Itineraries and adventures

Planning your days at and around l’Artesania, our retreat home in L’Albi, Lleida, Catalunya, Spain:

1. Day trips: experiences, adventures, and architecture options just around the corner are vast.

   1. Montblanc: coffee/tapas in the square > wander > visit cathedral 1 euro > stop at Mercadona for groceries (20 min drive from L’Albi)Twenty minutes from L’Albi is a well-known medieval town called Montblanc. It’s still got a complete stone wall up around the original town borders, and an incredible medieval festival around the week of Dia de Sant Jordi, where you’ll find knights on horses riding around town randomly, and an old medieval beer garden everywhere you look. It’s crowded, but worth the crowds.

   2. Poblet Monastery (20 min)There are three significant monasteries near L’Albi: Poblet, Santes Creus, and Vallbona. I would suggest starting with Poblet. It’s absolutely stunning and still a working monastery, which means it is the most kept up, and less having portions that feel like ruins.

   3. Lleida: La Seu, menú at Casa Marti for a slow, traditional lunch, shopping on Carrer Major (30 min)There are three big towns close by that are absolutely worth the visit: Reus, Tarragona, and Lleida. Let’s start with Lleida, half an hour away. Lleida’s main tourist attraction, in an otherwise kind of gray city, is La Seu. A huge cathedral on the top of the hill of Lleida, it was built in 1200 and Franco took it over as a prison at one point. More recently restored, the outdoor area, the cloister, is one of my favorite spots around. Next to it, open fewer hours, is the king’s castle. Outside of the cathedral and castle on the hill, Lleida is a good place to get bigger stores, as well as a full shopping street with everything from your standard Zara and H&M chains to local little gems. Lleida also has the closest AVE (fast train) to go into Barcelona for the day.

   4. Tarragona: Roman ruins > wandering and shopping in Part Alta > cathedral > lunch at Braseria la Catedral > beach outside town (45 min)Tarragona was a Roman port, Tarraco, back in the—well—start of AD. Tarragona, along with Roman ruins like a race track and amphitheatre, has possibly my favorite cathedral I’ve seen yet in Catalunya. The cathedral is at the top of the old quarter, a great place to wander and home to the best tourist gifts shop, La Botiga del Bon Gust, that has more varied and quality options than your typical Barcelona tshirts-and-fake-pottery shop. For lunch, if you’re tired of pork and love a pile of meat, I highly recommend a halal wood fire grill just behind the cathedral, Braseria la Catedral. Tarragona is also on the coast, so it’s a good place to combine historical tours with some beach time.

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      Reus: Casa Navas > wander and shop > Patateria Laurie > Colmado Baró > a proper vermouth hour then tapas lunch outdoors at Casa Coder (35 min)

      The small city with the most Modernista architecture per capita, even more than Barcelona. The birthplace of Spanish vermouth. Home to an incredible range of quality foods from around the world. Like Barcelona without its downsides of pickpockets and overtourism. It’s hard to narrow down my recommendations in Reus but I will say that it’s a great place to get to know more about vermouth culture and pick up your own bottle of the good stuff at Colmado Baro. It’s also close to Salou, an uber-popular beach town along the coast, so a morning in Reus with the afternoon on the beach is also a good combo.

   6. Montserrat: Aeri up > tour cathedral, light a candle, lunch > funicular to the top > hike/take in the views > Aeri down > Bar el Rincon tapas (1 hr 15 min)Bit more of a drive than my other suggestions, but Montserrat is a famous mountaintop monastery with the Black Madonna. Not just for touring the cathedral there, it’s a great place for hiking, and of course a great excuse to ride a funicular and an aerial cable car in one day. Be sure to end your day with a stop at the little outdoor bar “Bar el Rincon” on the other side of the train tracks surrounded by trees.

   7. Prades and Siurana: Prades wander > menú lunch at La Font > drive up to Siurana (30 min/1 hr) We are in the foothills of the Prades mountains here in L’Albi, so in half an hour you can be up in the red rock town of Prades, with one of my favorite restaurants around, La Font. Up another half hour and you’re in Siurana, town of 40 residents, at the top of the mountain. One of the prettiest towns and breathtaking views in all of Spain. Worth the windy roads to get there, for sure. Don’t forget to walk up to the Mirador (cliffs for that view) past the church and marvel at the lack of safety rails.

   8. Santuari de Monsterrat and Montferri (40 min)A beautiful drive down the road from home base is a tiny church built brick by brick by the townspeople in Montferri that will stop you in your tracks if you happen upon it driving by. This sanctuary is sweet and surprising. In Montferri, across the road, is my favorite winery: Cava Vives Ambrós. There’s also a microbrewery there, a rarity in Spain.

1. Small town life: If you just want to experience village life, there are many captivating villages and towns right around us-and all just 15 minutes or less by car to get there. A stop for a coffee and a wander around town in each of these options is a great way to start a day.

   1. Vinaixa: El Nou Bar el Sol is not known for its ambiance but the friendly staff and great food quickly make up for it.

   2. Cerviá: Lo Nou Casal has incredible menú lunches, and in the summer on Saturday nights they close off the street, and put up tables all outside under strings of lights, and it is like a movie scene.

   3. Vilosell

   4. Tarrés: this town is adorable. And the weekend buffet at El Sindicat so far outshines what you picture as a buffet. It’s a Spanish culinary experience. The cured meat and cheese boards alone…

   5. Vallclara

   6. L’Espluga de Francoli: This is more a town than a village, by which I mean you have lots of options for shopping and restaurants (compared to my village with two). It is home to my favorite bakery (Cots Artesans), weekly farmers market (on Fridays in the plaza by the cathedral), and Sunday-only pollo y conejo a l’ast (rotisserie chicken and rabbit) to die for at Polleria Antónia.

   7. Vimbodi: on your wander, stop by Ca la Cova for their “hot and honey” sobrassada (which I explain as a “spreadable chorizo”) and many other great charcuterie options.

   8. La Pobla de Cervoles: Don’t miss the free outdoor sculpture park just outside town at Vinya dels Artistes, by the Mas Blanch y Jove winery.
      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

2. Restoration: For those seeking time at home base, seeking rest or focusing on a creative project, staying in for the day at l’Artesania offers a lot all on its own.

   1. Every room has a desk. You also, for 25 euros, can have access to the spacious, rustic studio space in the attic. Need writing or art supplies here when you arrive? I’m happy to help you arrange that so everything is waiting and ready for you right away, without needing to venture out to a bigger town to find a store. Let us know if you would like a yoga mat for meditation or movement practice as well.

   2. For meals, I am happy to shop for groceries for you ahead of time, or put together a pica pica tray for dinner. I suggest venturing out around 1 or 2 for a menú or large meal. Here in town, you have two options: Ca la Margarida, for a gorgeous lunch menú, most days. Bar Casal, open all the time, minus Monday evenings. They don’t serve the traditional 3 course menú, but they do have a long list of options for what is called a “plat combinat,” where you choose your meat, and then your three sides (salad, warm goat cheese, egg, three different kinds of potatoes, etc). And of course they always have coffee, beer, and olives waiting for you. Be aware that the kitchen is only open during standard meal hours, so you can’t get tapas between 4 and 8 pm. Also be aware that a reservation will usually be necessary either place on weekends for a meal. Happy to help you make that reservation if you’re nervous about a phone call in Spanish!

   3. There are multiple restaurants within a 10-15 minute drive from home, and most of them serve menú and more. Favorites are Nou Casal in Cervia, Bar el Sol in Vinaixa, and El Sindicat in Tarrés. To start with.

   4. Highly recommend you get yourself on a little wander, even if you are deeply focused on your work. Maybe drive over to a nearby town (see the options above) for a coffee and some journaling, and then a slow walk around town. Or just walk around l’Albi, or out into the countryside. Walk slowly. Take in the details. The sunshine. The bluest blueness of the sky.
      

      

      

      

      

3. Scheduling rhythm suggestions for your visit:

   1. Arrival day: Don’t take a nap. Walk to Bar Casal for a meal and a vino con gaseosa. Wander slowly around town. Maybe a trip to a small town nearby if you have more time to kill. But DO NOT sleep until at least 8 pm.

   2. First full day: Do not sleep in past 8 am. I don’t care how tired you are. I promise you will thank me later, and I will make you cafe con leche on demand while you review your itinerary and options and make final choices. Make restaurant reservations, if needed, for the week. Then head out for a shorter outing. Stop in Mercadona in Montblanc (or some other larger grocery store)for the week’s supplies on the way home. (Make sure the grocery store is big enough to stay open from 2-5.) Then home to rest, settle in, cut up meats and cheeses and fruits and veg for dinner.

   3. Day 3: Longer adventure. Plan to have breakfast early before heading out, menú lunch out, then back by dinner.

   4. Days 4-?: Pack your days as full or as easy-going as you like. You can always adjust. Put the visits everyone is most excited about towards the front of the week, in case our eyes were bigger than our energies. People really like a rhythm of breakfast in, maybe a coffee/morning snack out, lunch out, then a small simple dinner in.

   5. Departure day: One last coffee and a hearty last meal in Spain: “esmorzar forquilla” (that’s fork breakfast in Catalan) of either a plat combinat or a huevos rotos (potatoes, choose a meat, over-easy eggs on top) at Bar Casal before heading to the airport.

What to expect for personal costs while visiting L’Artesania:

1. Food: You can eat well with 2-3 euros per day for breakfast at home, 4-5 euros per day for dinner at home, and 12-20 euros a day for lunch out. Coffees are between 1.20 and 2 euros depending how touristy the location is. You can easily get a cafe con leche and a croissant for less than 3 euros. Of course, if you want the fancier restaurants and the fancy bottles of wine, go for it! But even with a limited budget, you can really enjoy Spanish food- and cheap Spanish wine is often absolute quality.

2. Transportation: It costs about 50 euros to fill up a tank of gas. If you’re traveling a lot, I’d plan on three tanks of gas in a week. A train ride to Barcelona costs apx 16-25 euros one way.

3. Shopping, car rental, flights, and so on, well: that’s up to you and your budget. I often see flights for 400 euros to get to Barcelona. That’s economy class and then some, of course. Car rentals can be pretty cheap as well. Rent out of the Barcelona airport, return to the Barcelona airport, making sure you have unlimited kilometers.

And as always, I love helping people plan their days, so don't hesitate to reach out!