BAIX EMPORDA…with camera

do you remember a couple of months ago, I mentioned going somewhere spectacular and not being able to use my camara?

well, I went again, and I went 3 weeks ago, with Carme and Alicia, plus our furry companions Wilbur and Nala; but this time I did have my camara, and while the battery died the following day, I had plenty of pictures to give you a taste.

Now these are all towns in proximity to La Bisbal, which is a city known for its many ceramics, and we headed there first, in order to stop at the large supermarket and load up for the weekend. On the way out we noticed one of the ceramic studios was having a demonstration, and had some food and drinks out, so we stopped, mainly for the free food, which turned out to be very nice, but the demo was cool and informative too. I had no idea that they use thick rope to make the larger ceramic pots, and I wondered if Jordi knew, I bet he would have liked to see this.

Twilight by the time we left La Bisbal and headed for Casavells, so we hurried to unload the car, so we could go for a walk before preparing our dinner. Later Francesc, one of Carme’s boyfriends came over with some wine, and helped with the preparation. After dinner we played a game that we call “mentider” which translates to “liar”; played with poker dice.

Corçà

After breakfast the next morning Alicia and I walked over to the next town, Corçà, roaming around a few farms and stables on the way.

Carme, who had stayed behind with Francesc before he had to leave to work, came to pick us up in her car later so we could al go visit a couple more towns.

My favorite spot in this town is this restaurant named Raku, I wanted you all to see the interior, as there’s a few separate spaces that are so warm and relaxing, I just loved it.

Madremanya

Just entering the town a beautiful hotel and restaurant named La Placa, with it’s own vegetable garden. I felt like I was in heaven, wouldn’t it be great to work here. We roamed around a bit, but they were getting ready for a wedding reception and seemed pretty busy.

We went on with our tour of the town, people were pouring out of the church after mass; the rest of the streets were nice and quiet.

I watched Carme open a door, which by the way, I’m planning a “door special”, as I have gathered a nice collection, so that will be coming soon; anyway, I saw Alicia follow her through the same door, I thought perhaps they knew someone here, and I followed, and to my surprise, it wasn’t anyone’s home, but the local cemetery, mostly ninches, which are like condos for the dead, so they keep each other company while they ponder what’s next.

Not a bad place to end up.

Some of these homes are dated in the 1700’s, so it’s not surprizing to find old wells like this one, and some like this one are still functional.

Peratallada

Our next stop is a bit more popular as far as visitors, and you can see why, no less charming than the previous ones, just more to enjoy. One of the local “xarcuteries”, the name for a grocer that specializes in pork and cheese, had a very temting table of samples outside, in my opinion very smart too, because once you test his samples it was simply impossible for me to walk away empty handed. 

We sat down in the main square on the terrace of one of the local bars to have a cold drink. Carme wanted me to see the ceiling of the bar next door before leaving, with all the little birdies.

I hope you all enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I like taking them.

Cheryl and Adelina

I know, I know, sorry for taking so long, I’ve been busy lately helping Edward cleaning and painting the old apartment, and my wifi access here has been limited, sometimes I go to the library, but I can’t skype there, because of the silence.

So I have a lot of backed up material, still haven’t finished with Jordi’s stuff when he was here, but I think I will show you a bit of Tossa de Mar “again”, because it is beautiful and also because it’s pretty recent, and a way to show the pictures to Adelina and Cheryl, who are already back home now,  Adelina in Squamish, BC and Cheryl in Manchester, UK.

So, ladies, as you can see by the title of this blog, this one is for you. A wee bit of history, these women met and became freinds when my mother lived in the Bahamas, mid 60’s to mid 70’s, actually Cheryl stayed there a few more years, and my mother would go visit around xmas time for a while. Later in the early 80’s they worked together again, as Cheryl helped start American Leisure, the tour operating business in San Francisco. By the time Adelina moved to San Francisco, Cheryl , originally from Minesota moved on to many new things, England, Phil and British Airways. The latter has given her the opportunity to travel around the world. So they usually meet up here every year and take short trips to diverse spanish towns, cities or nature.

Now in a previous blog I talked about the rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona when it comes to soccer, which is the most talked about subject of all, and for those of you who don’t follow, we eliminated Madrid, and the final of Champions League is next week against Manchester United. But many Manchester people may very well be wearing Barcelona T-shirts, as like Cheryl are big fans of Manchester City and absolutely hate Manchester United. So keep that in mind if you happen to be watching.

This time around they took a train to Peniscola, which is a lovely town, but I didn’t go.

After they got back, Victor took us all to Tossa de Mar again,  so Cheryl could visit the art gallery and the town. By the time we got there, visited the Gallery, chatted with Joan and had a coffee, it was already time for lunch. So we did that, and later went to walk around the castle.

Let the pictures speak for themselves, and let me point out how clear the water is in these parts. And this time Mrs Seagull had a new trainee with her.

One more tib bit before I go, as I think much of you dog lovers will appreciate, particularly those who have a problem with using toxicity in products such as Frontline or the other popular brand that I can’t think of right now; as I haven’t used anything since I got here.

So last night as I was petting Wilbur behind his ears, I found a huge icky tick, which I thought was just a bunch of matted fur. As I was getting up to find a tissue to pull it off, Edward said “no”, just apply a bit of olive oil and it will fall off. So, as ansie as I was to remove it, I followed his instructions, and this morning it was gone. Only problem, with these terrazzo floors, I have not been able to find it. But there you go, one more use for olive oil, and no risk of pain to the pooch.

Victor Mateo

Victor had left with his van loaded with paintings early last Friday morning to the gallery in Tossa de Mar, to have enough time to unload and arrange the hanging for the exhibit, and then drive back to Blanes to pick up Mari and Adelina at the train station.

I think that the fact that the train doesn’t reach Tossa is probably the reason it remains a charming town, and had not been overbuilt like many of the beach towns. Some people refer to it as the Southern Cadaques.

Edward and I drove up Saturday, not to early, as I had gone out for dinner with Leah on Friday, and Edward, well he was out that night too.

Leah was staying at a small hostel in the Ramblas, and was overwhelmed with the changes this city has been through. She wanted to eat something typical, and I suggested a Catalan restaurant by the Passeig de Gracia; we shared a “trinxat” and a salad, she had cod fish “a la llauna” and I had galtes, and we also shared a crema catalana for desert. We parted ways in the middle of Placa Catalunya.

Edward and I arrived in Tossa around 2pm, and after an hour searching for our family members, we decided to have lunch, and we discovered “sim i tomba”, a traditional dish from this quaint town. The fishermen would place a few potatoes, tomatoes and peppers onto the pan, then toss whatever fish they had caught on top, flip it, and it’s ready to eat, simple and yummy.

A siesta at the beach sounded like a great idea, and although we did get to enjoy about 45 minutes, while Wilbur was chasing a large kite, we were asked to leave quite nicely, as it turns out you’re not supposed to have dogs on the beach after April 1st. As a matter of fact, I met Susanna today, a german woman who’s been here for 30 years, while she was wlaking her dog in the park, and we talked for a couple of hours; and she mentioned that a while back there was a case in Tarragona that was in the news; she took her dog to the beach as it was a rainy day and there was nobody there, but the guardia urbana saw her and gave her a ticket for 500 euros.

After we left the beach we found a large arcade, played a game of pool and pinball, then took another walk, saw some roman ruins, and hiked up the castle walls.

At 7.30pm we went back to Joan Planelles Gallery, and this time the gang was there, Victor, Mari, Adelina, Henry, Maria, Robert, and some of Victor’s friends. Henry is Edward’s older brother, and Maria is his wife, Robert their son whom I had never met before, because I had not seen them for 28 years. Time just flies, doesn’t it?

Ava Gardner forever watching the sea from the castle in Tossa, after having spent some time I was told on a film shoot.

Dali Museum

I already started to backtrack on my last blog, since I was too busy to write while Jordi was here, and too excited after the soccer game to write in cronological order. So keeping that in mind...

Last Monday was Easter Monday, Juanjo had the day off from work, and he offered to take us somewhere, out of the big city in his car. All I had to do was tell him where to go. So many options, but any of the places could have been a good choice. We started towards Ripoll, mostly because Juanjo was convinced that was the path to Rupit, it wasn’t, but we ultimately got there.

Ripoll

Ripoll has a popular old church, just over 1000 years old. We did not go inside because there was a fee, and I just don’t think one should have to pay to enter a church.  

the road to Rupit

Rupit

Rupit

                                         Rupit is a lovely old town in a very lush green spot on the road between Vich and Olot. I came here to camp with friends in my early twenties, back when tourists only went to beach towns to soak in the sun. But these days tourism, whether foreign or local is everywhere, and this town has it’s share, but still mostly local.

Rupit

Rupit

Rupit

Figueres

After we head out towards Figueras, a small city with lots of charm, but our main focus here, was to visit Salvador Dali’s Museum. I had seen it once before and I remembered it because it was so unique, just the way the art is displayed is art in itself, and the building is awesome, the light amazing, the experience mind blowing.