San Ramón

For the eve of San Ramón we had another meal at the peña; ham, carved by Pablo, bread, cheese and olives.

Click left on any picture to see it full size.

The bread is not buttered but spread with garlic and tomato.

This morning, Monday, (not Sunday), we had mass in the church at midday. Margaret, as well as others, had arranged to dress in traditional regional costume, an opportunity to try out the newly made outfit.


To see the procession in a little more detail click HERE to see the video on YouTube.



Meanwhile, the paella had been started in the Plaza Mayor.


Below is Margaret and Jordi posing with a member of the village with a 300 year old shawl.

After we had changed, it was back to the Plaza for lunch.

Once again, it was a meal for the entire village in the Plaza Mayor. This is a 180º view of everyone eating! A meat and seafood paella, delicious!

This event signals the end of the fiesta period for the village. Now, all the holidaymakers, relatives and friends who came here for the summer, return to the cities of Barcelona and Zaragoza, (some have already gone), and the village returns to its normal tranquil state. Until next time!

Fiesta day 4

In the ayuntamiento, the town hall, there had been an exhibition of the work produced by the "amas de casa", housewives, in their various enterprises undertaken during the year. Some paintings produced by a course run by the "pensionistas", pensioners, (but not necessarily exclusively for pensioners), were also being exhibited. Some of our first attempts at "still life in oils" was on show - that's ours at the left hand end.

To see each photo full size, click left.

Another course run by the amas de casa was "patchwork" and Margaret had produced 2 cushions, shown below.

Other people had turned their patchwork into bags.

Also on exhibition were wedding dresses as worn by the ladies of the village on their big day.

Our peña meal that evening was a ham with all the trimmings that go with it. A true delicacy.

Margaret is wearing a tiara in the photos above and below in order to get into character for the evening ahead.



Eva, standing on the bench, is explaining the choreography for the activity which we will all be involved in.


32 of us, in addition to the 2 "clocks" above are to be involved in the activity. Have you guessed what it is yet?


After playing the part of the black king for "three kings" in January and Lina Morgan for the entertainment for Santa Agueda in February, it is a small step for Floyd to play a cross between the two - the black queen!


While we dressed as chess pieces, other peña groups also dressed as part of the competition which was to take place that evening.

This was another activity which crossed all generations, (and genders)...

...with groups playing the part of different characters with such imagination...

...and enjoying a carnival like atmosphere.

Spirits were high as each group entered the Plaza Mayor to be judged...

...and others patiently waited their turn.

Our group had put so much work into making the costumes...

...and everyone had a vital role to play.

The result of the competition between the 11 peñas would not be announced until later that evening...

...but we were declared the winners, the prize being another ham! To see the video on YouTube, click HERE

At the end of the day, all the pieces from the king to the pawn, go back into the same box but we came home to our casa majestuoso.

Fiesta day 3

To see a full sized view of the photo, click left on it.

This evening the meal was going to be different, or at least where we ate it was. The idea was to make the meal as usual at the peña but to set up our tables and chairs for our group to eat it in the Plaza Mayor along with every one else in their groups.

The meal for tonight was Fideuá, a traditional Catalan dish made with noodles and sea food. Click HERE to see an explanation and a recipe for this dish.

Our seafood was mainly langostinos and calamares, shrimp and squid, and it was certainly well received by everyone.


Where else could you get around four to five hundred people of all ages, eating and drinking in their own groups in the open air at this time of night?


Before the music group for the evening made an appearance, there was a special turn by a drag artist, simply billed as "¡una sorpresa!", "a surprise!", on the programme of events and the main reason we had all been told to eat our meal in the Plaza.


You never know what to expect! The act was good but not a patch on our very own Lina Morgan!

Fiesta day 2

At midday there was a mass for San Ramón which concluded with his statue being paraded around the streets of the village. You can spot him in the picture below.

Click, with the left button of the mouse, on the picture to see it full size

There were more people than ever at the mass, some wore traditional costume.


Later, in the evening, we gathered in the school yard to see the group "Braulio Foz" perform their jotas, (pronounced "ho-taz"). To see a video of one of their dances from the performance, click HERE.


They were even better than the last time we saw them. The 4 musicians played a guitar and 3 bandurrias, (similar to lutes). There were 3 female and 2 male singers and a group of 8 very energetic young dancers all dressed in regional costume.


To see a second video of one of their dances from the performance, click HERE.

Very entertaining.

Our meal later in the evening was again at the peña. This time it was another dish typical of the region, rancho, usually prepared for workers or soldiers. It started off with costillas de cerdo, (pork ribs), being cut up and fried in olive oil with garlic, then diced peppers, potatoes, artichokes, asparagus, peas and rice were added.


Just what you need to warm you on a cold winter's night - the only trouble is, it's mid summer!
However, it went down very well!

¡Chorizada en la cooperativa!

It's time for sausages at the village yard and many small bonfires are lit and chorizos and longanizas are cooked and served in pieces of bread by each peña group.

Click left on any picture in order to see it full size.

There were even more people there this year, young, old, everyone.

Are the sausages cooked yet Manalo?

The official peña group photo.

Again this year, there was a band. After the sausages, people visit each peña where they are given a drink such as vodka and tonic. However, on the route it is traditional for the people in the houses to throw water over everyone. Everyone ends up soaking. Great fun. However, we came home and enjoyed a jacuzzi - at least we still ended up soaking but in a rather more relaxing situation!

Crumbs - it's migas!

So the village fiesta of Torre del Compte 2009, has begun. On Tuesday 11th we all arrived at the peña, (after our art class), and gave it a clean and on Friday 14th we went shopping to buy the drink and some food for the celebrations.

To see any photo full size, click left on it

Tuesday evening was our first meal together and it was the "traditional" dish of migas, which literally means "crumbs". Essentially it is the traditional dish of the shepherd who has old bread and some belly pork both of which are finely shredded and fried in a pan with olive oil, not forgetting the garlic of course.

After a lot of very strenuous stirring it is served topped with a fried egg - very satisfying for even the most ravenous shepherd.

A day out to Ortells...

It had been a long time coming but we finally got around to having a day out with Floyd and Jordi to see a monastery and have lunch at a restaurant in Ortells, 76 kms from Torre del Compte to the south west.

Click left on any picture to see a full size image.

We arrived at the monastery just north of Zorita del Maestrazgo only to find it was closed for refurbishment. It had been a monastery and then converted into a café so what would it be after the refurbishment?

That's the monastery behind us, being refurbished.

However, it was in a superb spot and the views were worth the visit.

So we settled for a walk around the village of Zorita instead where, just as with any other medieval village around here, there was plenty of rebuilding work going on.


And so to Casa Ramón and a very special lunch which was well worth the journey as the meats, steak and pork, were cooked to our liking, (by ourselves), on a very hot stone, or as Casa Ramón says, "Especialidad en carnes a la piedra".

I can still smell and hear the sizzle of the meat. Delicious!