Wine tasting al fresco

A very pleasant way to pass a few hours with friends is to find a perfect location such as San Bartomeu, a country house near Banyoles, and have Linda give a tasting of Spanish wines. We started as the sun was going down but the weather was balmy and sitting outside around a big table with a glass in our hands and Linda explaining about the various regions, styles and grape varieties was a wonderful experience. We tasted 6 wines in all starting with an Albariño white and moving on to 5 reds all from different regions. These included classic areas like Rioja and Ribera, up and coming Priorat and unknowns such as Jumilla and Empordà. Complemented with some local cheeses , bread and olive oil and there was little need for the BBQ programmed afterwards.

Cycling in Girona

Girona has become an important centre for biking, mainly due to Lance Armstrong and his US Postal teamates using this as their base for many years while they were training and competing. There still are some famous professional cyclists here but now we have more of a leisure activity infrastructure with some companies setting up to rent and guide tours around the Province. These can be divided into those that just rent bikes, those that rent and guide road tours and those that rent and guide off road. There is a hybrid category where you can cycle along the old railway line which is now a dirt track going all the way from Olot to the coast at Sant Feliu de Guixols via Girona. This is a fun and not too strenuous way to see a good bit of countryside while stopping to take pictures and breaks at local village cafes along the way. From Olot to Girona is some 58kms and it is recommended to do it this way round so as to miss the hardest climbs. From Girona to Sant Feliu is 36kms and from just past Llagostera is mainly downhill and then the easiest is to get the local TEISA bus from the bus station back to Girona-they take bikes in the hold. For those keener on clocking up the miles on the back roads of the Province with a guide and a good bike then the experts are Gareth at www.gironacycling.com or the folks at www.bike.cat Gareth is English and is setting up a triathlon training centre near Banyoles but can focus on any one of the disciplines and cycling is definitely the most popular. The guys at Bike.cat are locals but speak English and have been doing this for a few years so know the area and best routes depending on the clients requirements. For an all encompassing service then the people at www.cicloturisme.com have it covered. They are happy to just rent you bikes (mountain, road or a hybrid) and let you do your own thing or can provide a guide or even arrange a whole tour including accommodation and meals as well as all logistics.