It wasn’t as hard as it might have been to pick him out of
the crowd when I picked him up at the AVE train station. I hadn’t seen any
recent photo, but Joe is six feet tall and there aren’t many of those here
either. So I just had to look at the tall men and see if I could find one that
was in any way recognizable. When I saw him, I thought “maybe,” but when he
recognized me, the question was answered. I think we had both changed considerably
in those twenty-five years, and I never would have known him if we had just
been passing on the street.
It’s odd to be with someone who you were very close to years
ago but who now is a stranger. And yet, for the most part, people don’t change
much and that began to be apparent after a short while. Joe is in construction
and I knew he would be interested in buildings and architecture, so our sightseeing
was based around that: the beautiful medieval village of Besalú, of course, and
the medieval monastery of Santa Maria at Vilabertran. This ensemble is one of
the best-preserved examples of Romanesque architecture in Catalonia. The church
is the oldest part of the complex; inaugurated in 1100. The cloister and
remaining buildings date from the 12th century. But this visit had
more to do with talking than with sightseeing.
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| The bridge at Besalú |
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| Santa Maria de Vilabertran |
Next to come was Srul with his wife Ora. I never met Ora before, but I’ve known Srul most of my life, even if we haven’t lived in the same place for most of it. I was his counselor in a youth organization we both belonged to in Los Angeles; I knew his parents and I know his brother. We hadn’t seen each other for probably something like thirty years, but in the last few years we have stayed in touch via Facebook so at least I knew what he looked like when I picked them up at the train. It was easy: the tall, slender guy wearing that cloth hat that he wears for every photo opportunity. When I saw the hat I knew I had found my man.
For Srul and Ora, I think the highlight of our sightseeing,
since both of them do ceramics, was La Bisbal d’Empordà, the ceramics capital
of Catalonia, where we visited the Terracotta Ceramics Museum. I love ceramics:
I collect a little, I eat off of interesting plates and bowls, I visit La
Bisbal from time to time and pick up a piece or two, and I had ceramic pieces
from several workshops including two from La Bisbal in my shop, when I had a
shop. But I had never been to the museum.
Housed in a former ceramics factory built in 1922, the museum has some of the old kilns, chimneys, machinery, and many examples of old and new, functional and decorative ceramics. Since the beginning of the 20th century, ceramics has been one of the main drivers of the local economy, the clay and forests nearby making that possible. All of us, both the potters and the collector, found the museum fascinating. The only thing missing was a good museum shop where we could spend some money! But that deficiency was taken care of the next day in Besalú where, in addition to that splendid medieval bridge, there is one of the best gift shops in the area.
I now have a month to plan the
itinerary for my next visitors. This will have been a bumper year.
