Camping Riudarenes, Catalonia, Spain 11/13
Leaving Barcelona, we headed east. It was getting late and we really needed to take a couple of days to reorganize, sort slides, answer emails, etc., so when we spotted an off the beaten track campground, we turned left. Soon we arrived at Camping Riudarenes, a quiet RV park in the woods. There were many stationary campers whose owners live in Barcelona and they use it as a weekend retreat. It wasn’t busy this late in the season but there were a few hardy souls on this rainy weekend. Of course our truck attracted everyone’s attention and in particular Antonio, a mechanic. We patiently answered all his questions and gave the whole family a tour.
On Sunday early afternoon, he knocked on the door and invited us to a traditional Catalan fall barbecue called a Calçotada. Calçots are a particular type of green onions that are grown like leek. They are basically scorched in a brush fire and served with an interesting sauce (called Salsa Calçots) made from tomatoes, almonds, chili and who knows what. It’s quite tricky to eat these onions properly. You pull the inner leaves out, dip them in the sauce and feed them into your mouth. Antonio also barbecued some local chorizo and blood sausage.
Once the weekenders had left, we were busy in The Turtle, taking advantage of the good Wi-Fi connection. During a break in the rain, we took a short walk and the owner of the campground, Quirze Clopes, spotted us on his video surveillance monitor. Quirze graciously invited us into his cave/workshop/kitchen, and soon we found ourselves eating bread, local cheese and sausage and drinking his homemade barrel wine. His wife Isabel Masjuan joined us and it was another party.
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- A dirt road leads to Camping Riudarenes located between Barcelona and Girona.
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- Camping Riudarenes was a quiet place in the woods.
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- These “hanging tomatoes” last all winter. Lycopersicum Esculentum is the scientific name if you are interested in growing them.
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- The owners let us peak into their wine/storage cellar behind the kitchen.
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- The owner Quirze Clopes demonstrated how Catalans drink wine out of a Porrón (carafe).
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- The Porróns kept being refilled while we enjoyed a fun evening.
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- Tending the fire correctly to roast the Calçots, (green onions) seemed to be an art.
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- A tempting aroma was filling the air.
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- Antonio demonstrated how to remove the inner tender part of the Calçots (green onions).
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- You liberally dip the green onions into the Salsa Calçots.
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- Gary quickly became an expert eating these Calçots!
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- After we had our fill of Calçots (green onions), Antonio barbecued some local chorizo and blood sausages.
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- After the feast, we all sat around in Antonio and Anna’s screen tent before they headed back to Barcelona.
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- The owner Isabel Masjuan, a retired teacher, had a sparkly personality and we became instant friends.
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