September 19, 2023 Lunch - Josein Hotel
Today was a slow day.
We ate a croissant at 10:00 and then walked on the beach. The tide was out and it was along way to the water. If I read the chart correctly there was a 2.3 meter difference between the high low tide that corresponds to a 7.5 foot drop. Since the beach at Mirador has a rather flat sand slope, the tide goes out about 400 to 500 feet. I walked to the water and wet my ankles, but had difficulty walking back to the hotel. I guess there was additional stress on my hip and joints from walking in the shifting sand.
After a short rest and a snack of cabrales cheese and a few slices of pork loma with a piece of bread, we showered and but on clean clothes and left for Altamira cave at noon. When we arrived at 1:00 we were issued tickets for the 1:45 entry, so we drank a coke and looked at the gift shop until 1:40 when we lined up for entry.
The Spanish government has done a wonderful job recreating the cave and making the display accessible, but after having seen Tito Bustillo Cave there is no substitute for the real thing.
Think of seeing a reproduction of the Mona Lisa versus standing in front of the real painting in the Louvre in Paris. For me those the two experiences are totally different emotionally and intellectually and the same is even more true of cave art, because the difficulty of getting into the space where the art was created makes the experience even more real and the artistry even more impressive.
I was glad to see Altamira but was not moved by it as an artistic experience.
We also visited the part of the museum full of objects collected from the cave that were interesting to see.
We met a couple from England who were traveling to many caves and told us about Pendo, where we will visit tomorrow abd they had just seen yesterday.. I guess there is a large group of cave art groupies and the number seems to be growing. The couple told us they now see many more people than they used to see years ago and we agreed.
After we left Altamira Cave we drove to Comillas for lunch and to see the Guadiana house, but could not find a parking space near the restaurant in the center of town. Disappointed we drove out of town and I spied a restaurant and hotel cantilevered high above the beach as we drove uphill out of the center with parking spaces near it.
Its name was Josein and it had an outdoor patio and indoor restaurant with nice views of Comillas’ long crescent beach.
We were hungry and decided to try the restaurant because of the fabulous view when we were offered a table by the window with a view of the beach and old port.
When we looked at the menu we saw several items that appealed to us.
We decided on a foie gras and bacon starter dish, fresh fried anchovies, and clams cooked in rice with a green sauce.
We then looked at the wine list and saw the best Cava we have drunk on the trip, Juves and Camp Natur Brut Gran Reserve for €26.00. So we ordered that.
Our heavily tattooed waitress spoke rather good English, so we were able to have some help ordering. We decided on battered filleted anchovies instead of whole sautéed anchovies, for example.
We were able to tell her we wanted to share each course and to sequence the courses with the foie gras first, then the anchovies, and finally the clams in rice.
I ordered the Cava because I like champagne with foie gras, so thought it would complement.
I was somewhat mistaken when the foie gras dish arrived and pleasantly surprised. It was a bowl of salad garnished with shaved foie gras that turned out to be the most exciting salad of the trip. Under the garnish of shaved foie gras was a mixture of baby gourmet blend lettuces, some Frisee, some radicchio, and clumps of baby watercress plus olive oil sautéed croutons, and small pieces of shallot and fried crisp bacon.
Other than the remarkable tomato salad we ate at Cafe Espana in Lugo, this was hands down the best salad of the trip.
Suzette immediately discussing how the foie gras was shaved and how she could replicate it at the Bistro. We asked the waitress and were told that a block of frozen foie gras mousse is sliced thinly in one of the hand slicing machines used to slice meat and cheeses.
We loved the amazing first course.
After that the food became very conventional. The platter of about a dozen battered and fried anchovies was just that, a small fried fish; but it ticked off one additional item on our list of foods to try. It was served with a pile of diced tomato, onion, and garlic that looked but did not taste like pico de gallo.
The third dish was seven or eight fresh clams cooked into a rice risotto with minced parsley. The consistency was creamy but with olive oil appearing to be the emulsifying liquid. We had never had anything like this rice dish before. It tasted fine but one had the impression one was taking on a lot of oil.
We ordered water and drank water and Cava to cut through the oiliness.
After the three main dishes the waitress explained desserts and recommended apple cake.
We ordered one slice and soon a wedge of what we agreed was apple streusel tart arrived with two layers of apples separated by a thin layer of raisins and cinnamon baked in a pastry tart shell with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was a nice way to end an interesting meal that cost a total of €93.
After lunch we drove back into Comillas to see the Gaudi house and the palace on the top of a hill, but again we’re unsuccessful in finding a place to park near them. Suzette got upset at my inability to walk from some remote parking area up the hills to each of the places and I felt bad but did not have an answer of where to park. We tried several dead end streets without luck and finally gave up.
We drove along the coast for a while until it connected with the autovia.
We agreed that this was one of the most beautiful places we had seen in the world as we drove uphill and passed a modern condominium development with unobstructed views of the ocean to the West and unobstructed views of the Picos de Europa to the East.
I would even learn to deal with the constant stream of caravans and tourists in Comillas for those views.
On our way back to Mirador at La Franca beach, we turned off at San Vicente de la Barquera. We had called the restaurant and been told it was closed but that is sometimes said to avoid dealing with Americans, so we drove all the way through town and past
a huge fishing port to the point where Osteria was located and found it closed.
So we lost another chance to eat oysters.
We were stuffed and tired when we returned to the room and so we napped until 7:30.
We worked for a while and then we went to bed.
At 10:00 I ate a few bites of bread, as is my custom, and then blogged this entry.
We have a huge day ahead of us tomorrow with El Pendo Cave and spa treatments at the spa hotel near Santander in the evening.
I am not sure how to characterize our eating habits lately. Suzette says we should be losing weight with little breakfasts, big lunches, and no dinner, other than a chunk of bread for me, on most days.
It seems to me to be somewhat Spanish, who nibble at whatever time it strikes their fancy to drink a coffee, a beer, or a glass of wine, because tapas are served with drinks other than with the big meal from 2:00 to 4:00.
Bon Appetit
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