Two Visits

Whereas I usually get maybe one visit during a year, this year I had a visit in February, another in April, and in the last week I’ve had two. All these visits are special for me because they are always old friends coming from the U.S. So these last two were of course both special, but the first even more so because he is an ex-husband, and you don’t tend to get many of those. Never mind that I have three. Joe was my second husband and we hadn’t had any contact for at least twenty-five years until he emailed me about two months ago to say he was coming to Spain and would I like to meet up.

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 12^th century. But this visit had more to do with talking than with sightseeing.

The bridge at Besalú

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 20^th 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.

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.