Vineyard and Montserrat

This morning we headed to the vineyard of Codorniu, where cava was first produced. Cava is the Spanish word for champagne that came about when France started suing everyone that was producing the beverage and calling it by the French name. Cava is produced by the same methods as in France. We toured the cellars and saw how they first made cava in 1782. It was all a manual process back then and they produced it bottle by bottle. Nowadays the machinery and technology allows them to work with 840 bottles per pallet. they produce 50 million bottles a season! We rode an electric car through the cellar and tasted two types of cava. one was made with chardonnay and the other with pinot noir.

After visiting the vineyard, our group headed to Montserrat (translated as serrated mountain). this mountain is made of limestone and sandstone and is known for housing the Benedictine monks. After the civil war, it was the only place that the Catalan language was allowed to be spoken. The monks have taken a vow of poverty and work printing books and religious papers. they have no worldly possessions.

The patron saint of Montserrat is the "Black Virgin" and she is sitting with baby Jesus on her lap in the top of the church. The church is magnificent with stained glass, statues and brilliant architecture.

Tonight, we are headed to Mataro to play Espanyol, one of the most prestigious women's teams in the area. Wish us luck!!!