Though we both had previous experience with house sitting and related activities, this autumn we took the plunge and started house sitting full-time. Our first sit on this mission was deep into olive country in the extremely beautiful Tarragona province in Catalonia, Spain, on an off-grid property near the town of Rasquera, a couple hours southwest of Barcelona. The owners, from Germany, have been developing this beautiful piece of land as the Cha Nala retreat center and have offered us the opportunity to do events there in the future. They host workshops and retreats in topics such as permaculture, sustainable building, yoga, and meditation. They are also an organic farm and a WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) host. The property has an olive and almond orchard and an organic vegetable garden, as well as a chicken pen with two roosters and their four lady chickens who produce fresh eggs daily. The fort is held down by loyal canine companions Charlie (hunting hound rescue) and Nala (Great Dane puppy). Backup is provided by their darling feline friends Yoda and Frieder (kittens). Each morning and afternoon, we'd take the dogs out for a long walk. This "chore" turned out to be the biggest blessing. The property is adjacent to many miles of mostly gravel roads that are excellent for walking and have beautiful expansive mountain vistas. The only cars are the occasional hunters coming through and the rare resident. Many of the orchards and homes in this area have been abandoned, and others are used occasionally as vacation homes. Rarer still was the actually full-time-occupied residence. There is a lot of wide-open space, and we experienced such peace and joy on these long walks. Slideshow: Our Daily WalksOne interesting element is that our walks were through prime hunting grounds for wild boar. Twice a week was "hunting day" where men would come into the valley with trucks full of dogs and spend the day hunting (and barking). We made sure to walk earlier in the mornings and later in the afternoons on those days, and to keep dear Charlie the hunter—the more adventurous one—on a leash so he didn't go join the party. (As a side note, there was fresh ham and sausage for sale everywhere, sometimes entire stores devoted to its sale.) An added delight to our daily walks was that oftentimes, one or both of the kittens would tag along. Even though we walked for miles, they were determined be part of the group. It was mostly Frieder who made the trek, and at times when he was lagging behind I would often pick him up and walk with him for a while—a cute sight, I'm sure. The morning walks would start off a bit chilly, but partway through the adventure the sun would make its grand appearance, and near the end of the loop we would often stop in an abandoned olive orchard to lounge in the sun for a while. The Rasquera area is a bit off the beaten track, and we are so glad we had the opportunity to spend time there. It's not a place we would've known to check out, but the mountain vistas are simply stunning, and the miles and miles of olive and almond orchards are mesmerizing. We thankfully had the use of our host's car, so we were able to get out a bit and explore the area. One day we put on our tourist hats and went to Miravet, a castle and village overlooking the mighty river Ebro. Miravet was founded by the Moors and rebuilt by the Knights Templar, who converted it into a fortress-monastery after the conquest of 1153. It's said to be the largest fortified complex in Catalonia (and we believe it), and "one of the best examples of Romanesque, religious and military, architecture of the Templar order in the whole Western world" (J. Strickland, Knights of the Cross, p. 163). The drive there was a bit daunting due to the extremely narrow, windy, steep cobblestone roads that are typical for towns in this area, but it was worth it. A neighbor had brought us earlier to an old crossing point on the Ebro (there's still a small ferry in tourist season) for this lookout onto the castle. Whenever we venture forth into a new land, we do our best to research what fruit will be available there. We knew it would be citrus season in Spain—and we were not disappointed. There were bags and bags everywhere of beautiful, delicious navel oranges—one of our favorites—of various sizes, quite cheap, and wonderful. And there were citrus groves all over the place—mostly along the river because the citrus trees need more water in the soil (whereas olive and almond trees can manage in drier soil). The oranges were bagged up in large red-mesh bags, which gave a sort of Christmasy feel to the whole production. We ate oranges for breakfast every single day. Another culinary surprise was that wild arugula was growing everywhere. We picked several handfuls fresh daily for salads, from the fields along our walking routes. Not to be missed in the heart of olive country is a glimpse into the production of olive oil. At a local agrobotica (store selling local produce and other wares), we stumbled across these huge vats of oil. Needless to say, olive oil was very affordable here. Slideshow: More Endearing MomentsThank you for joining us on this journey. Stay tuned for more adventures! Hasta luego.
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AuthorsTorsten & Danielle Loesch, a German-American yogi couple who are traveling the world house sitting. Archives
February 2015
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