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On the weekend of Nov
16-18 we spent a wonderful weekend in the Pyrenees with our good friends
Eduardo and Sira, and their children, Edu and Claudia. We rented a lovely
Casa rural which was grey stone and looked old but in fact is a new build so
has all the heating and plumbing of a modern home. It had two separate
apartments and a lovely yard. We arrived at night and could hear sounds and
realized it was cow bells from the pastures surrounding us. In the
morning we were in for a treat, we opened the curtains and the mountains were
aflame with yellow, orange, red, green and brown. The autumn colors are
particularly spectacular this year due to a warmer and longer fall.
On Saturday morning we started with a great crepe breakfast then went for a short walk down the road to where the horses were. We all saddled up, for a wonderful one hour trail ride by the pastures, through the forest and down by the river. This was Tessa's first time on a horse and she was a little nervous, however with a little encouragement she was hoisted onto her lovely brown mare and she was at the front of the line with the man walking leading her horse. It was so wonderful to be in the mountains surrounded by beautiful nature, this is something we miss living in a desert. A highlight for the girls was the four week old kitten that came to play; he basically kept them entertained the whole weekend. One funny thing is that the kitten’s name was socks because of its white feet, and in Spanish the name is calcetines – not quite the same feeling as the English word.
In Spain Comida is the main meal of the day and it is at approx. 1:30pm - our lunch but they always have a proper hot meal. On Sat we planned to make a big Comida as Eduardo enjoys cooking very much just like Anatolijus. We were given the use of a chimney, literally a metal shaped structure we could build a fire in with a chimney. You then put your food on grills that sit in the fire and cook. Our menu included: fresh artichokes, tomatoes and large green onions cooked right in the fire, sausage, steak and teriyaki chicken wings. We also did skewers of mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in balsamic vinegar. WOW!!! Anatolijus' new favorite thing is fire roasted onions. To wash this great meal down we enjoy a number of good Spanish red wines – Protos and Priorat, to name two. We now completely understand the Spanish siesta and its importance after drinking and eating that much in the afternoon.
On Saturday morning we started with a great crepe breakfast then went for a short walk down the road to where the horses were. We all saddled up, for a wonderful one hour trail ride by the pastures, through the forest and down by the river. This was Tessa's first time on a horse and she was a little nervous, however with a little encouragement she was hoisted onto her lovely brown mare and she was at the front of the line with the man walking leading her horse. It was so wonderful to be in the mountains surrounded by beautiful nature, this is something we miss living in a desert. A highlight for the girls was the four week old kitten that came to play; he basically kept them entertained the whole weekend. One funny thing is that the kitten’s name was socks because of its white feet, and in Spanish the name is calcetines – not quite the same feeling as the English word.
In Spain Comida is the main meal of the day and it is at approx. 1:30pm - our lunch but they always have a proper hot meal. On Sat we planned to make a big Comida as Eduardo enjoys cooking very much just like Anatolijus. We were given the use of a chimney, literally a metal shaped structure we could build a fire in with a chimney. You then put your food on grills that sit in the fire and cook. Our menu included: fresh artichokes, tomatoes and large green onions cooked right in the fire, sausage, steak and teriyaki chicken wings. We also did skewers of mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in balsamic vinegar. WOW!!! Anatolijus' new favorite thing is fire roasted onions. To wash this great meal down we enjoy a number of good Spanish red wines – Protos and Priorat, to name two. We now completely understand the Spanish siesta and its importance after drinking and eating that much in the afternoon.
On Sunday we were able to
drive into Ordesa National Park which is fabulous. It has beech tree forests that are beautiful
with their white trunks and colored leaves.
There is a lovely river which we walked along and although there is a
famous 4 hour walk/hike we weren’t prepared for that so will go back in spring
or summer to enjoy more of the beauty of the Pyrenees.
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