The Queen's Leap, Siurana, Spain

(on display at AVA in Chattanooga, TN - July 5-31, 2013)

What a surprise! On our most recent trip we scheduled a day in the Priorat region of Spain to visit wineries. We were so surprised and amazed by the beauty of this region. Our day started with three incredible wine visits and ended with a fantastic dinner just outside of Barcelona. Between our last wine appointment and dinner, however, we planned a visit to the mountaintop town of Siurana.

Siurana is tiny but amazing. It is such a unique and beautiful place and while there we began planning our next visit. Siurana has a rich history - legend tells of an ancient city that was considered to be "unconquerable" due to its situation on the top of a mountain. However, this proved to be false as the town found itself under siege. As the legend goes, the Queen residing in this tiny town made the desperate decision to take her own life instead of watching her town be taken by the opposing force, in this story - the Christian Army - so she mounted her white horse and rode it off the cliff. Some people believe they can still see the imprint of the horse's hoof as he hesitated before leaping over the edge.

While visiting Siurana, we met a wonderful, elderly man. We told him upfront that we didn't speak or understand Spanish, and he did not speak English, but that didn't stop him from talking, and talking, and talking to us. We have no idea what he said, but whatever it was he was throughly enjoying his side of the conversation. We noticed him early in our visit, sitting on his cushion that he would carry around from spot to spot. In a town of only about 40 inhabitants I'm sure the visitors are a welcome entertainment. Perhaps he will still be there when we visit again and he can share more of his stories.

On our next visit we hope to spend a few nights in this town with day trips to visit wineries. This region definitely proved itself as a place to spend more time - hopefully sooner than later!

http://www.siuranella.com/

http://catalonia.ca/siurana/

Wineries visited this year:

Torres

Mas Doix

Celler Pasanau

Coming Full Circle ~ Amarante, Portugal

Before my first digital camera, I was one of those tourists lugging around a large camera bag with several lenses, lots of batteries, and many varieties of film. This trip to Portugal was one of the last trips with that camera bag. Perhaps that's one reason I love this photo.

My husband and I decided to spend our 5th anniversary in Portugal. We were only beginning to enjoy and study the world of wine and wanted to go somewhere slightly off the beaten path. We ended up touring the Douro River Valley in Portugal learning about port.

This little town, Amarante, was one of our first stops. There were no wineries here, in fact there was not much of anything in this town except the beautiful Relais & Chateaux hotel, Casa da Calcada, where we spent our anniversary. The town itself, however, was extremely beautiful and quiet. We spent the day wandering through the maze of narrow lanes, too narrow for cars, and observing the locals in their daily routine - the boys playing a game of keep away with the little girl's doll, putting the doll on a ledge of the church just out of her reach, the old lady mending her laundry on the balcony, and the produce shop keeper with her cages and cages of song birds. There were very few other travelers in the area giving Amarante a very authentic feel. You could see most of this town within a couple of hours, which for us was part of the charm. It allowed time to sit in the square enjoying an expresso and a few glasses of wine before our amazing dinner back at the hotel.

I love when everything falls into place and a shot just works.



While the photos below are very low quality, I wanted to include them to show a little more about this town and people who live there.

 

Chamonix - Mont Blanc, France

View of Mont Blanc from Chamonix

Three Brave Souls ~ Aiguille du Midi, France

The Alps have always intrigued me. I will never forget the first time I flew over the Alps as a teenager, mesmerized by their vastness and beauty. Having the opportunity to visit this area was an incredible experience.

Since we are not skiers, visiting in the fall was perfect. The colors were amazing, the crowds were small, and the weather could not have been better. Of course, one of the highlights of our time there was taking the cable car up the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi. This ride not only gives a great view of Chamonix and the surrounding valley, but also takes you as close as you can get to Mont Blanc without needing gear and a lot of training.



Many adventure seekers ride the cable car to the top and then begin their own excursion. These three appear to have done just that. Others, including my husband, choose to begin their journey at the halfway point, well below the snow line, where a challenging trail leads you back to town.

While this photo almost looks like a black and white photo, it is truly a color photo. Since we traveled to Aiguille du Midi in the morning, the sun was positioned perfectly to provide the contrast and shadows on the varying ridges and figures. The blue photo below was taken after the sun had a chance to move slightly higher in the sky. Zooming in a bit on the figures also allowed the camera to find more of the light to show the blue tint of the snow and ice and the detail of the ridge behind.

As we frequently say when traveling ~ we did not have enough time in the Alps.

But how fortunate we were to have this experience.






http://www.hotelgustavia.eu/en

http://www.chamonix.com/

http://www.chamonix.net/

A Day at the Beach ~ Nice, France



Snapping candids when I travel is a true passion of mine. While I know these photos are not the photos that people are looking to hang in their homes, I post them simply because I love them.

I call these photos "random people pics" and always look forward to finding someone, or even a group, that truly represent the feel of the place. My first academic love was anthropology, perhaps that explains the passion for my random people pics and for travel (or perhaps my love for travel fostered my love for anthropology). I feel that looking through my collection of candids will give the viewer a true sense of my experience in each place.

This couple could not have been a more perfect representation for my first trip to Nice. With another trip to this amazing city coming up in a few weeks, I have found myself reviewing photos from my previous trip and this couple keep coming to mind. My first trip to Nice was with a few of my middle school students. Some of these students had never spent much time away from their parents, few had ever flown, and only one had ever been out of the country. Having the ability to show them things they had never seen and give them an experience they will never forget was priceless. Another of my favorite photos from this trip happened just after this photo - my students were definitely intrigued by this couple, their clothing, their story, but then we stepped onto the beach. Unlike most of the beaches on the Cote d'Azur, Nice has a beach completely made of stones - no sand. My students were amazed and I so enjoyed watching them learn. I think this photo of my students captures the entire purpose of that trip - and of travel in general.  ~Enjoy

The World is Full of Color ~ Barcelona, Spain



Barcelona is one of my favorite places and this is one of my favorite areas in Barcelona - Plaça Santa Maria in El Born. Although this is tiny "square" it has so much to do and see. The entrance to the beautiful Santa Maria del Mar Church forms one side of this small plaça  - on any given Saturday you can sit in one of the small cafe's and watch wedding party after wedding party. There is also a small fountain where locals come to fill up their water jugs for drinking water, there are two tapas cafes, an incredible dessert cafe (Bubó), a beautiful jewelry shop (Joid'Art) and one of the best wine bars in the city.

The colors of Plaça Santa Maria is another reason this is one my favorite places. I love the color used in the buildings in Barcelona, and this plaça highlights those colors well. My closet has always been full of neutrals - black, grey, oatmeal, white, a splash of red here and there, but my friend Montse, an accessory designer in Barcelona who makes the most beautiful scarves and wraps you will find, frequently reminded me that "The world is full of color." I think about her every time I see this photo.

While I have always enjoyed shooting in black and white, I found that most of photos from this trip were in color. Barcelona, after all, is a very colorful city!

Recycling, Aloxe-Corton, Burgundy, France



As mentioned before, we love to incorporate wine tours in our travels. Many of our trips center around this activity. Our last trip to France was no exception. For our 10th anniversary we spent a couple of weeks exploring vineyards and wineries in Burgundy and Chateauneuf du Pape.

This is one of my favorite "wine" photos from that trip. We were leaving Aloxe Corton - a small and very beautiful village in Burgundy - and stopped just on the edge of town to get a shot of the entire village. I noticed three large wooden bins and decided to check them out. All were full of empty wine bottles - recycling bins. Hundreds of bottles in each bin. If you look closely, you may even see some of your favorite French wines...we see some of ours!

I would love to know how long those bottles had been collecting - probably not as long as we may think. While good wine can be expensive at home, if you are able to visit the area from which it comes you may find it less expensive than good water!

Planning a trip to this area can be tricky. It helps to have friends in the wine industry who can help you set up appointments - appointments are a must if you want to visit the wineries. Some are open for walk-ins, however, many are family businesses and with an appointment you may be able to spend some time with the wine maker of your favorite wine. You can, of course, make appointments on your own without the help of friends if you are able to find the contact information for the winery. We have learned that three appointments a day is perfect, and we stop in the morning for fresh bread and cheese to take with us for snacks along the way.

If you are considering spending a few days in the Burgundy region to explore the wineries of the Cote du Beaune and Cote du Nuits, Beaune may be your best bet in terms of a home base. Beaune is a wonderful town (one of our favorites) with many hotel and dining options. We stayed in a great B&B (Les Jardins de Lois) with terra cotta floors, a small balcony overlooking the garden, and a wine cellar directly under our room. If you're there on a Saturday, the morning market in the center of town is not to be missed!

National Cathedral, Washington DC



DC is one of my favorite cities which, fortunately, I have the opportunity to visit every March. Although there is very little time outside of meetings to explore the city, I do always find time to take my camera for a walk.

This year some of my free time was spent at the National Cathedral. Even though I have been there many times before, I always see something new. My attention this visit was drawn to the smaller details instead of the awe inspiring vastness of the building. The Creation Statues that decorate the front entrances were my muses for the day. This photo shows a portion of the St. Paul statue, which depicts the moment of his conversion. The emotion in this statue is so clear and powerful...I enjoy how that emotion is translated in the photo.

Vintage ~ Barcelona, Spain



Wine plays a big role in most of our travels. We enjoy learning about the wine of the region, meeting with the winemakers, and tasting new wines where they are made.

We came across these three bottles in Barcelona. I have since learned that some can find them in the States, just not in our State. However, I still love these labels!

I call this one Vintage; the older the man on the label, the longer the wine has aged. You have El Viejo on the left, El Recio in the middle, and the very young El Pícaro on the right. Together, these three wines make up the Trilogy of Matsu Wines,  and the photos on the labels represent the three generations of wine makers at this winery - Grandfather to Grandson. Many of the wineries we have visited have that in common - they are passed through the family for generations so that the wine becomes not only their life work, but their family's life work. Luckily for us, they also welcome visitors to their wineries to experience the product they are so proud to share.

Waiting for the Train

Waiting for the Train ~ Sant Sadurni d'Anoia



Upon arriving in Sant Sadurni I was very under-impressed. This village is the "seat" of cava production and yet it looked like a deserted and run down town. However...looks can be deceiving, which is why I love this photo - the town may be a bit run down, but there is still plenty of beauty, even in the most unexpected place.

With a little time I began to understand more about village. Yes, it is run down and there are very few dining options and EVERYTHING still closes for siesta, but the wine produced in this village is outstanding, and with everything closed in the middle of the day it allowed for a siesta of our own on a park bench overlooking the river. A friend who works at one of the wineries on Sant Sadurni said it best, "The town seems deserted because everyone is underground!" He was right! This little village sits a fairly large hill that is tunneled into wine cellars. Wine cellars full of cava.

Sant Sadurni is about a 45 minute commuter train ride outside of Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya station. There are a few large wineries here that offer tourist focused tours of their property. I like these tours, you typically get good information and I enjoy seeing how a large winery operates. BUT the best of Sant Sadurni lies in the small family owned and hand-operated wineries. Having the opportunity to talk with a septuagenarian about his life growing up with the vineyards and playing in the cellar as a child is unforgettable. The pride he shows while sharing his family photos is very touching. Then to taste the wine that his father and now his children and grandchildren are striving to perfect is a truly special experience.

I spent some time Waiting for the Train in Sant Sadurni d'Anoia on my three trips there last summer and plan to do the same this summer.

Interested in traveling here? Consider visiting the following but be sure to schedule your visits with each winery ahead of time:
Recaredo (appointments only)
Llopart
Codorniu
Freixenet

Information and Pricing

Prints are available in multiple sizes, although not all images are available in all sizes. Visit my SmugMug Site for complete pricing and ordering details.

Also follow my Facebook page for updates on specials, events, and new photos.

For all inquires, please email me at leahwmeulemans@me.com.