The train is due to leave Sans station, the main station in Barcelona at 9am and with true Spanish “manana” efficiency arrived at 9.30am. But the platform was thronged, the atmosphere expectant, and the tardiness good humouredly accepted. Meanwhile the assembled musicians, dancers and entertainers could give a rehearsal of things to come at the end of the station for the crowd and TV cameras.
The Cava Train itself was of the double-decker variety and very long and as over one thousand people were on board this was not surprising. There was a rush for seats as the Spanish, aware of the situation, had jumped the queue, but it seemed very quickly all of my party had seats and, in fact, so had the whole assembled gathering.
Almost as we left the station we were offered plastic champagne flutes and these were immediately filled with cava. A process to be repeated all the way to our destination, a journey of about 45 minutes.
A band could be heard playing in a carnival-style fashion and as I looked towards the entrance a young woman's bottom wiggled at our carriage and she swivelled around in her very revealing outfit followed by similarly dressed companions dancing in time to the band which accompanied them. I was reminded of the Mardi-gras atmosphere of the Rio Carnival. I recognised a bongo player who had been at our hotel the night before giving a virtuoso performance with the diabolos and he was Brazilian so perhaps there was a Rio connection.
The people around me laughed and sang and we soon arrived at our destination where we alighted directly opposite the house of Freixenet, Spain's largest Cava producer. There is a short parade into town square with a few fireworks to add to the atmosphere en route. From here there are over fifty bodegas offering more free tastings of cava for you to sample. A bus was offering a shuttle service to and from Codorniu the oldest and perhaps most stylish Cava producer.
Meanwhile back in the main town the travellers were endeavouring to try as many champenoise before heading for what I considered to be the highlight of the day. This was held in the local basketball/ice hockey arena, a bleak building to behold outwardly, but within an atmosphere perhaps fuelled by the generous bodegas before arrival and continued with constant cava on your being seated and excellent meal of a standard surprising all of my guests. Crab meat in a thin crepe followed by thick opulent slices of mouth watering braised beef proved more than satisfactory to ourselves. Meanwhile our neighbours at the next table who were Spanish said they were there for the fifteenth year in a row and the standards seem to be getting higher. I also talked to French, Dutch and Irish and the events organiser said there were visitors from over twenty nations. So despite its reluctance to advertise itself it is recognised internationally.
As the meal was finishing though the cava continued its incessant flow a band called “Els Angels Orchestra” struck up, it was difficult to know what to expect. They proved to be worthy and apt for the occasion as the dance floor was soon filled, as were other empty spaces throughout the arena. We reluctantly headed back to the station for the 6pm train filled with fizz and a buzz, wearing our special Cava train T-shirts and clutching our engraved commemorative flutes. I know already what my diary says for Columbus Day 2005, if I can acquire the tickets!!!
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