Espana, Cordoniu Winery tour

On Tuesday afternoon, the only afternoon we had a thunderstorm, we decided to tour a winery famous for its Cava.  Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine, named after the caves that were (and many times still ARE) used for storing it while aged.  Our landlord recommended we see the Cordoniu Winery.  We took a lovely little 45 minute drive through the countryside away from the coast and arrived here.

As you can see, this family business has been around for quite some time.  It is the oldest family-owned business in Spain and something like the 15th or 20th in the world!

We arrived just in time for the last English tour, which we were pleasantly surprised to discover included a train!

After a quick tour of the grounds, it was time to go inside.

 There was an exhibit where we could smell what the varieties of grape flowers smelled like.  Liam wasn't too sure what to think.

Then it was time to head down into the caves.

There were well over 100 stairs, which Liam counted aloud all the way down.

Once we got down to the bottom, there was another little train which took us through the caves.

We saw lots of dusty old bottles before going into the tasting room, where we got to sample a classic Cava and a rose Cava.

It was a very pleasant way to spend a stormy afternoon!

Espana, lunches at "our place"

While in Calafell, we enjoyed several meals at L'Ancora 2, a hidden little gem we just stumbled upon.  We never had to wait for a table, the tapas was delish, the seafood fresh and beer a flowin' , and our waiters were very nice!

 We TRIED to get everyone in.

 Sam gives it thumbs up!

And Liam and Lane enjoyed the free crayons and coloring pages.

We ordered lots of food each time,

like peppers de padron and patatas bravas,

shrimp, mussels, mushrooms, tomato bread, anchovies, calamari...

OH MY GOODNESS YUM!

but Sam wasn't too sure about the lobster.

Espana, dinners at "home"

During our vacation, we ate the majority of our dinners at the house.  Chef Geoff took advantage of the grill and the ample pork and seafood products to spoil us rotten.  Take a look:

 The grill

 the fuel

 The Chef

Shrimp on the barbie

 Pork and artichoke hearts on the barbie

 Fish on the barbie

MMMMM

 More MMMMMM

Espana, day 2

After our friends, the Saxtons arrived, we had some dinner, the kids went to bed, and the adults stayed up far too late catching up.  So the next day, we decided to keep things simple.

We hung out in our jammies while Geoff made breakfast.

Then we decided to explore Calafell on foot.

It's a charming little beach town,

complete with "boardwalk", cafes, and a beach playground.

A Calafell Pescador

(Spanish for fisherman)

 The kids could NOT wait for the beach.

 We had a tapas lunch with sangria

before heading back home to the pool,

which the kids LOVED.

And Anna and I enjoyed our overly large hats very much.

Espana, day 1

On Father's Day, we flew to Barcelona to begin our vacation in Catalonia.  After picking up our rental car, we headed the hour south to the coastal town, Calafell.  We threw our suitcases into our room, and quickly changed into swimsuits to enjoy the gorgeous pool at our house.