Frankfurt El Pont -My Favorite Cafe

Have you ever had the feeling that you were in exactly the right place? Certain spaces seem to bring on a lightness of being, a special perception of contentment and peace. For some reason, they feel just like home. I feel that way when I'm at the café Frankfurt El Pont in Falset.
It was the first café I went to in Falset when I made my first visit back to Spain since 1977. This was in 1996. As most of you know, Spain had been on my mind ever since my visit way back when. I'm pretty sure it was at a table outside the Frankfurt El Pont that I made the decision to try and make a go of it in Spain.
In 1996, the man who ran the café introduced me to Anis del Mono. I think he was the father of the present owners. In any event, he was a great guy. A few of the people who were in the café in 1996 were there when I had lunch this afternoon. It's just that kind of place.
The café is now run by Pili and her husband. They've been there for at least the past seven or eight years. The service is always friendly. Pili enjoys visiting with her customers and is obviously a great favorite among the people of Falset.
One of my favorite lunches is bocadillo de lomo (pork-chop sandwich). Pili's is always excellent and she is happy to put some fried onions on it. Not everyone will do this for you. The sandwich is made Catalan style with tomato smeared on the bread. It's never too big or too small.
The tinto wine served at Frankfurt El Pont is the best available in any café in Catalunya. I've been in a lot of cafes in Catalunya so you can take my word for it.
If you're ever in Montsant or Priorat and want friendly service in a family setting, you should visit Pili at Franfurt El Pont. They're halfway down the main street on the west side.

What I've been doing......

Some of you think I spend my days in Spain just lying around our piso in my underwear while sipping cava through a straw. This point of view is incorrect. I've actually managed to get a lot accomplished this trip.
We bottled the 2015 rosado last week and I'm very happy with it. Carles, Jose Carlos and I have been working on the 2015 tinto and it's going to be the best yet. I will go to Celler Masroig tomorrow to check out the final blend.
Substantial progress has been made in my war against unruly rootstock. As you know, my vineyards are old and were not well cared for in the few years before I bought them. A number of the vines have suffered from careless tractor driving (a.k.a. tractor blight) because they grew too far out into the rows.
Also, my vines are grafted to American rootstock (as is the case with most vines in the world). For whatever reason, native American grape species are much hardier than the native European species. In fact, it's practically impossible to kill them.
When the upper, European part of the vine is injured or compromised, the American roots think it's time to party. And they KNOW how to party! Please check out the "before and after" pictures below.
The only thing to do is go through the vineyard and whack them back. This involves getting down on my hands and knees and either pulling or cutting the shoots off. I'm only good for 3-4 hours a day of this kind of work. The good news is that this work turns out to be much easier in the Spring. In the past, I've waited until September. It only took me seven days instead of fourteen.
I'm really pleased with the way the vines look. Marc and Josep are doing an excellent job. The vineyard is in better shape than it's been since I bought it. 
                                                          
                                                                  ¡Gracias por todos!

 

La Tienda de Dolos y Manel

Dolos and her husband, Manel, have a grocery store on the Plaza Mayor. They stock a wide variety of merchandise. If they don't have it, you probably don't need it. In her spare time, Dolos is an artist. Her cousin was the famous mathematician from El Masroig, Evarist Giné Masdeu. Evarist was a professor at Texas A&M. For more info on his life, click on this link:
http://bulletin.imstat.org/2015/05/obituary-evarist-gine-masdeu-1944-2015/
 Manel makes artisanal boxes from a variety of local trees. He works mainly with acacia and walnut. The boxes are very nicely made.
They have a cute little three year old granddaughter who keeps them very busy these days. I think they watch her at least 4 days a week.
It's great to be able to walk to the store when we need something. Manel delivers groceries to a number of elderly people who have trouble getting out. Manel is also unofficially in charge of Dani who, whatever his many qualities, requires some supervision.
¡Gracias Dolos y Manel!

Festa Vi Solidari

Several local wineries get together every year and bottle a special wine to benefit victims of childhood cancer. Each winery donates some wine and 600€ for packaging. The wine is called Vi Solidari and is sold at a festa and through the shop at Celler Masroig.There are multiple labels that were designed by children.
The festa is held at the new City Hall at the south end of town. There is food for sale and a big wine tasting by the various wineries that contribute to Vi Solidari. Several musicians entertained the crowd and there was a lively drum team that kicked off the event.
The festa was well attended and I got to visit with many of our neighbors. As usual, everybody was looking good! I tasted a few wines and went home after a couple of hours. It's difficult for me to wait until 9:30 to eat supper. Also, it began raining about 9:00.
The festa was a big success and I look forward to buying more Vi Solidari at the Cooperativa.
                                 ¡VISCA VI SOLIDARI I EL MASROIG!

THE PRICE OF PROGRESS

Our street, Carrer Pinyeres (a.k.a. El Barrio Internacional), has been in bad shape. You could see it had been patched and putzed with for heaven knows how long. The Ajuntament finally got around to repaving it. They're also installing a new sanitary sewer and water line.
As you can see, it's impossible to drive down the street. When I arrived Wednesday (laden with my usual too much baggage), our neighbor, Dani, was standing at the top of the street. He snatched my 49.5 pound suitcase out of my hand and took off running down the street with it like a mountain goat. He carried it all the way to our house. I don't care what anybody says. Dani es un buen chico.
There seem to be only four men working on the project. They're doing careful and creditable work. I'm pleasantly surprised with the progress they've made in the past few days. They completed at least six sewer taps today. I'm not sure what else they're planning to do but it looks like the worst is over.
They probably won't get around to paving before I leave but it will be great to have a nice new street when I come back in August. ¡Gracias Sr. Rius!

Festa de Sant Sebastiá

  I arrived in El Masroig on Jan. 18th and was very pleased to find the vineyards had been pruned and cultivated, It's been a dry season this year so there are very few weeds in the vineyards and orchards. The almonds have begun to blossom here and there although ours have not come out yet.
  I've been working on the new Barcelona rosado with Carles and Jose Carlos at Celler Masroig. We finalized the blend yesterday and should have samples on the way next week. Francesc Masdeu came over last Friday night and we had a good visit. I will go to his house tomorrow night for dinner.
  There was a festa last Saturday to honor St. Sebastian who is the other patron saint of El Masroig. The event was organized and managed by the youth association. They brought in an eight piece traditional band. Marc Tost and some of the local chicos built a big fire in the Plaza Major and cooked sausages for the town.
  There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on St. Sebastian's day. While the band plays, the children dance around with loaf and pass it from person to person. When the music stops, the kids all tear into it.
  As usual, there was lots of wine. They served vi ranci (similar to dry sherry) and mistela (a very sweet dessert wine). Roussó from the Cooperativa made a blend of the two that was delicious. I had a couple of copitas and decided that was enough. It was a cold night and the music was so loud I was having trouble understanding what people were saying. I left before they started cooking but I'm sure the sausage was delicious.
  I did a little research to see if there was a Catalan connection to St. Sebastian. It turns out that 23 Catalans have achieved sainthood but none of them were named Sebastian. It appears that ours must be the original St. Sebastian (usually depicted as tied to a tree and shot full of arrows). I'm not sure what that has to do with dancing, bread and sausage. St. Sebastian was appealed to for protection from the plague so there may be a connection there somewhere.
 In any event, these folks like to party and they're good at it!
 ¡Salud!

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

   We took a weekend trip to Barcelona to see the frescoes at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. The frescoes were removed from several Romanesque churches in the Catalan Pyrenees early in the 20th century in order to preserve them. Some of the frescoes are now nearly 1000 years old.
   When we made our first trip to the mountains back in 2012, we saw some of the churches. The church at Taull (pictured) was our favorite. Some of those frescoes are in the museum. I had ambivalent feelings about seeing the churches without the frescoes but, after looking at them in the museum, it appears they were barely saved in time.
   The frescoes are painted in an almost byzantine style. They are very interesting and must have made an impression on the parishioners in their day. In 1100 C.E., Catalunya was just moving out of the Dark Ages and a brief period of Moorish occupation.
   There is a great deal of graphically sadistic imagery involving the persecution of various saints. It took me a while to figure out the picture of St. Sebastian. It looks like he got caught in a storm of dinner rolls and the figures to his left were bringing loaves of bread. After reading the little card, however, it appears he is being stoned. I guess you had to be there.
   Fortunately, your modern Catholics don't go for this sort of thing. The museum does an excellent job displaying the frescoes and have built elaborate wooden frames for them. Please check out the photo. The museum is located on top of Montjuic and is surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains. You can walk down long stairways to the Plaça de Espanya and catch the metro to anywhere in the city.
  We went out to dinner at a fancy tapas place called Lata-Bern@. The food was excellent and we spent the night in a little hotel in Gracia. Susan had to catch a plane to Paris early the next morning. We were up before dawn and got her on a bus to the airport in Plaça Catalunya. She and her friend, Laura, spent three days seeing the sights in Paris.