At dinner tonight (more on this a bit later) we found out why this place was shut tight last night. Turns out that one of the larger towns in the area has a festival this week, and a lot (ie all the business/restaurant owners and staff) were there yesterday. Thankfully we took a day off and were able to be here for the rebirth.
So, what did we do on our rest day? First, slept in. Second, found a coffee/tea and something light for breakfast. Third was a quick run around the old town and the very beautiful l’Esglisia de Sant Llorenç. This took enough time that the fourth thing on the list was lunch … a very good one at 9 Llohis (9 lions) - a real basic green salad with only veggies and then a simple pasta dish, perfect.
All of this set us up to really hang like locals. Queue up agenda item five -head back to our hotel to have a siesta (as you do) but first we popped into another restaurant, Malagana, that was now open for lunch, to make a reservation for dinner. The lovely lady who we were speaking too was the same person who was getting us coffee at a different place few hours earlier. She and K had a good laugh about that! Huge stress relief that we knew we were going to get fed tonight, and the place looked lovely. Now we were really set for our siesta.
As we were rounding the corner to our hotel, we saw laundry fluttering from one of tthe windows, matching all the buildings around. It was our bike shirts and shorts! We are truly part of the community now.
Siesta done, item six was up - another saunter around town and a return to the church. It really was a unique place. The structure itself was quite rough hewn stone with rudimentary medieval arches, but it also had some of the most OTT baroque chapels. Quite the contrast. To top it off, there was also a string / harpsichord ensemble that was practicing. It’s always a magical treat to be able to hear this sort of live music in this environment.
This set us up nicely for dinner at Malagana. It opened a 8:30, and we were there as the doors opened and the lights came on.
This journal’s been a bit bereft lately of foods pics. That will now end.
Malagana was fantastic, one of the best meals we‘ve had on this trip (and we’ve been to quite a few nice places). Everything was near perfect, friendly and informative service from Eva (K’s new friend), a refined and casually elegant room, and the main event - innovative, beautiful and incredibly flavourful cuisine.
Oh how the pendulum swings, and it’s so much better when it’s unexpected like this. It’s been said that armies march on their bellies, and the same can be said for cycle tourers.
We’re rested, satiated and happy with where we’re at. Looking forward to sweating up more hills tomorrow.
SOTD - Eden, Hania Rani.
A wonderful young Polish composer / pianist. This is such a relaxing piece but with enough complexity to keep you engaged. That was our day.
Streets of Sant Llorenç. Although there’s a lot more life in the village today, at 3 in the afternoon, the middle of siesta time, it’s still very quiet
Inside the Sant Llorenç church. Rough stone structure dating from the 11th century with very elaborate and ornate alters dating from the 17th century. There was an orchestral group setting up and practicing, lending additional atmosphere.
Kirsten KaarsooTo Scott AndersonIt adds so much to atmosphere. They had a harpsichord which I always find fitting for an old church. Reply to this comment 10 months ago
It was late afternoon and a couple of the alters were illuminated with direct light from small windows near the top of their domes. I found the variation in lighting intensity quite interesting and it made me think this is probably what it has looked like to everyone whose been here, with the exception of the last few generations who would have had some electrical lighting. Anyway, I’ve tried to capture the unique lighting in this and the next few pics. The detail (and there’s lots) is still there in the dark bits, but you’ve got to look for it
The simpler frescos on the domes and ceilings resonate better with me. Camera nerd moment here - I took the same picture with my iPhone 12. With the impressive image proceeding capabilities of the phone chips, it was a very evenly exposed picture … at first glance. Better picture than this. However, this picture is what it actually looked like ‘in the moment’. Again, the detail is still there in the darker parts, but you have to look for it.
Off to dinner … and there were options. We chose the best one … Malagana. It was fabulous in all respects. Worth going to Sant Lloreç just to eat here (seriously)
This was phenomenal … small scallops with roe, charred (we saw some flames happening in the kitchen) with fine pickled red onion and a yuzu aioli. Briny seafood, smoky char, acid from the yuzu and pickle.
Dessert was a pumpkin blini with apple compote, slightly candied and picked orange zest (think marmalade) with semifreddo and a slightly bitter chocolate biscuit. It sounds like a real mash up but it worked, savoury, bitter, sweet … extremely good and unique (at least to me)
Thank you Eva and all the other’s at Malagana. It was a super experience and made our day. We were expecting a good dinner, and we got great. So good when this happens.
