El Día de Cava y Playa.

Last weekend, the ISA group went on an excursion to Sitges, a cute little beach town about an hour away from Barcelona. We all loaded up on the bus, and headed out. Along the way, we stopped at the Codorniu Cava (Spanish champagne) Winery.

It was so cool! First, we watched some video about how this family bottled the first bottle of cava in Spain (probably a hoax) and how they only used the finest grapes… yada yada yada. We also learned a lot about how their champagne is produced. Theres this reall cool method they use of tilting each bottle with every stage of its fermentation. Once it is directly upside down, the tops of them are frozen a little so the bottle can be opened and the sediments can be scooped out.

On the tour, we were able to go to their underground lair, where they keep all of the fermenting cava. Four stories in the subterranean! It was chilly down there!

We were advised not to touch any bottles while we were down there. The pressure each bottle builds up during fermentation may cause it to explode if touched. I didnt buy it.. but didn't want take my chances.

I think these had been down there a while.

Workin' on the tilt

The second best part of the trip-- train ride around the rows and rows of cava, driven by our overly-intense tour guide.

The best part of the tour? You guessed it. Cava tasting!

We got two try two variations of their cava; regular, and pinot noir. (I preferred the pinot.) They had set out little crackers to cleanse the palette, and of course, our entire group of 50-some starving kids grabbed handfuls and handfuls of crackers upon seeing them. They were gone within 5 minutes, and our tour guide (who seemed to take her job a little too seriously) seemed a little disgusted with us. What Americans.

After the tasting, we went into the gift shop. After downing two glasses of champagne over 15 minutes on an essentially empty stomach, everyone was avid about buying a few bottles of the stuff. We were convinced that this was the best cava around, and the prices seemed unbelievable! I bought a bottle and two packages of mini bottles as souvenirs… Too bad I didn’t think about how munch these would weigh down my luggage. I might just have to polish some of it off because space in my suitcase will be limited J.

(after the tasting... lovin' the cava)

As for the quality of this cava, I’m pretty sure I saw a display in a Supermercat advertising a bottle of Cordoniu cava for about 7 Euro. So, in all reality, this stuff is about a step above Andre from home.

Next, we ventured on to Sitges, where the bus dumped us out near the beach. Sitges is the perfect little beach town! I loved it!

We all pulled the have-a-friend-hold-a-towel-up quick change into our bathing suits near the water, and searched for a spot to lay out. The beach was far less crowed than the one near Barcelona we’ve been going to. We laid around with the necessities: bocadillos and a box of Don Simon, and some SPF, in my case (had to throw that in for the parentals.)

We had a few extra minutes, so we threw together a sand castle..

Before returning to the bus, we went for a stroll down the beach. At one strip of the beach we all kind of stopped and asked, "Hey, where are all the women?"

Sitges: The Gay Capital of Cataluna. That explains it..

Just some light beach reading. That guy stood there for a good 20 minutes.

Look what I found? Representing the great state all the way from Sitges, Espana!!

ROCK CHALK!

Cultural Observation of the Day:

Spaniards are not ashamed of PDA.

Everytime I step on to the metro, there is always some couple that seems to have just been reunited after years of separation. They can not keep their hands, mouths, bodies, off of one another, and are not ashamed showing their 'amor.' The beach is also a place where such racy behavior can be observed. Sometimes it is a little much, as many of these beaches have few regulations about nudity. I wont go into detail.

One guy on the trip described it perfectly: “Everyone here acts as if they are on the verge of the most romantic moment of their life.”

Besos!

(kisses)