March 2009 Archives

Besalú is worth a trip just for the bridge but add in the narrow cobbled streets, the two churches and a rare Jewish micvah and you have the perfect day trip destination.There are cafes and restaurants where you can sit outside watching life passing by or wandering around the shops full of local specialities like cured sausages or chocolate pastries.
This was an important trading centre in the Middle Ages and has retained much of its charm by virtue of being perfectly preserved in a mountain setting with a river and the massive fortified bridge dominating everything. If you are coming to Girona to visit a trip to Besalú is a must.

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Posted via email from gironaJ

Besalú is worth a trip just for the bridge but add in the narrow cobbled streets, the two churches and a rare Jewish micvah and you have the perfect day trip destination.There are cafes and restaurants where you can sit outside watching life passing by or wandering around the shops full of local specialities like cured sausages or chocolate pastries.
This was an important trading centre in the Middle Ages and has retained much of its charm by virtue of being perfectly preserved in a mountain setting with a river and the massive fortified bridge dominating everything. If you are coming to Girona to visit a trip to Besalú is a must.

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Posted via email from gironaJ

One of the temporary exhibitions on at the MNAC until May is the Sorolla Hispanic Society of America collection featuring all 14 enormous canvases commissioned by the philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington in 1911 to decorate the library.
Sorolla spent six years travelling all over Spain to capture traditional scenes and events with his usual attention to detail and spectacular use of light and colour. Since this is a free exhibition there is no excuse not going to see some of the best paintings of Spanish life circa 1900's - you will not regret it!

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Posted via email from gironaJ

The MNAC (Museu National d'Art de Catalunya) sits in a priviledged position at the top of Montjüic with views over Barcelona. The building itself is massive and impressive but is currently under scaffolding for renovation but the collections it houses are the most spectacular part.
There are permanent collections that range from what could be salvaged from the Romanesque through the Gothic, Baroque to the Modern period. All have their own wing in this light and airy building as well as space for a concert hall, several restaurants and bookshops.
This is a must for all visitors who want to get a feel for the cultural richness of Catalonia as well as some of the best views of Barcelona and enjoying strolling through the tranquil and cool gardens all around.

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Posted via email from gironaJ

There are few better ways of spending a Friday afternoon than hiring a 12m yacht with some friends and heading off in a 15 knot wind and choppy seas for four hours of sheer unwinding glorious weather sailing.
As we left the port of Palamos we passed fishing boats coming in with their days catch to auction at the fish market, the largest on the Costa Brava. As the coastline diminished over the horizon the steady breeze and rolling waves became our world and even the minor problem of drinking wine out of plastic cups while at a 45º angle seemed fun.
The sense of peace and space combined with the exhilaration of sailing is a potent mixture and as therapeutic as any I have felt. As the sun dropped behind the coastal range we were berthing once again in Palamos and after some brief arranging of buoys and ropes it was hard to believe that four hours had passed by so quickly and pleasantly.
Thank you Jochen and Annie for inviting me.

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Posted via email from gironaJ

Prices for La Torre in 2009 are based on Bed and Breakfast (Continental) per person.
B&B 40€/night 250€/week
Evening meal available by arrangement @ 25€ per head including wine (min 2 people)
Cooking facilities 8€/day 40€/week
Transfer to/from Girona airport 25€
Transfer to/from Barcelona airport 125€
Special rates for booking La Torre as a whole, please ask for prices.
Contact person: Jack Sagel tel: 0034 607 262 102 email: jack.sagel@gmail.com

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Posted via email from La Torre B&B

La Torre has kept the charm of the restored stone walls and added modern windows for light and is furnished in a comfortable modern style. There are 7 bedrooms, 5 doubles and 2 twins, all with en-suite bathrooms with shower. It is set up for the maximum convenience of their guests privacy with plenty of quiet places on 4 levels, 2 fireplaces, 4 sitting rooms, 2 kitchens and 3 dining areas as well as the terrace outside and the Lemon Tree garden which guests are welcome to use.
There is a small swimming pool also available and sun loungers provided on the roof. There is a well stocked reading room and a vaulted dining room that seats 14.

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Posted via email from La Torre B&B

La Torre is a medieval fortified farmhouse where the only remains from that period is the tower from which there are spectacular views over the Pyrenees and Costa Brava in the distance and the protected natural park of Les Gavarres on the doorstep.
This is a very peaceful base from which there are plenty of nice walks into the park or all the way to Girona on paths over the hills. The village of Celrà is only a 5 mins walk and has local shops, banks and bars as well as an old part of town around the church.
Ideally you need a car for easy access and to take advantage of the Costa Brava (20 mins away) and interesting places like Pubol, part of Dali's legacy to his wife Gala which is only a 10 min drive away and the medieval villages of Madremanya and the pottery centre of La Bisbal.
La Torre could not be easier to reach from Girona airport (20 mins) and the main motorway that goes south to Barcelona (1 hr) and north to the French border (50 mins). Getting into the Old Town of Girona to explore the Jewish quarter or the Cathedral is a 10 min drive and here there is a wide variety of good restaurants, terraces to sit on and shops to tempt you as well as the open air market on tuesdays and saturdays in the Devesa park.

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Posted via email from La Torre B&B

La Torre is a medieval fortified farmhouse where the only remains from that period is the tower from which there are spectacular views over the Pyrenees and Costa Brava in the distance and the protected natural park of Les Gavarres on the doorstep.
This is a very peaceful base from which there are plenty of nice walks into the park or all the way to Girona on paths over the hills. The village of Celrà is only a 5 mins walk and has local shops, banks and bars as well as an old part of town around the church.
Ideally you need a car for easy access and to take advantage of the Costa Brava (20 mins away) and interesting places like Pubol, part of Dali's legacy to his wife Gala which is only a 10 min drive away and the medieval villages of Madremanya and the pottery centre of La Bisbal.
La Torre could not be easier to reach from Girona airport (20 mins) and the main motorway that goes south to Barcelona (1 hr) and north to the French border (50 mins). Getting into the Old Town of Girona to explore the Jewish quarter or the Cathedral is a 10 min drive and here there is a wide variety of good restaurants, terraces to sit on and shops to tempt you as well as the open air market on tuesdays and saturdays in the Devesa park.

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Posted via email from La Torre B&B

So, to continue the preparation for my Catalan meal with 90 year old couple Sion and Lluis from La Pera which is about 20kms from Girona.
So far we have the onions baking in the fireplace, the sausages are being grilled on the fire and now it is time to toast the bread in the flames. Once this is done we are ready to get the onions out (1.5 hrs in the fire) and peel the burnt outside layers off until we have the soft and moist interiors perfectly cooked. Olive oil an salt are added and we take the broad beans off the cooker too and take everything to the table.
So we start with cutting a whole garlic clove in two and rubbing it on the toasted bread followed by specially grown juicy tomatoes which also get spread on the bread along with olive oil and a little salt and then you can add some of the dry sausage or cheese on top. This is called "pa amb tomàquet" and forms the base (or starter) for many Catalan dishes and is perfectly acceptable as a meal in itself.
The wine I brought as my contribution is served from the bottle although Sion prefers her own from the barrell they keep in the cellar and she drinks from a "porró" which is easier to see and understand in a photo (see photos attached). The cauliflower salad is also on the table being one that Sion had made a few weeks ago with red wine vinegar and consequently looks red and tastes great.
Sausages with a garlic sauce "alioli" and the broad beans follows and by this time we are feeling not only replete but very merry and after dessert of walnuts, hazelnuts and fresh fruit we need a walk around the village to let it all settle.
This meal was not quick at some 3 hours but will certainly be one of the more memorable for the quality of the ingredients and company!  Thank you Sion and Lluis.

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Posted via email from gironaJ

Food and its preparation are an important part of all communities but when you are invited to eat at the house of a couple who are 90 years old and grow almost all their own food you realise how much we have complicated our lives for the sake of saving time.
Sion and Lluis have lived in the village of La Pera (pop 40) some 20kms from Girona all their lives and in this house for 60 of them. They have an old gas stove but cook over an open fire in the kitchen where in winter they spend most of their days keeping warm. Their other modern appliance is a fridge/freezer where they freeze many of the vegetables they grow in their large vegetable garden for use during the winter months.
First Sion showed me how to pickle cauliflower, an ancient tradition to be able to preserve vegetables for use in the winter. This simple process involves washing and cutting the cauliflower into manageable chunks and stuffing them into a large glass jar to which 1 cup of wine vinegar (white or red) and 2 cups of water is added proportionately along with plenty of sea salt until the jar is full. It's that simple, screw the lid on and put in a dark place for two weeks and voila!
While we were pickling Sion took four onions and buried them in the coals of the fire whole and without doing anything to them. Now it was back to the rest of the food which was a selection of sausages from a local butcher. Until maybe 10 years ago every village had a festival in january/february where a large pig would be killed and parts of the pig were butchered and divided amongst the villagers each of whom had their own special recipe for making sausages.These would frequently include mushrooms, garlic, and other local spices. Health and safety regulations gradually did away with this tradition but older people still have vivid memories of this winter festival and the feast that was had by all.
To be continued...

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Posted via email from gironaJ

This extremely interesting and well put together exhibition at the CCCB in Barcelona (next to the MNAC) is a must to get the sense of the creativity which has made modern Catalonia famous.
It unites the main thinking and trends of architecture, music, image and literature since the end of the 19th century. We see for example some of the original sketches and scale models that Gaudi used to test his designs, right down to individual pieces and how they were created using all sorts of materials.
The creative genius of Salvador Dalí and the poet/surrealist Joan Brossa also feature as multifaceted and deeply interested in science and how they incorporated these theories into their work is captured on film and in their art.
Ideas for city planning are shown evolving over the last 100 years with influences from some of the main local architects as well as  Le Corbusier and others, and right up to date projects which are still evolving like the 22@ district and the Forum.
An altogether fascinating way to spend a few hours and come out with a greater sense of the ways in which Catalonia has evolved into what it is today.

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Posted via email from gironaJ