixed trophies, he used the opportunity to thank the club for the great hospitality of the week which was great. Marc Pepin, Johannes Muehlenburg (M70, AUT) and Nick Ourusoff (USA M75) did the same as did Marc’s opponent in the 55 men’s final (but in Spanish). The hospitality was really nice here and the club seemed to welcome the players with open arms. I didn’t play the other South American tournaments but the consensus of the Europeans and some of the South American players too was that of the three Grade 1s, this is the best, then Brazil, then Argentina. 

Link to draws: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100030214

Many thanks to the tournament staff and volunteers, the referee and tournament director and to the club members and staff for all their hospitality this week.