First, our meal yesterday at Vintages. Photos are in the album sent last night.
Jerome's first plate was a salad of sliced fresh buffalo mozzarella, halved fresh cherry tomatoes, and halved fresh figs, with a sprinkling of sundried tomatoes and mint leaves, and a single anchovy. Drizzled with olive oil. Yum. My "first" was thinly sliced cecina (like Spain's famous jamon, but beef rather than pork) on a bed of sweet baby arugula with shaved parmesan on top, drizzled with (what else?) olive oil. Delicious enough as such, but hidden underneath, in the middle, was a dollop of a sweet tomato marmalade, and every now and then a little zing of its sweetness would rise up with the fork. Double yum.
Jerome's second plate was a broiled merluza drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled lightly with sweet pimenton and fresh parsley flakes, served with what seemed to be thin potato crepes rolled around minced vegetables and baked to crispness, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I had fresh red piquillo peppers (which are sweet, not hot) stuffed with a vegetable coulis and garnished with a sun-dried tomato sauce, with olive oil and minced fresh parsley drizzled on.
Our wine was a Languedoc, recommended by the chef, from Domaine des Schistes. Dry and delicious. For dessert, an almond torte, very moist, with powdered sugar pressed onto the top and a small scoop of coffee gelato on the side. It was a memorable meal.
Enough of the culinary, at least until another day. There is one anecdote I'd like to share, about the photo from yesterday of a sculpture of a sandaled foot. This sits in a tiny square in the historic district, and commemorates the spot where, according to Girona legend, the town's patron saint was fleeing the Romans, who were almost on him. He reached this plaza and made a desperate turn, and God in his miraculous way made an imprint of the saint's foot in the stone of the road, headed in the other direction. The Romans followed the footprint, and the fleeing saint-to-be was saved.
We spent last evening in an Irish pub drinking Guinness, sharing an American-style hamburger, and watching two of Spain's best soccer teams play a match (Barcelona won over Atletico Madrid 2-1, to the delight of the locals). We had a long conversation with a British couple whose son is a pilot for Ryan Air based here in Girona. They come visit him regularly (not bad!). It was a rather multinational few hours.
Today we are taking it easy, enjoying the quietness of a Sunday. As we passed the cathedral on our way back from breakfast, the film crew was setting up for a scene on the broad hill of steps leading up to the church entrance, no doubt some crowd scene to be shot this afternoon. We are going to have to take the back way home after lunch, since they were already about to block off the most direct route.
Photos from this morning can be found at https://goo.gl/photos/a9SxZctPuhto2qzd7
