Baqueira-Beret
Jan 10th, 2014 by willmarks
Our holiday trip to Morocco will take some time to sort out, so I offer the following mountain excursion to fill in the gap.
With some extra days before school was back in session this week, we decided to venture up to the Pyrenees. Sources told us that the Val d’Aran region was worth the visit, this being the site of Baqueira-Beret (Spain), arguably one of the best ski areas in the Pyrenees, with 33 lifts, 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) of vertical, and long, wide runs. The approximately 300 kilometer drive took close to 4 hours and it was lucky that we had rented chains, which were needed as we scaled the mountains.
While weather was not kind to us on Day 1 with rain, our second day was wonderful as the skies cleared, leading to perfectly comfortable conditions in the 0 to 5 degree celsius range.
It is worth mentioning our meals, with the understanding that we seldom are able to please all three younger palates. On our first night, we dined at a recommended hamburger spot, Escornacrabres, but as seems to be the norm in Spain, the food did not compare to even an average U.S. burger; it is difficult to describe that funny taste of the patty here.
On Evening 2, we needed pizza and pasta badly enough to risk a very poorly rated (#11 of 13 choices on Trip Advisor) Italian restaurant, Pizzeria Montgarri. A nice surprise—the pizza was exceptional with tasty thin crust (not soft, not burnt), as was the pasta, albeit with a bit too much pesto. After explaining Trip Advisor and its purpose to the kids over dinner, the girls and I later decided to post our own thoughts: the only positive review; to sum it up, we all enjoyed the fare, a uniquely successful night out for us.
Our final night was spent at La Raclette (no mention on Trip Advisor). Could we make it two in a row? We do like watching our meals cooked in front of us, a la Benihana, but raclette is obviously a different experience, for one, cooking the food ourselves. This was of course part of the fun, and dinner could not have been better. What’s not to like about melting your own cheese after seasoning it with oregano, adding exceptional Spanish ham, a thin slice of baked potato, and topping with cornichons, pickled onions, or tomatoes, then savoring the taste on toasted bread???
The first time I ever had Raclette was when I had a ski house in Tahoe, and two of our members were French-Canadian. It became a usual weekend meal after a long day of skiing. Me being a cheese lover, can never say no to that!