Our last night in Spain after some wonderful experiences


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September 24th 2013
Published: September 24th 2013
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September 24, 2013



I am writing this from our balcony overlooking the village of Jerica, Spain. The bells on the clock tower have just let me know that it is 6:15. The bells are what they refer to as the "new bells," as they were installed on December 23, 1622. The town dates back to the Stone Age, but they really start recording things during the Roman period. A Muslim period followed in the 12th century and from that point on, control of the town bounced around. Anna and her husband are down in their vegetable garden gathering greens for our dinner that we will enjoy in a few hours. Tonight we are the only guests at Shariqua - a B&B that I can't even remember how I found. It is off the tourist track by several measures and as we drove here the dirt track narrowed and became more steep, but there were tiny signs pointing the way and when we arrived we were thrilled with the accommodations that welcomed us.



We left Cortijo Opazo in Las Alpujarras on Saturday morning, the 21st of September. Robert was away but we had a nice good-bye visit with William and then were on our way. We had three options for our route. One was to go to the coast and along the autovia for hours; another had us returning to Granada by autovia, and then heading East on another autovia for hours. The final option took us on the narrow winding road, high into the mountains and on through villages that seemingly have not changed in hundreds of years. I'm sure you know what route we took! We passed through Trevelez, the highest village in Spain, and then for several hours we continued on amazingly scenic roads - going high and then lower, into gorges and along cliff-sides. We stopped for coffee in Yegen, the small mountain village where Gerard Brennan stayed in the early 1900s and about which he wrote, South From Granada. It was truly a spectacular route and we have the photos to prove it.



Finally we dropped down onto the plains and ignored the suggestions of Penelope (our GPS), but instead headed across barren miles. We went through the area where old American western films have been made, and finally ended up in Sorba, a river town where we stopped for lunch. It had been cool in the mountains, but when we got out of the car we were hit with the intense sun of southern Spain. The sky was a deep blue and the sun was blinding. We went into a restaurant and within seconds of sitting at a table, an old man dropped a basket of bread and a huge salad of greens, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes and tuna on the table in front of us. For a moment we wondered if he had given us someone else's order, but then we noticed that other tables had the same offering. We ate the salad nearly completely and then our drink orders were taken. The menu del dia offered selections for first, second and dessert courses - we each had gazpacho then Sam had pork and I had hake (fish) and we ordered two caramel flans for dessert. The bill was less than 25 Euro total and we waddled back to our car.



We drove on towards the coast and by 5:00 we had arrived in Calabardina. We were excited to see Rob and Donna but the address we had written down delivered us to the home where we were staying, not the home where they were. (They own two lovely houses in this coastal town.) We learned that our phone is not working correctly and we were unable to call to let them know we had arrived. I wandered about for awhile hoping to come upon Rob or Donna, and finally Sam and I drove up and down the streets. We had been there for dinner in 2010, and fortunately we did recognize their place when we passed it. Sam looked over the fence and Donna was thrilled to see him.



We first met Rob and Donna at a B&B in northern Spain in 2008. After chatting over dinner they kindly offered their southern Spain home to us for when we were down that way. Rob and Donna live in England, but have these two vacation homes in Spain. The offer was so generous, but did not work out for us on that trip; we stayed in touch through e-mail and when we were back in Spain in 2010, we met up with them for dinner in Calabardina and this past July they visited us at our home in Oregon. The moment we saw them on Saturday, it was like being back with family. It is such a delight to have these friends with whom we feel instantly comfortable. For me, Donna is like a sister.



We moved into Villa Verde - the second of their two places and we were thrilled. There is so much space and it is nicely decorated and very comfortable. Sam looked at me and we both wondered why we were only staying two nights. This was when I had to admit to the drawbacks of planning our trips so carefully and so far in advance. Nevertheless, we determined to make the most of the time we had with Rob and Donna.



We walked the two blocks back to Rob and Donna's home and were greeted with drinks and snacks. A delicious dinner followed and we enjoyed sitting outside chatting and laughing way past our normal bedtime.



Sunday morning we were up late, took a walk down to the water - only two blocks from Villa Verde, and then we joined Rob and Donna for breakfast on their patio. They had ordered loaves of gluten free bread for me from the local bakery and we drenched our various breads with local extra-virgin olive oil and chopped tomatoes and spices; we enjoyed this typical Spanish breakfast, which included fresh fruit and coffee.



Soon after breakfast Donna and I were in the swimming pool. The water was the perfect temperature - it feels too cold to get in, but as soon as you are wet it is comfortable. I loved it. Later in the day Sam and I were back in the pool where Rob served us drinks. What could be more luxurious than hanging on the side of the pool drinking Sangria? It really felt like a dream vacation. We ventured out in the afternoon so that Rob and Donna could show us some of the sites in and around Calabardina and we had a light lunch at the beach bar.



In 2010 we stayed at a B&B near Calabardina. Casa Roja, is owned by Robert and Eva. Robert is American (born in Philadelphia 5 years before I was), and Eva is Polish. They met in the US and have been running their Spanish B&B for nearly ten years now. We really connected during our short visit in 2010, and stayed in touch through e-mail. For me, Eva was one of those people about whom I knew instantly we would be good friends, if we lived nearby. This trip the plan was for Robert and Eva to come to Rob and Donna's for dinner while we were in town. Unfortunately Eva has had several medical problems, and she was not able to come to dinner. Sam and I drove out to Casa Roja Sunday afternoon so that we could have a visit with Eva. She is using a walker right now and that is a huge challenge in the running of the B&B, but she will recover. We had a short, but very pleasant visit and I know we will see each other again.



At 7:00 we returned to Rob and Donna's. Their friends Chris and Jack had arrived after driving from Barcelona, and later other friends Anna and Allan, and Robert (of Robert and Eva) all gathered for dinner. At the table we had 3 Americans, 3 Brits, one Dutchman, a Swede and a Canadian/Swede. And home for each varied from America to England to Holland to Spain. It was fantastic! Such an interesting group of curious, adventurous, generous people. Chris was a University administrator in England, her partner Jack had been a headmaster in Holland. Anna has raised three children in Spain and she teaches English, and her husband Allan is a very talented artist and musician. Robert was trained as a chef and runs the B&B - Rob is a retired dentist and Donna, a talented sculptor, taught art. It was an interesting mix and the conversation was lively. The meal was fabulous and it was nearly 1:00 am when the last of the dessert was carefully licked from each fork. I was exhausted but as we walked back to Villa Verde we were each smiling and talking about what a perfect evening it had been.



When the alarm went off at 8:00 this morning it felt like the middle of the night. The fun of the previous evening came back to us immediately and we were soon up and ready to spend a few more precious hours with Rob and Donna. Chris and Jack are in town for the week and so we met all four at 10:00 for some breakfast on their patio. Shortly afterwards we drove into Aguilas (the larger town next to Calabardina), and Rob gave us a tour of the old town and the waterfront, finally ending at Anna and Allan's home. They live on the second floor of a 100 year old city house. We climbed up the narrow inside staircase and then were delighted with the meandering rooms of their flat. It was exactly the setting I would imagine for a European artist. The rooms form three sides of the internal courtyard and Allan's studio looks across the courtyard into the dining room. The ceilings are high and Allan's artwork is hung throughout their home. When we walk through the streets of European towns we often wonder what is beyond the doors and shuttered windows and it was a real treat to enter one of these homes. Allan generously gave us a copy of his book- a beautiful collection of his paintings. He mentioned Andrew Wyeth as one of his inspirations and I was happy to tell him that I grew up in Andrew Wyeth's backyard - sort of.



We said our good-byes to everyone and expressed hope that we will see each of them again before long.



Our drive to Jerica was uneventful and took about 5 hours. We turned in from the coast and before long had entered into the part of Spain where it seems that each town has an ancient castle ruin placed precariously on the highest hill in town. As we neared Valencia we passed grove after grove of citrus - we could see some lemons and oranges but other crops were less obvious. We passed wind farms and solar farms with panels covering 30,40 or perhaps 50 acres. It is impressive. Finally we turned further west and after 30 minutes of climbing into the hills and pines, we arrived in Jerica.

We arranged ahead of time to have dinner at Sharigua, and Anna did not disappoint. This is a lovely accommodation and for dinner we had two different salads - one was the typical Spanish salad of greens, tomato, olives, and tuna and the second was beets with goat cheese. Delicious! Our main course was "Arabian chicken," and the exotic flavors made our taste buds go crazy. It really was a spectacular meal. Dessert was vanilla ice cream with hot black raspberry sauce and then Anna served a liquor that was her sister-in-law's secret recipe.



During dinner the lights came on in Jerica and we looked across to a stunning view. If you are ever in Jerica - this is where you want to stay!



After a restful night we enjoyed breakfast - yogurt, muesli, fresh figs, watermelon and grapes, cakes and homemade breads and jams as well as meats and cheeses that we really did not have space to consume. The jams were the highlight - there were probably nine different jars and we wanted to try them all. My favorites were the rose petal (which tasted just like roses smell), and the strawberry champagne. Sam's favorite was the lemon, basil, rum. Anna makes every one of these with what she grows on their property.



We enjoyed our walk into the village after breakfast and climbed to the top of the hill where the ancient tower stands. The village has just completed two weeks of fiesta and all around the tower were the remains of hundreds of fireworks that had been shot off throughout the festival. We were warned that there might not be much happening in town as everyone was recovering from the two weeks of celebration. We enjoyed watching an old man who stood on his rooftop patio where he had just released his homing pigeons and we watched, as he watched them circle around and around above the village.



We had a long drive today covering nearly 700 kilometers, but tonight we are staying at El Moli in Siurana, Spain (almost to France). This is where we first met Rob and Donna in 2008 and it is fun to be back. I have stayed in touch with Maria during the past 5 years and two couples from Oregon have stayed here while in Spain, at our encouragement. The drive was largely uneventful but we discovered half way through that we were going way out of the way because we did not tell Penelope that we were willing to take toll roads. But in the end it was all ok because we saw some beautiful parts of Spain that we would not have seen otherwise. One of the things we enjoy about Spanish roadways are the random works of art that show up beside the road, and of course the occasional giant bull silhouettes.



We are off to dinner here at El Moli and unfortunately we are on the road again tomorrow headed to France and finally Italy.

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