Today we took buses about an hour from Barcelona to tour a winery and Montserrat. The latter was just a half-hour picture stop, so we didn't have time to view the Benedictine monastery. But the view was spectacular.
About half the group voted to return to Barcelona after lunch because of fears the wait to get into the Montserrat bus parking lot might be 90 minutes or more. As it turns out, we got right in and soaked in the view.
Most of the day was spent at the Freixenet winery in the small town of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia. The winery makes 90 million bottles of cavas a year. Cavas is the Spanish word for sparking wine. Its most famous is champagne, which the French turn into the capital-letter Champagne and insist that only wine produced in that region of France can claim the title.
Freixenet wine is sold worldwide. Its most famous wines are the Carta Nevada and the Cordon Negro, which we tried. The latter gets its name from the bubbles arising in the champagne glass that look like a black rope.
After touring the winery, we walked into town and had a wonderful experience at a little cafe for lunch. The owner, unable to speak English, was nevertheless friendly with our students. Josep Urpi i Tejedor tried to take our picture, but his camera didn't work. So I took a picture of him with some of our students, and Joy King taught him the Gator chomp. I'll send him a print when we get back.
Senor Tejedor then insisted on showing me something. I asked Jillian Baach, who is bilingual, to accompany me. Mr. Tejedor took us into his basement cellar, where champagne was once made. An old well is there, and his excavations revealed old coins he collected in a vase. He insisted I take two.
After we all left, Mr. Tejedor decided he wanted others to have some coins, too. So he got on his Vespa scooter and tracked down some of the other students.
Those moments of unplanned serendipity, when language barriers are transcended by an act of human kindness, are what make study abroad priceless.
See pictures for more.
About half the group voted to return to Barcelona after lunch because of fears the wait to get into the Montserrat bus parking lot might be 90 minutes or more. As it turns out, we got right in and soaked in the view.
Most of the day was spent at the Freixenet winery in the small town of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia. The winery makes 90 million bottles of cavas a year. Cavas is the Spanish word for sparking wine. Its most famous is champagne, which the French turn into the capital-letter Champagne and insist that only wine produced in that region of France can claim the title.
Freixenet wine is sold worldwide. Its most famous wines are the Carta Nevada and the Cordon Negro, which we tried. The latter gets its name from the bubbles arising in the champagne glass that look like a black rope.
After touring the winery, we walked into town and had a wonderful experience at a little cafe for lunch. The owner, unable to speak English, was nevertheless friendly with our students. Josep Urpi i Tejedor tried to take our picture, but his camera didn't work. So I took a picture of him with some of our students, and Joy King taught him the Gator chomp. I'll send him a print when we get back.
Senor Tejedor then insisted on showing me something. I asked Jillian Baach, who is bilingual, to accompany me. Mr. Tejedor took us into his basement cellar, where champagne was once made. An old well is there, and his excavations revealed old coins he collected in a vase. He insisted I take two.
After we all left, Mr. Tejedor decided he wanted others to have some coins, too. So he got on his Vespa scooter and tracked down some of the other students.
Those moments of unplanned serendipity, when language barriers are transcended by an act of human kindness, are what make study abroad priceless.
See pictures for more.
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