A late afternoon conference in federal court in Newark left me in position to have dinner with the one and only Catman. We were finally able to get together, after my schedule had forced me to cancel a couple of earlier get-togethers in NYC over the last year or so.

I picked Mark up at Penn Station in Newark, just a few blocks from the federal courthouse where I got out of my conference at 4:50, and he arrived promptly at 5 pm as agreed earlier. We then proceeded directly to Fornos of Spain, a nearby restaurant in the Ironbound section of Newark.

We had great food, gazpacho and paella valenciana, and a nice bottle of chilean Cabernet Sauvignon (sorry, don't remember the winery). For dessert, I had a nice authentic tarta de almendras (almonds being very popular and plentiful in Spain), and Mark had a good dessert too.

I am afraid that I made Catman absolutely miserable at Fornos, though-----regaling him with tales of our trip to Spain this past summer. However, I couldn't help it as the authentic spanish cuisine brought back fond memories of Toledo, La Mancha, Jaen, Granada, Sevilla, Oropesa, Madrid, Rascafria, Mentrida and Segovia.

We had a great time talking travel, talking miles and points, and talking FlyerTalk. Mark and I are a couple of the old-timers on FT, and have been corresponding since the board began, but this was the first time we had the opportunity to meet.

Finally, the evening was topped off by handing the waiter our respective credit cards and splitting the bill, so that we would both get some of the miles! A good time was had by all. Thanks Catman.

Djlawman