Our friend and Ross' co-worker Daoiz has an adventure club
that he hangs out with and goes for many outdoors adventures. When he heard that Ross and I love to be
outside and go hiking he was nice enough to invite us along with them on a few
occasions. Daoiz is really the only one
in the group who speaks English but the rest all try their best to communicate
with us and we in turn attempt to say whatever we can to them. It is amazing though how much can really just
be said with smiles and body language.
Somehow when you want to you just understand each other. I really appreciate all of their warmth and
welcoming attitudes towards, as they call us, The Canadians.
The first time we went hiking with them was a cold rainy day
in June. We got up super early and
caught a train to Fromista which is a small village outside of Palencia. Daoiz and his group met us at the station and
we went to find some bread and treats from one of their friends bakeries in
town. As the weather just kept getting
worse we decided that perhaps it was not the best day for hiking so instead
they would take us on a bit of a tour in the car. This turned out to be a lot of fun.
We drove though the mountains in Palencia and they told us a
lot about the countryside and Spain in general.
While Daoiz was telling us about Spanish history he kind of laughed at
us and said that history in Canada must be so easy for us! Its true really, I mean we only have a few
hundred years of Canadian history while they have over a thousand years to
learn. Daoiz is a very intelligent man
and knows a great deal about the land and the country. It is always interesting to hear him talk.
We had coffee at a very fancy hotel on a patio that
overlooked a beautiful mountain range and then proceeded to drive to a short
hike we could do while the rain calmed a bit.
We wandered through the woods and saw the oldest oak tree in the region
(maybe Spain) and it was huge.
Apparently it was over 500 years old.
That was pretty neat and Daoiz taught us a lot about the local flora and
fauna.
Giant Oak tree
We drove into the mountains more and ended up in this old
tiny village that we were not even allowed to drive our cars in. We had to park in a lot and walk
through. It really only took a few
minutes as it was quite tiny and then we sat for lunch. At this point the rain had stopped but we
were watching more clouds roll in and these ones were dark and ominous. Sure enough it started to downpour and we all
grabbed our stuff and headed for shelter under an overhang at the church. It poured rain and thundered for a while and
we just sat and watched. It was
beautiful.
Hanging out waiting for the rain to subside
The second time we went hiking was a much nicer day in the
summer and we were going to climb one of the highest peaks in Palencia, Pena
Prieta. Now Ross and I used to do some
pretty serious hikes but it had been a long time since we had been hiking in
the mountains so we were a little out of shape and that paired with Daoiz and
his friends being in amazing shape we were not prepared for this
adventure. It also didn’t help that I,
the irresponsible person I am, drank way too much until way too late the night
before and had a serious hang over.
The beginning of the 20 km hike...
Turned out this was a 20 km hike and it was steep. I was having a really hard time keeping up
and I felt really bad about it. I know
Daoiz could tell I was having a hard time and he kept coming back to check on
me but eventually it was decided that the group would continue on with Ross and
I and we would all meet up at a select location. I felt bad for Ross but I knew he was
secretly happy to not have to keep going.
We still ended up on an amazing mountain top with views all around us of
gorgeous mountains. You could even see
The Picos in the distance. It was a
great place to stop for lunch.
Not a bad view
Once we all met back up again for the decent we decided that
instead of taking the path, like normal and sane people, we would just slide
down this rocky face of the mountain. It
was insane. We basically had to slide
down these rocks on our butts and try to kill each other with all the rocks we
were setting free every time we touched one.
I think it ended up taking longer to do it this way then it would have
taking the path! Nothing I have ever
done before and I am actually glad I did.
It was exciting. We then took a
break for some fruit and water at a beautiful mountain lake. Daoiz went swimming in it but it was way too
cold for the rest of us.
Sliding down a rock face
Amazing mountain lake
It was a wonderful day and a great experience. I look forward to hang out with them all
again. Something else nice about Daoiz
and his family is their generosity and kindness towards Ross and myself. He had told his dad about us and his dad
insisted on giving us some tomatos he had grown. They were the best tomatos I have ever eaten
in my life. I actually didn’t know a
tomato could be so good! He also gave us
a huge grocery bag of fresh almonds off his almond trees. They are such kind people. I am grateful to have met them.
No comments:
Post a Comment