La casa rural - La Oca
A couple weekends ago we were lucky enough to
have been invited to join Daoiz and some of his friends for a country weekend
in the mountains. We would be renting a country cottage where we could do some
hiking, swimming and just relaxing. It would be a great way to enjoy some hot
summer days with a lovely group of people.
We of course accepted right away!
Ross and I are always saying the thing we miss most about not being in
Canada is our access to camping, hiking etc.
Just being in the outdoors.
I wont lie I did have a few reservations about
spending a weekend with a group of people this large, especially since Daoiz is
really the only one who speaks English.
This made me nervous since my Spanish is not good enough to have a
conversation with anyone and so my social anxieties took hold but I told myself
I would do my best. I did not want to miss out on such a fun experience just
because I cant communicate! This weekend would be a challenge but I knew it
would be worth it. And of course I knew
the group we would be spending our time with were all so welcoming they would
do their best to make us feel comfortable.
Our adventure began on Friday afternoon when la
madre de Daoiz (Daoiz’ mother) invited Ross and I to join them for lunch at
their home in Austudillo. We of course
accepted and were looking forward to some home cooking. It has been a long time since I have had a
mom make me lunch! His parents are very
inviting and made Ross and I feel very at home in their home. She treated us to
Green beans with potato which are sautéed with paprika, Spanish Omelette
(Tortilla), bread, watermelon, chocolates, tea and muffins. It was a feast and it was delicious. After lunch his father took Ross and I to his
vegetable garden where he let us take a huge bag full of vegetables he had
grown. It was nice walking and talking
with him. He speaks no English but he spoke slowly and made sure to use simple
words so that we might understand him. It was such a wonderful feeling to have
someone taking such care that we should understand his words. He took a great deal of pride showing us his
garden. And afterwards took Ross around
his home to show him his antique collections.
Spanish omelette aka Tortilla
I love Austudillo. I love the feeling of community and the warm
attitude the people there have shown us both times we were there. Daoiz has friendly and loving parents who
made Ross and I feel welcome. I feel
like an outsider here in Spain so it is always a comfort when I am taken out of
that mindset for a few hours with people who want us to be included in life
here and treat us like friends.
Once we said goodbye to Daoiz’ family we were on
the road to the mountains just outside of Leon.
We reached the tiny town (seriously not even a shop) of Carrocera where
our country house was located. The house
was called La Oca (The goose). It was huge – 3 floors with enough bedrooms
for 14 people, several bathrooms, a living area, huge kitchen, fireplace, and
an outdoor area with a BBQ and a river running behind the house. An amazing place to spend a weekend with
friends. They call this a cottage so I
was surprised when I saw it since a cottage back home is more like a cabin in
the woods.
This cute sink was in our room...We of course had an actual sink in the washroom though
I loved this cute kettle
Backyard grill
Here we were introduced to some new, as well as
some familiar faces. Our group consisted of Daoiz, Raquel, Judit, Javier, Juanjo,
Patri, Jimena (the cutest baby ever), Bea (and her future nino), Carlos, Inma, Rodrigo, Ross and
I.
The group minus Parti who is taking the photo
Since there were going to be so many of us
staying we all pitched in so Daoiz and Judit could get food and alcohol for
everyone and completely stock up the kitchen.
Ross and I still brought some of our own things since we would be the
only vegetarians in the bunch. This
proved to be interesting. We managed to
get many of them to try hummus for the first time and they said the veggie
burgers we cooked smelled quite tasty.
Ross and I also cooked a vegetarian pasta lunch for everyone on our last
day and they all seemed to enjoy it although they thought it was strange to eat
a meal without meat. I think it was
quite successful!
We spent the evenings eating, drinking and
singing while Daoiz played the guitar.
Ross and I were only able to sing the English songs, although we did
attempt many Spanish lyrics. The rest of
the group of course were able to sing along to what seemed like 100 songs in
Spanish that Daoiz played. Ross even got
up and danced The Macarena as they all pretended they didn’t know the
steps!
It was a very typical Spanish eating schedule
which I could never get used to! We ate
all our meals together which was nice because it felt like a big family. Breakfast was around 10 am, Lunch at about 5
pm and dinner sometime after midnight!
There were plates of chips, cheese, bread and meats out on the tables
for snacking during the day between meals to tide us over until food was
served. I honestly don’t know how they
eat like this! I was starving ha
ha. I eat dinner around 7 normally so it
was tough waiting. However there was
certainly not a shortage of food when meals were served.
Attempting to pour sidra properly. I havent managed to master pouring behind my back yet.
During the days we did some hiking in the
area. The first hike we did funny enough
was one Ross and I had done the previous summer with Lloyd, Sergio and Ines
during our kayaking weekend. It was so
funny driving up into the village where the hike starts and saying that we are
pretty sure we had been here before! It
is a great hike so we didn’t mind and it gave everyone a good laugh. Since it was a different time of year the hike
was slightly different scenery wise and there were a million butterflies
swirling around us the whole time which added to the beauty.
Gorgeous hike
A couple of butterflies
I love this man
Later that evening after a huge lunch we went
driving through the mountains to a gorgeous reservoir and went for a swim. The water was cold but as I was able to get
right in they all laughed at me because as a Canadian they assume nothing is
too cold for me ha ha! It was really
refreshing and such a treat since we cannot swim in Valladolid. After the swim we had some drinks a the town
nearby and took a short walk around the Dam.
Not a bad place for a swim
The Dam
View of the reservoir from the dam
The next day we went for a short hike to see a
waterfall and spend some time in a village called La Robla. I learned that an Oak tree in Spanish is
called a Roble so La Robla is the wife of the Roble. Like I have said before I enjoy spending time
with Daoiz as he teaches us so many things.
Ross and Daoiz
The ever lovely Raquel
It was a great weekend and everyone made us feel
totally welcome and a part of their group.
It was a challenge, especially at meal times when there are so many people
speaking Spanish around us at once. It
is overwhelming to try and understand what anyone is saying. Daoiz translates for us pretty well which is
nice but I feel bad not being able to better communicate especially since they
are all such nice people and I would like to be able to join into the chatter. However nobody made us feel bad about not
being better at speaking, and honestly Ross does really well and I couldn’t be
prouder of him for all he has learned.
Group shot at the Dam
I really enjoyed my time and felt very relaxed
after such a fun weekend. I am extremely grateful to have been included in the
trip and look forward to the next time we are able to spend time with this
group again!
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