A (short) Tale of Two
Weekends and an Update
Weekend One
People are often surprised to learn that Spanish people are
interested in sports other than football (soccer). Currently in Spain, Argentina and Chile many
people are crazy about Padel and clubs and courts are being set up to satisfy
the demand. Padel is a combination of
tennis and racquet ball and the court looks like a small tennis court. The racquets are similar to racquet ball in
that they have short handles, large heads and are thick. One thing that makes Padel particularly fun
is that you can play off the walls so even a winning smash can be retrieved
once it bounces off the wall. Also Padel
is played with two aside so you are working as a team moving from the net back
to the wall covering all the space.
Anatolijus and I learned about Padel as soon as we moved to Spain
because we have a Padel court in our complex.
Santa brought us each a racquet the first Christmas and in the Spring I
was invited to join a friend and start taking lessons. One thing I love about the game is from the
very beginning you can play well enough for it to be fun, and then as you
improve the game can be much more difficult and challenging. Anatolijus also started lessons last fall and
we have enjoyed having friends over to play on the weekend while our children
play in the garden. It is the first time
I have been able to utilize the benefits of meeting people and making friends
through sport.
So when Anatolijus told me his work, HP, were organizing a Padel
tournament for the staff we were first in line to sign up. On June 2nd we arrived and there
were 42 teams (a great turnout of 84 people) and we were divided into ‘Pro” and
“Amateur” divisions, we were in Amateur.
It was a hot day so we got started early and we were pleased to see in
our first few matches that our play was at a competitive level. In fact after 6 matches and being undefeated
we found ourselves in the final! By this
time it was 3pm and 39C, but we had been drinking tons of water and PowerAde
and Grace and Tessa were our devoted cheerleaders who ‘hung’ out for the whole
day supporting us, so we were ready. We
played the best out of nine and if came down to 4 games to 4 and after reaching
deuce and advantage about 8 times I served an ace down the middle and
Anatolijus and I were the winners!!!!!!
I don’t know who was more excited us or the girls, Tessa was shouting
‘We won”! It got even better when we
were presented with a silver cup (Copa) with the date and event inscribed on
it. This was definitely a first for
Anatolijus and I and we were thrilled to have done so well.
Weekend Two
On the first weekend in June we went
back to Cullera to visit our friends who have hosted us a number of
times. This time we were invited for a beach weekend which means sitting
on the beach, swimming, walking a little, eating, sitting and eating some
more. The weather was perfect, 33C with a breeze and the water was so
warm! For the first time since we went to Spain we didn't visit one
castle or cathedral or museum, we just hung out at the beach. The girls
loved playing in the sand and the waves and swimming at the pool and the
two days felt like a 5 day holiday - wonderful.
