0

First International Encounter of Ralda+Friends Adopters in Godall: a great Experience!

In Ralda & Friends Project
Posted

Last Saturday on second January, twenty enthusiastic friends of us decided to start the new 2016 in a healthy way by joining us on an original activity: the first International Meeting of R+F Adopters. The event took place in Godall, and it was an opportunity for our friends to discover our village, our people, our Mediterranean Sun and our property of “La Serra”, where every day since centuries we have been producing our exquisite olive oils.

Welcome to Godall

Early in the morning on Saturday, a group of friends arrived by minibus from Barcelona after a 2-hour trip and some others joined us by car all on time. The day appeared to be cloudy, although somehow the sun managed to be present the rest of the day.

We received our olive tree adopters with great happiness and a delicious breakfast with local delicatessen such as the “coc en sal”, “pa amb tomàquet”, cheese and ham, wine and, of course, good olives and olive oil from Ralda+Friends. Some members of our family joined the group as well: our “Yaya” (grandma) Pili, our uncle Joaquim (brother of our father Alfredo) and his wife Pepita, our cousins and his partners Joaquim & Marga, Joan Lluis & Ruth, our friends Josep and Ramon, and all of us: Alfredo, Catherine, Pedro, Lorena, Aitana, Nicolas and our dog Wookiee.

 

We climbed a small mountain, as Godall is located at the feet of a small sierra, between the Montsia and the Ports de Tortosa-Besseit Mountains. The maximum height is of 400 meters and our trekking was very pleasant, by following paths that traditionally were ran by beasts of burden. Our friends could enjoy wonderful views from the village and its neighbourhoods as they were climbing.

 

La Serra: where our entire story began

By 12.30pm we reached “La Serra”, where we finally showed our olive trees to our adopters and friends. Victor, our marvellous olive tree curator, joined us as well and we explained stories on our traditions, our olive trees, our unique drystone-made house and the way that experts are estimating the age of the olive trees. We answered technical questions on oil production, olive trees maintenance and the best olive picking processes.

 

 

The day became sunny and thus we were able to watch the Ebro River, and the Mediterranean, and the Peñiscola Castle, far away. Some friends took a picture next to the olive tree that they have adopted and of course we made a picture all together that we will hardly forget.

The moment of the picture in sounds and images:

 

The way back

At 1.30pm we started coming back home through olive trees and maquis by crossing the “Cap d’Asens” viewpoint and fountain as well as the cave known as “Cova de la Vila”. The way back to Godall gave us all the opportunity to have funny anecdotes and many stories to talk about. Our friends were listening carefully and asked many questions as their interest were growing. The same as our appetite after walking for one hour, we were very happy when the bus picked the group and took us to the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restaurant at Els Valentins and the Wine Tasting in Tortosa

At “El Cazador” (http://www.restaurantecazador.com) Restaurant, in the neighbour village of Els Valentins, a table was set up and ready for us. We enjoyed on eating many local delicatessen, such as seafood cream, typical meats and fishes, artichoke and, for many of our friends, the world known paella.

After the desserts and the traditional “gotas” (digestive liquor shuts), the most courageous ones took again the bus by 5.00pm and went to the wine store GOTIM in Tortosa, where we ended up the day with a taste of special wines from the Terra Alta region.

Inma introduced us a family wine cellar « Les Vinyes i Celler Clua » from the small Catalan village of  Villalba els Arcs which produce an extraordinary wine from local vine varieties White and Red Grenache: Mas d’en Pol Il.lusio, Mas den Pol Barrica, Mil-lenium negre & Mil.lenium dolç.

Our friends were so excited about the quality of these wines, that they have asked us to organize a visit of this wine cellar in our next encounter! As they say in French “Affaire à suivre…”

 

 

A memorable experience

For us, this first international meeting of R+F adopters and friends has been much more than a funny event. Somehow it has been a manner of expanding our family and opening our home to new people, as we were able to show our way of life, our roots, our traditions and our culture of the olive oil.

We fully believe that all those who came to Godall on Saturday 2 January 2016 will come back again in the future and they have become our best Ambassadors to share and invite new friends to join our project

Our French friend who is living in Barcelona, Ghislaine told us:

And Hughes, from Geneva, but married to a wonderful Spanish woman, Dolores, commented as well the following:

Therefore we deeply thank you all for making this meeting possible and for helping us every day in order to produce our excellent olive oils.

“Milles mercis”, “Muchas gracias padrinos”  Thank you so much, dear friends!

Yours Cordially,

The Ralda Family:

Alfredo, Catherine, Pedro, Lorena, Aitana, Nico, Yaya Pili, Uncle Joaquín and Aunt Pepita

(…and  Wookiee).

PS: The Attendees were:

  • Alain & Cristianne Gaillard
  • “Mike” & Maryse Wuest
  • Patrick & Donna Giuntini
  • Hugues & Dolores Rosset
  • Attilio & Evelyne Barbattini
  • Ghislaine & Stéphane Guiran
  • Ramon Ferrer
  • Josep Albiol
  • Joaquin Ralda & Marga Sola
  • Juan Luis Bel & Ruth
  • Víctor Pago