What to do in Penedès

We went out to Vilafranca in the afternoon, hoping to catch a rehearsal of the Castellers Vilafranca Human towers team. We had some time to spare before it started, so we sat at L'Àngelus: a wine bar in the shadow of the Basílica de Santa Maria. The owner, a kind and incredibly knowledgeable sommelier, served us a selection of local wines and some pecorino cheese as we talked and watched the people come and go. 
Human towers is a uniquely Catalan sport, where participants stand on each other’s shoulders in structures up to ten people high: it’s been called a Masterpiece of Human Intangible Tradition by UNESCO. They organize by weight, from burly men at the bottom to small, helmet-wearing girls at the top. Everyone wears the same outfit: a waist cloth with two bandanas tied around it, to provide footing for the people climbing over them. They practice several times a week in a wide and well-equipped gym—the Vilafranca team is by far the best in the region, and they are rich in sponsors. They all work together, with no separation of genders, all embracing each other to reach the ceiling, and then climb down safely. It feels quite inspiring—all work together to get as high as possible, no one loses. “Except for the other towns,” Maria interjects.  
Vilafranca also wins in having the largest and most complicated town parade: its Festa Major at the end of August lasts three days and contains a record number of Catalan traditions, such as groups of dancers doing the Sardana, Gegants, or giant sculptures of renaissance figures are parading around, and Dancers dressed as devils waving firecrackers. “Every single person in town gets involved in something,” says Maria, “It’s a huge part of life in this town.”

Another town worthy of a daytrip is Vilanova i la Geltru: it has a fantastic, white-sand, blue-water, sunny, perfect beach, where we lazed the afternoon away, rotating between dips in the clear blue water and reading a book on a beach chair. We met up with two of Maria’s friends from Sitges, and had cold glasses of beer and anchovy-filled olives (admittedly not my favorite) in one of the many open air beach-facing bars. 

There are some-200 winemakers in Penedes county, providing a plethora of Wine tasting options. We went to a small one called Esteve i Gibert, which produces small batches of wine from local varieties in natural methods. We walked around the vineyards and saw the steel tanks and chestnut barrels which held 2,000 litres of wine each, and then sampled their whole line, ending the tour pleasantly lightheaded.