Spain, Day Three, continued (lunch)

After happily wandering through the monastery, we proceeded to the little town of Scala Dei, which has several wine cellars that offer wine tastings on Sunday (ah, I love post-Franco Spain!), in addition to a very fine restaurant where Dvora had made reservations for us. We sat outside (my favorite way to eat) in a shady spot on one of the little streets, and the owner and his wife greeted us, followed by an invitation to play fetch with a pinecone by their wonderful bird dog Scooby. We again ordered the menu de dias, and again I agonized over so many choices for first, second, and dessert courses. I ordered a first course of potato ‘bateux’ (boats) filled with goat cheese and floating in a creamy sauce, and a traditional Catalunyan second course of white beans and sausages, and finished with my favorite, crema catalunya and coffe with cognac. The owner’s wife said I had an intelligent face! This time we got a ceramic jug of red wine, which I thought was a nice touch, and spent what appears to be the traditional two hours enjoying the breeze and the food and the company. I cannot say what we talked about, but it became increasingly academic and brilliant as the jug went down, I’m sure.   After lunch, we spent some time walking around the very charming little town, which boasts a hostel, a few restaurants, a museum, and a few cellars, in addition to a church and, I assume, some homes.

Spain, Day Three--continued

I think this monastery was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. I was fascinated by not only the antiquity of the buildings and the place but also by the strong sense of the people who lived and worked and died here. Dvora and I both agreed we could be monks (well, you know what I mean) if we could have lived this way. The monks had their own little apartments, with a lovely rose garden in the middle, surrounded by a room for study and prayer that looked directly onto the garden, a small dining/sleeping area with fireplace, a store room, a work room of sorts, and a bath.

Spain, Day Three--Priorat

We woke up a bit earlier today, refreshed, and after our continental breakfast on Dvora's lovely dining porch, we set out for our tour of the Priorat region, to include breathtaking views of the Montsant mountains, a tour of the Carthusian monastery Scala Dei, a wine tasting at a local cellar in the town of Scala Dei, and a delightful luncheon.

First, now that I'm trying the blog format, here is our morning view from Dvora's dining area, looking out towards the pool, and an exterior shot looking in:

We left again around 10:30 a.m., this time picking up Manel at his villa down the road a bit, for our very windy ride through the Priorat region to the monastery. Bob confessed afterward to some car sickness, but you would not have known from his steady hand on the camera. The views were incredible.

We arrived at Scala Dei, which means stairway to God, around noon, I think, and went to the visitors' center for another well-done film.   This one had no words at all, and no moving walls, just an excellent series of still shots, sound effects, music, and short recreations of events that showed the development and then destruction by fire of the monastery over the course of 700 years or so.  Fascinating, and again, set the mood for our wander around.  The first thing we did was to walk down a long, wide path set with cedars, the old, mostly intact infirmary on one side, and then through the old gate, mostly still standing, which led into the church, the private quarters of the monks, and the gardens and other outbuildings.  I was most impressed by the many colors of the stones, which you could immediately tell were quarried from the massive Montsant mountains overheard, in shades of ochre and oxblood, grey and white.  I picked up a few stones in each place we visited, illegal, I'm sure, but I'm a scofflaw from way back.