Rich in culture, charm, and beauty and located just an hour north of Barcelona, the city of Girona boasts narrow cobblestone walkways with something new to discover at every turn. Visit Girona on a Gourmand Breaks Private Guided tour.  The combination of chic boutiques and modern interiors juxtaposed against the backdrop of an ancient medieval village give this city a striking contrast between old and new. And with such close proximity to the beaches of the Costa Brava as well as the backdrop of the Pyrenees Mountains, Girona is a destination that should not be missed.

Although first settled by the Iberians, it was not actually named until 218 BC, when the Romans arrived. Winding your way through the Gothic quarter of Girona, you can still see the remnants of the Roman walls built so many centuries ago. The true beacon of this town though is the Cathedral that looms overhead. It is visible from almost any vantage point and feels as if it is “keeping watch” over the town. While the Romans began constructing the iconic Cathedral in the 13th century, it was actually not completed until the 18th century, more than 500 years later. As a result, it features a medley of architectural styles including Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque.

By the 9th century, a large Jewish population had established a semi-independent town within Girona and they were quickly becoming leaders in the area’s development. It was here that the Jewish School of Mysticism was created, and where many texts for the Kabbalah were written. With the aid and protection of the Spanish Kings, the Jews prospered. However after an attack on their community in 1391 and 100 years of persecution following, the Jews, who refused to convert to Christianity, were forced to leave.

It wasn’t until 1970 that their true heritage and influence on Girona was actually discovered. “The Call”, as the area was named, was sealed off and the non-Jewish Gironians who remained built over and around the Jewish Quarter for centuries, nearly obliterating it from existence. The Moorish baths and history existed, but were never fully understood. As real estate market trends changed, a restaurateur named Jose Tarres bought a group of buildings near the Cathedral that still dominates the old city. During the excavation of those buildings, the story of the Jews began unfolding, and Gironians learned of a silent generation and what the Jewish heritage means for the history of their town.

So with its newly discovered Jewish heritage and roots, its trendy restaurants and cafes, quaint shops and streets, Girona is highly recommended by us at Gourmand Breaks! You will not regret making the drive to this historic town, and day tours of the area are featured on many of our tours!

There’s only one time of year in Spain to come and participate in the grape harvest and it’s almost here! Most grape harvests, or “vendimias,” happen in September and October of each year.

We’re excited because it’s a unique time for visitors to come visit the region and learn first hand from vineyards how to recognize, pick and store ripe grapes for some of the most highly regarded wines in the world. We have launched our Grape Harvest Tour, so our guests can come and experience with us this smashing good time!  It also brings the excitement of all the harvest festivals that are just around the corner–ones like Cava Week in Sant Sadurni. In the beginning of October this town, which is the capital of cava production, prepares train tours to all the vineyard harvests, hosts several tasting events, the election of the Cava Queen and her patriotic speech of course.

The remarkably preserved fishing villages of the Costa Brava offer a beautifully blue and tranquil setting for restaurant visitors who want to eat the best seafood dishes available on the Mediterranean. But foodies who want to familiarize themselves more with this valuable seafood can go much farther than ordering Suquet for dinner -they can join us on our Spanish Gastronomic Tours and visit with us an authentic fish auction!

When going straight to the source at a local fish auction, like the one in Palamós, foodies can see first-hand how early local fishers set out to sea, catch fresh prawns, squid, octopus, monkfish and more then auction it to early-morning buyers. On the same day, all these fish are shipped to be sold fresh at morning markets all over the Catalonia region. If you make a dish like paella later in the day with a cooking class instructor, know that the seafood you’re cooking with was swimming around in the Mediterranean that very morning. One of Catalonia’s biggest prides is its variety of fresh, delicious seafood!

The Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona lights up every year in mid-August for its week-long Festa Major. Every town here has a charming Festa Major during the summer, but as a particularly influential city in Spain and the world, everything about the celebration is done in bigger and more extreme ways. In order to experience the Gracia Festa Major yourself, join us on one of our Barcelona Cultural Tours. You will find that during  the Gracia feast the castells—or human castle competitions–are larger, there are more aisles of fireworks to run through, but the decorations are probably what stand out the most.

Each street is carefully and creatively themed with wild decorations everywhere. The beautiful floral decorations they specialize in are called arte festivo éfimero. Within the decorations visitors find orchestras, games, theater, music, dance and other activities, which combine for one energetic week-long party.

We told you so

Well, of course, we know what a finely preserved treasure Catalonia is–we’ve dedicated our careers to it! But just in case you need an outside opinion to elaborate on the subject, the New York Times (we’re fans of this publication too) put out a wonderful article one weekend about the quiet aquamarine shores of Catalonia’s peaceful fishing villages. You can read it here and browse its lovely slideshow here.

The quiet villages it references–Cadaqués, Pals, Empuries–are important pieces of our Spanish culinary  tours because they do much more than give our clients a truly relaxing spot to vacation: They give our clients an opportunity to really savor a centuries-old culture undisturbed by the unfortunate overdevelopment that plagues so many other areas in Spain. From the bucolic scenery of farms and vineyards near Pals to the clear tropical-blue shorelines of real fishing villages, you are able to take advantage of the best in traditional Catalan cuisine, wine and personal hospitality.

Browse all of our tours through this area

Every Sunday, Catalans gather outside in their city’s plaza to do Catalonia’s centuries-old national dance, the Sardana. It’s a very sweet patriotic dance I’m quite enchanted by. Most of our guides, as proud Catalans,  can dance Sardana so you can ask them to teach you a lesson while they accompany you on one of our Spanish Cultural Tours. The most recently I observed sardanas it was when I was in a charming little medieval town called Besalu. Older Catalans are especially proud of doing it because the Spanish dictator Franco, a fascist who ruled from the 1930s until 1977, made it against the law for Catalans to speak their own language or do the sardana on Sundays. This dance is just one testament to the strong pride and energy Catalans Continue Reading »

One of the most entertaining things to watch at the town festivals going on all over Catalonia from May to October are the castellers, or human castle builders, at work. As devoted admirerers of this local tradition, we always take our guests to see them, if available, during our Spanish Cultural Tours. A tradition since groups around Tarragona started it in the 1800s, teams of castellers from all over Catalonia participate in competitions to see how fast, how tall or how big they can make their castles. Their size ranges from the most common—about 6-8 stories tall—to even more suspenseful heights and sizes in which daredevil athletes risk a dangerous collapse.

Who needs bulls running in the streets when these strapping Catalans can flex their macho muscles without them?

Once the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the seaside city of Tarragona still has a captivating amount of archeological finds. An amphitheater where gladiators made shows of courage and strength, a circus where legendary chariot races took place, museum of artifacts and archeological passage give visitors a fabulous setting to envision the ancient empire that once thrived here.  Tarragona is an archeological treasure and we have included the city in one of our Wine Tours in Spain.

After enriching yourself with these archeological destinations, you can relax at the beach, an atmospheric fisherman’s quarter called El Serralló or go shopping on one the city´s wide avenues. If you feel like visiting a relaxing hidden treasure, Altafulla is a quaint seaside city near Tarragona with boutique hotels and quiet seashores to walk along.

The simplest things in life are often the best and this is the secret to making authentic Spanish Alioli, which contains two key ingredients – garlic and oil.

How to pronounce it, well it isn´t very difficult… “Al-ee-ohlee”, the Spanish version as opposed to the French aïoli. So then, how much difference is there between the two? Well, you could say that alioli is the less polite relative of aïoli and we mean that in the nicest possible way, because with its pungent garlic flavour combined with fruity extra-virgin olive oil, it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Alioli has a long history. It is mentioned in the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), a Roman procurator for a year on the Catalan coast, who favoured garlic for medicinal purposes. He wrote that when garlic is “beaten up in oil and vinegar it swells up in foam to a surprising size”. While not definitive, it’s not hard to make the leap from here to the Catalan classic we know today.

The name of this pillar of traditional Spanish cuisine derives from Continue Reading »

Fisherman arranging nets in their boats. Coffee, paella and crema catalana awaiting customers in white-washed buildings accented with brilliant blue hues. Children playing in soft waves lapping up on the shore. Painters still at work outside on the street. Feel such visions combine in the unforgettable atmosphere of what was once a haven for Salvador Dali here in Cadaqués. We invite you to experience this piece of heaven with us on Gourmand Breaks Cadaques trips.

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