Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Wino Masters of the Rails
We have proven our rail worthiness. Yesterday we used the Metro to cross town, and today we mastered the rails. We left mid morning and strolled the to Plaza de Catalunya station to find the train to St Sadurnai Noia. It would take us out of the city into the countryside, into the hills and valleys where Cava was born. Cava, the spanish version of champagne, the sparkling white wine that is typical of the region. There are several bodegas in the area, including Freixenet which is familiar to the US, and several others. Our stop was about 30 minutes out of the city. We passed some outlying neighborhoods of apartment building and other housing, some nice, some less so. Then some countryside, some industrial areas, and random neighborhoods.
At St. Sadurni we walked into the town, about a 1/2 mile from the station, found the tourist office and hooked up with a tour of the Codorniu winery. They have a huge underground facility of tanks and racks and caves and tunnels. The dark stone tunnels were lined with racks of aging dusty bottles, waiting to be racked, have the sediment removed after much settling, and then take the laverne and Shirley trip down a series of conveyor belts to have the sediment frozen, plug removed, capped, foiled, labeled... all in a dizzy blur of belts and twirling tippers. It was an excellent tour finished appropriately with a glass of Cava.
The woman at the tourist office had told us that Coderniu was about 1km from the office. Since the tour was in 15 minutes we called for a taxi. Luckily, since it was more like 2 miles! We would never have made the tour. By the way, the tour was in Spanish, accented with Catalan. Needless to say my acting skills came in handy - a knowing nod, an exaggerated 'yes, yes' head shaking. Of course I understood less than 10%, but then again, the tour was more about SEEING than lectures! Actually it was. The building was old, and was designed by a contemporary of Gaudi. The brick building had interesting arches and angles, beautiful tunnels, glass, light shafts. Truly amazing.
We dined in town at a little restaurant, once again braving an unintelligle menu, but lucked out with a good meal. The town itself is very nice. Small, empty of tourists this time of year, like a small cobblestone streeted village, with old churches and other buildings.
Tomorrow La Sagrada Familia, housecleaning and laundry (oh fun) as we will prepare to take off.
At St. Sadurni we walked into the town, about a 1/2 mile from the station, found the tourist office and hooked up with a tour of the Codorniu winery. They have a huge underground facility of tanks and racks and caves and tunnels. The dark stone tunnels were lined with racks of aging dusty bottles, waiting to be racked, have the sediment removed after much settling, and then take the laverne and Shirley trip down a series of conveyor belts to have the sediment frozen, plug removed, capped, foiled, labeled... all in a dizzy blur of belts and twirling tippers. It was an excellent tour finished appropriately with a glass of Cava.
The woman at the tourist office had told us that Coderniu was about 1km from the office. Since the tour was in 15 minutes we called for a taxi. Luckily, since it was more like 2 miles! We would never have made the tour. By the way, the tour was in Spanish, accented with Catalan. Needless to say my acting skills came in handy - a knowing nod, an exaggerated 'yes, yes' head shaking. Of course I understood less than 10%, but then again, the tour was more about SEEING than lectures! Actually it was. The building was old, and was designed by a contemporary of Gaudi. The brick building had interesting arches and angles, beautiful tunnels, glass, light shafts. Truly amazing.
We dined in town at a little restaurant, once again braving an unintelligle menu, but lucked out with a good meal. The town itself is very nice. Small, empty of tourists this time of year, like a small cobblestone streeted village, with old churches and other buildings.
Tomorrow La Sagrada Familia, housecleaning and laundry (oh fun) as we will prepare to take off.
Comments:
Post a Comment
