Only one cash machine within the area and we had to pay for our stay at La Vileta (Cornudella de Montsant) in cash… worried that we wouldn’t have enough, we made a short trek through winding mountain roads to Prades, a nearby town high in elevation. Apparently it attracts more wine tourists and therefore has an ATM.

We were super hungry when we arrived in Prades. Not able to figure out the more rigid siesta schedule of the region, we had just finished up with a wine tour at Ronadelles (Cap du Ruc) and then hoped for more dinner options in Prades… I think there were only two open restaurants so we went to the one with more google stars and people inside — I think it was “La Font”. A group of six in a European restaurant is a lot, people were kind and moved around so that we could push two tables together. I asked the waitress what she recommended in my terrible spanish and she offered to bring a bunch of traditional Catalan dishes to share.

The first dish was fatty pork pieces (think fatty bacon) with cabbage and potatoes. It reminded me of something like colcannon but was the perfect salty savory and warm dish after a day of hiking and climbing. The other unique dish she brought was meatballs and clams in a smooth tomato-ey sauce. Razor clams, tomato bread, croquetas (or are they bombas???) and some patatas bravas, jamon and manchego, cervesa… we were treated with such kindness like family/locals and at the end they brought some kind of creme liqueur. Behind us sat a climbing couple from somewhere in the north of England, really strong northern accents! They had climbed at Arboli that day.