Barthalona Day 3 - Heavy on the "th" sound

First off before I get going, two things: #1, You may be wondering...did I fall of the face of the Earth? Well, no. Okay, kinda. Of all the places in Europe that I had troubles receiving a wireless connection, it turns out it was at Disney Resort. Now, I'm not knocking my good pals at Disneyland Paris but let's just say that I would take reading Google and Blogger in Spanish all over again versus trying to rig a connection out of shoe laces and aluminium foil like I had to at my Disneyland Paris Resort hotel.
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#2: This post is officially my 365th post on the Skinny Tie Report!!! One for every day of the year! And since the STR just turned two years old, that's like one whole year absent of posts. Pathetic!
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Okay, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Betamike was gettin' holy in gothic cathedrals, obsessing over the whacked genius of Gaudi and smacking my lips over the gastronomic acrobatics of anchovie and hazelnut chocolates. Yum! Sadly, today was my last day in Barcelona and I can honestly say that I'm truly going to miss it. I would love to have explored this amazing city more, the Olympic Village, Parc Guell, Pueblo Espana, but today brought a trip outside the city to the gorgeous Spanish countryside. I felt like putting on a polka dotted head scarf, dropping the top on my Mercedes convertable and waving to the locals like I was Grace Kelly but I was on a tour bus so the closest thing I could do was try to get everyone to do a Mika sing-a-long. Have I lost you yet? Good.
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I have honestly never been interested in visiting a vineyard before. Of course, who would be interested in visiting one in Florida? Get me over to one of the great vineyards of Europe and I'm game. Totally. Today I began my trek at the Codorniu vineyards in sunny Catalunya. The harvesting season had just finished so there wasn't much to look at on the vine but next year's bubbly were already starting to sprout!
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The tour was very extensive with a wonderful guide who reminded me of Audrey Tautou. I was able to view the stomping, bottling and storing of this amazing product. There was even a cool tram tour several levels below the Earth in almost complete darkness where upon several occassions I screamed like a little girl just knowing that I saw zombies lurking down some of the offshoot corridors.
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Everyone in Spain was so gracious and accommodating, just amazing! My Spanish is pretty much non-existent but it wouldn't have mattered in the North of Spain much anyway as everyone here speaks Catalan which is a language unto itself, part lispy (thus the "thhhh" sound in Barcelona) with a tad bit of Spanish, French and Portuguese thrown in. But don't worry, even if you're like me and the only foreign language you know is Pig Latin, you'll be okay. Heck, even the Spanish can't understand Catalan!
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The next stop was at a monestary on top of a huge cliff called Monserrat. It is told that explorers found a religious relic in the 14th century, a black Madonna and child. When the relic was to be moved to the small town of Monserrat below, the statue seemed to constantly gain mass and became heavier and heavier. Considering this a sign, the Madonna and child were left in the spot of the cathedral at the monestary and has become a spot of pilgrimage for many Catholics the world over. The line to get to the Madonna was over an hour and a half! Considering this a sign...I decided to get something to eat in the cafeteria. Monestaries have some of the best food ever!
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I ended my day back in Barthhhhhhelona at Contra vi nu, a 16th century farmhouse covered in purple bougainvilleas looking like something out of Paramount's Technicolor library. The food here was simply amazing and so out of the way of the touristy places frequented by annoying Americans like myself. Except for the fact that this is one of Eminem's favorite places to eat when he comes to Barcelona to...culture things up and what not.
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The evening was spent with great friends, sipping on Sangria and eating skillets full of paella. As I settled into my sleek European platform bed, thoughts of religious periphery and the pink cava I had at Codorniu fueled dreams of bull fights, conquistadors and Royal feudalism. My ancestral roots were just tingling with exthitement!
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