El Hoyo de Pinares

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I made an unplanned stop at El Hoyo de Pinares, the hometown of a friend. It's 90 minutes from Madrid, up in the mountains - the name literally means 'Hole surrounded by pine trees', and it is in a hole, there's no hidden meaning there!!

It's a small town with the population of 2000 people and it's so cosy! Unfortunately because it's so small, everyone knows everything and there isn't much to do - there are many pubs here, though, so take a wild guess as to what people get up to when they're bored!

It's great to experience a family atmosphere here. The five days I spent there was filled with the testing schedule of:

Wake up, breakfast, snacks, beer & tapas (beers for €1 with free tapas!!), lunch, siesta, wake up, go for a walk (to the pub for more beer & tapas), dinner, snacks, sleep.

I can honestly say I know why gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. If there´s anything more torturous than not eating, it is most definitely over-eating.

I've been told I could possibly be the first Australian/Malaysian to step foot here so there's another thing to add to my list of cheap thrills. Love all the firsts!

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Photos

Sunday lunch
Finally got a feel of the Sunday family lunch that everyone in Spain does.

I think this was lamb
I know it was good though!

Barrels of homemade wine in the garage!
Believe me when I say, this wine felt like 80% alcohol..