On The Road: La Bisbal d’Empordà

What better way to spend Divendres Sant (Good Friday) than at a ceramics and crafts fair?  La Bisbal d’Empordà is a small town about 40 minutes away.  It is the capital of Catalan ceramics and today was the first of its annual two-day ceramics fair. 

Ceramics has been the primary economic activity in La Bisbal since the 18^th century.  Production is diversified and includes home furnishings such as sinks, building materials, housewares, and decorative items.  There isn’t a single producer; the area is full of workshops of all sizes and artisans who work in a wide variety of styles.  “Ceramica de La Bisbal” is an EU protected designation and is licensed only to those manufacturers and artisans who work in and around La Bisbal and who maintain the required standard of quality.  When I had my artisan shop in Tarragona, I carried ceramics from three of its workshops.

The ride there was pretty, the town is attractive, and the fair was enjoyable.  It has indeed been a good Friday.

 

 

On The Road: La Bisbal d'Emporda

La Bisbal d’Emporda is the ceramic capital of Catalunya and the destination of my road trip this week.  This road trip was made possible thanks to the new battery I just had installed.  I will try to drive the car a little more regularly, I promise, in order not to have this annoying and costly problem of a dead battery again.

I’ve been to La Bisbal before, years ago.  When I had my shop in Tarragona, three different workshops in La Bisbal provided most of the ceramics that I sold.  Unfortunately I didn’t have much of a visit in La Bisbal this time.  It was a grey day.  I woke up late, got a late start, and not long after I arrived all the shops suddenly closed at 1 pm, and that was that.  But I had enough time to look around and confirm that I want to come back.  Not only are there lots of ceramics shops, but also, and even better, there are several antique shops to investigate.

Since everyone had closed down and gone to have lunch, I did the same.  My lunch was at El Teatret, an attractive restaurant with a very good menu del dia for 12 euros.  It was not off to a good start when the waitress steadfastly ignored me for ages after I had entered.  It wasn’t that she didn’t see me; she was very close by and could at least have uttered a welcome and asked me to wait. 

But once seated in a cozy nook at the front window, I was very pleased with the food and the service.  I’ll be back to eat there again when I go back to scope out antiques.  I have to.  My mechanic says I need to drive the car once a week and there’s no point in just driving around in circles, is there.