Free on the table and one for the road

...Dogs are favoured highly in Spain. In fact I believe that in just a few generations their legs will have bred out, because the Spaniards buy the smallest dog possible and then carry them all over the place.

The Ex-Pat community also like their dogs and consequently we have all become a little more anti-social because we all walk round looking at the floor to avoid the dog mess. Dogs are also very welcome in most bars and the Marina is one such bar. My friends Jonathan and Duncan have a dog called Neska (I believe is a Basque word meaning girl). She is a cute dog and very excited when she meets you.

A custom in the Marina is to put peanuts and potato crisps on each table free of charge. Neska bounces from knee to knee around the table in a somewhat cupboardly love kind of way, she is really interested in the nuts and at the slightest chance she would go in for the steal, however, Jonathan and Duncan make sure she never actually reaches her goal. Not quite the same with other dogs. On one occasion one of the marina goers saw a dog sneak up and manage to lick the salt from the peanuts before the owner dragged it back from the table. They paid and left. But before this observer could tell Antonio (one of the owners) he had cleared the table moved the nuts to another table and were being consumed by an unsuspecting tourist. The observer thought it best not to spoil the tourists day.

Another custom in the Marina, which is subject to overall consumption of alcohol, is to give the customer "one for the road" on the house as it were. This varies from some horrible medicine tasting green stuff to a can/glass/bottle of what you have been drinking. for example my session resulted in me drinking 4 bottles of Mahou, I get a bill for the 4 bottles and a fifth bottle free of charge. Pete and Dave mentioned in an earlier blog, regularly drink Bacardi and Whiskey respectively with a shared can of coca cola lite. However on one particular occasion it was a very sunny day and crowds of people to people watch at. They decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a jug of sangria. This sangria has red wine, gaseosa (unsweetened lemonade) lemon juice, grenadine, soberano brandy, and various ingredients of the house. chopped up fruit and ice complete the brew. The first one went down a treat, so they ordered a second, much to the dismay of Antonio. With only few drops of the loony juice left they ordered the bill. "Wan for de road" says Antonio. "si" said Dave and Pete. A few minutes later Antonio appeared with jug number three. Dave and Pete didn't emerge for 3 days...