Tuesday, April 6, 2021 was our last full day at the Tamarit Beach Resort (“glamping”), and on Wednesday, we began our gradual return to Barcelona. We weren’t in a terrible hurry to return home right away. Actually, we had planned to wander through the Penedés (the official cava region), visiting some of the little towns and their wineries as we progressed. Mom and I had been kicking around the idea of finding some little pension or hotel along the route where we could spend the night. Little did we realize just how difficult that would be during a pandemic.
We left a little earlier than the noon checkout time since we were excited to once again “hit the road”. Our little car was packed full with all our junk and treasures but there was still, barely, enough room for the three of us to cruise along the coastal highway, up the N-340A, through Altafulla, Torredembarra, Creixell, and eventually Vendrell. We saw so much of the tiny towns dotted along the Balearic Sea as the road literally became “Main Street” and wandered in and out of each village, changing names as we entered one and exited the other. This is the nature of a blue road, right? It starts out the simple but popular “Aveniguda de Franscesc Macia” then shifts into “Passeig Marítim” as it wanders toward the sea. It morphs into “Carrer de Vallespir”, “Carrer del Bergantí”, “Carretera de Tarragona” and finally becomes “Carretera Vendrell” before merging with the N-340 and following (somewhat) in the shadow of the A-7 autoroute. I prefer the road less traveled. There’s more to see. More towns, more people, more traffic, more churches, more shops, more ruins and castles, and just more stuff! Not to mention, it’s more fun trying to figure out how to navigate through all the little towns and keep up with a road that’s constantly changing names and evolving. Perhaps it takes a little longer to get from Tamarit to Vilafranca del Penedès, but what’s the hurry? Isn’t this supposed to be a vacation?
Surprisingly, we arrived in Vilafranca del Penedès around mid-day. Just in time for a break! We popped back on to the N-340A so we could wander directly through the center of town (Main Street, remember?). We were surprised to discover there is basically one main intersection in Vilafranca. And, yes – it has a functioning traffic light. You can stay on the N-340A and go straight through town, or you can turn left onto BP-2121 and end up at the city auditorium and largest cava winery and hotel “Mastinell”. The hotel was not open for business at the time we were in Vilafranca. The winery was, however. We found a public parking spot downtown and then walked all over the city until we located the famous blue “i” for “INFORMATION” – Mom’s favorite business to visit in new places.
At the Tourist Information and Welcome Center, we met a lovely local who was delighted to help us (her first tourists this week!) and provided us with a single-page map of the city with a route defined as the “historical tour” as well as a phone number to call for a local bed and breakfast. Turns out, every single hotel in Vilafranca was either temporarily closed due to Covid or out of business entirely due to Covid. The tiny, one room B&B was the only place she could find that was available, operational, and not a hostel. It’s not that we are anti-hostel, but, for this particular trip, sleeping in a large room together with 1-3 other strangers and sharing a public shower wasn’t exactly what we had in mind. Also, there was the car to think about – public parking overnight is a tad expensive and somewhat risky. We thanked her for all her amazing assistance and took off on the walking tour of the city – following the historical tour route, obviously.
Basílica de Santa Maria de Vilafranca
Vilafranca is the capital of the Alt Penedès comarca (municipality) and is the largest town between Barcelona and Tarragona. It’s a relatively big berg, which is what was so surprising about the lack of operating hotels. There were a number of very large hotels in town, some quite ornate and grandiose, but all with signs indicating they were closed and to please check their website for reopening information. Until then, we had seen very little physical evidence of the economic destruction of the pandemic. Now, it was hard to miss.
Vilafranca del Penedès
Castle, Convent, Wine 
Ajuntament Vilafranca 
Arabic Tile Steeple 
Looking at the old wall 
Coats of Arms 
Capella de Sant Joan 
Palau Balta
The town has a rich history – as many Spanish towns do – including being the site where King Peter the III of Aragon died while staying at the Royal Palace of Vilafranca and being the birthplace of Saint Raymond, Raymond of Penyafort, O.P. We wandered past the Basílica de Santa Maria de Vilafranca, a formidable gothic church (Santa Maria), the Paleau Reial (Royal Palace), now a massive wine museum (Vinseum, the Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia, Palau Balta or Palau del Fraret an impressive gothic manner built in the 1500s by Francesc Babau (it includes both a pool AND a golf course!), the very romanesque Capella de Sant Joan (church of Saint Joan) with it’s circular window and octagonal bell tower (with a well-functioning bell, thank you very much), and a variety of other famous old merchant’s mansions such as: Palau Macià (home to local Barons and knows as “the house of the seven portals”) with its lovely Arabic tiled roof, gothic archways and noble balconies, and the Casal dels Gomà, the manor house of Bishop Josep Torras i Bages that later became the local provincial library. We also posed for a photograph outside Cal Figarot a.k.a. Casa Via Raventós, home of the world famous Castellers of the Vilafranca (remember them from 2019?). Unfortunately, we ran out of time (and energy) and weren’t able to visit the convent of Sant Francesc before we had to leave.
Castellers of Vilafranca
La Placa més castellera 
We were tired of walking, but we didn’t have a place to stop for the night. We were getting hungry, but we didn’t want to stop at a restaurant (and few were open in any regard). Most of all, we were still wrapped up in the spirit of adventure and excited to explore more of the area – only by car, instead of by foot. We weren’t really interested in staying the night in a B&B in Vilafranca and we were optimistic that we would find something closer to Barcelona. So, we procured some snacks and decided to head up the N-340A, now named “Avinguda de Barcelona”, until we got to an unexpected round-about where our choices were limited to the A-7 autoroute or BV-2127/C-244z. Since the idea was to “see the sights” and “explore the countryside”, I’m sure you can guess which route we took. Interestingly, the C-244z becomes the C-243A at some point just outside of town and it was along the lovely C-243A that we journeyed, following the winding road over Riera de Lavernó (the Laverno River) until we happened upon the perfect place for a picnic. In a bend in the road, we turned left onto a dirt path not available on any map but hosting a brown sign that indicated a nearby chapel. The tiny chapel was located exactly where the road ended in another secret trail that ventured towards the main winery house or into the vineyard itself. Naturally, we turned left into the actual vineyard and parked under a tree in the semi-shade so we could enjoy our snack and the lovely weather from the comfort of our little rental car. No-one bothered us, except a curious black bird and some local butterflies, and we savored our time, nestled among the fields covered with vertically trellised vines just beginning to turn green again after their winter hibernation.
Hotel Sol i Vi
Chilling Out
The best discovery we made that day was the Hotel Sol i Vi. Located literally just around the corner and up the road a ways from where we had picnicked, we were surprised to find the hotel both open and operational. Furthermore, the hotel boasted a four-star restaurant with a locally famous Catalan chef and a lovely pool and playground area. Fate intervened! We were saved! And, Allita was delighted to discover, they also have excellent wifi.
Mom and I spent a significant amount of our first evening on “the chill out”, an outdoor garden terrace on the upper floor overlooking the surrounding vineyards and the entire hotel compound. I say “compound” because this hotel is just that large. It is family-owned with the three brothers now taking care of an aging mom – all of whom live onsite in their own homes – and includes a large, multi-roomed restaurant, sprawling hotel, convention center, pool, gardens, playground, and a variety of conference rooms/centers available for hosting weddings, birthdays, or other similar social or even business functions. They even own some of the vineyard you can see growing all around the property and a large solar panel farm located below the bus parking lot. The hotel sits right on a walking trail, not indicated on any map we owned or googled, but well-known by the locals and wine enthusiasts. This trail leads from the little town of Lavern to El Pla del Penedés with another branch leading to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and Sol i Vi at the very center. It’s a popular way the locals and grape farmers travel from village to village without needing a vehicle. Further, it’s the best way to access the vineyards in harvest or pruning season because it winds through literally field after field of grapes. Clearly, this hotel is a location accustomed to large events, traffic and crowds. That said, we were the only overnight guests in the place that Wednesday. We were pampered and treated like queens. Even dinner was an affair for which we all three “dressed” after a refreshing dip in the pool and a short nap, of course. All-in-all, our stay was absolutely ideal. Perfect. We would return to visit Sol i Vi hotel at least one more time before the year was over. Even then, with the grapes visible on the vines and many more guests demanding their time, the owners still treated us like special, treasured friends. I would go there again. Anytime. Today, for example.
Sol i Vi – what else would you name your vineyard/resort hotel/convention center/business complex/home? If you lived in beautiful sunny Spain near the Catalan coast and surrounded by luscious fields of grapes? Yeah – Sun and Life sounds perfect. That’s what it all boils down to, after all. Sipping a glass of locally grown Cava, sitting in the Catalan sunshine and soaking up the life – La Vida Bonita. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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